newbie nano reef questions...

[scottie-rox]

I am new to the fourm here hello to all. I had a 10 gal nano reef in the past which did well for a while till I started putting east coast local sea stars in

Anyway I am taking marine biology, and I got interested in starting a tank back up. I currently have a 30 gal High I was interested in using, which is currently housing my african cichlids. Would there be much of a difference from a nano reef 10-20 gal compared to a 30 gallon. If there is a big difference I would be able to get a 20 gal long. What would I need to start up for Filtration and lighting? I am looking to do mostly live rock some coral, anenomes, and clown fish. Any help would be great.

[jeepjon]

hmm....I know anemones are pretty tricky, from what I hear...I may be wrong, though. I don't like anemones, I have had BAAADDD experiences with them, but that is just my opinion. You don't need the anemones for captive clown fish, but you could to an anemone only tank, if you would wish. The biggest tank you could afford would be best. The kind of skimmer you would put on a 10-20 (CPR bak-pak or Red Sea Prizm or something like that) could be used on a 30 gallon, too. As far as lighting goes, get whatever you can afford, because you'll probably want to upgrade in the future, anyway. You could go PC or VHO, I have seen/had good results with both, even on acros and other SPS corals. The difference in price won't be TOO drastic between a 30 and a 20 gallon, and the care is basically the same, time-wise. It is really a matter of personal taste, and absolute budget!
HTH.

btw-welcome to TRT!

[scottie-rox]

I am partial to the 30 because it is 2' tall and great for stacking rocks, and because I own it allready. I just need a 55 or somthing for my africans. What are PC and VHO lighting? I allready have a 150 watt high pressure sodium, would that be over kill?
I was also under the miss-conception from lfs that I needed a trickle system, or a full blown protien skimmer. What was your bad experience w/ anenome's, I had one before and it was fairly easy to take care of. All that was required was a food shot every other week. Not only is it replicating the natural environment of the clown fish, but it lloks nice too.

[jeepjon]

yeah, it is replicating the environment, but I had one get sucked into my overflow looking for a nice spot to sun himself...and nobody had explained to me that you need a float valve to shut off the pump if your system is overflowing! Well, the tank overflowed, got the floor all wet, got some electrical outlets wet, nearly burned my house down, luckily my dad smelled the smoke and put the electrical fire out...my anemone died to boot. I wasn't sure what kind of anemone you're talking about...some are photosynthetic and some are hermatypic. You have a 150 watt sodium arc...that might be too yellow depending upon the Kelvin rating on the lamp...lighting isn't my strong suit, as I really like flourescents best!

You don't need a trickle filter...and a protein skimmer is great!

[Justin Cabibi]

The 3 rules for healthy corals: Water Quality, Water Quality, Water Quality