Planning for new tank

[Maxstar81]

I want to upgrade from my beach tank which i've kept for

over a year to a mushies and softies tank w/ some small fish.

The beach tank used to house an assortment of LS from my

beach combing days. From crabs to fish to shrimps. It sparked

my interest to keep something more colourful. Hence the upgrade.

Before i buy the new tank (L2ft x W1ft x H2ft - overflow sys).

Sump should be about (L2ft x W1ft x H1ft).

I need some Questions answered.

For main tank.

Q1. Lighting? T5?

How many white and/or blue & watt needed?

What in my tank will need blue light?

What in my tank will need white light?

How many hours a day do i need to keep the lights on?

Q2. Temp? Current tank is about 28-29.5

Can mushies & softies survive?

I can't afford air-con for them.

Q4. Additives, feeding & maintainance?

Additives - what to buy & whats it for?

Food - what do they eat & how much?

Maintainence - Any thing special i have to take note of?

For Sump.

What should i put in there ?

Sand? Macro-algae? LR?

Lighting for sump? Duration?

All advice & suggestion greatly appreciated.

[Maxstar81]

Any kind soul out there willing to help me ???

[iantoh]

hi there Maxstar81,

1) your lighting needs will depend on your coral biotope- that is, what kind of corals you intend to keep. if youre going for softies and mushies, then HO T5s will serve you well, and allow you the option of keeping higher-light-requiring corals in the future. for soft corals, you could alternatively use normal flourescent T8 lights, but arcadia quality flourescent bulbs are pretty expensive, and are inferior in lumens output compared to far more affordable Aquaz HO T5 tubes.

2) with regards to white and blue light.... white light, that is, colour temps ranging from 6500k, 10000k, and 20000k bulbs, are light spectrusm that support photosynthesis in corals with symbiotic zooallanthae algae in its tissue from which it derives nutrition. mushies, and some soft corals like xenias and photosynthetic gorgonians will require this sort of light, as will LPS from the euphyllia family, and all SPS.

the use of blue lights is mostly for aesthetics, but also helps with colouration within the coral tissues as UV-A and UV-C spectrums given off by blue actinic bulbs cause coral tissues to form colourful pigments to protect itself, leading to colourful corals.

seriously, this is a short summary already, even if it seems long, sp pls do read up more and research the requirements of the corals you intend to keep.

2) if you cant afford air-conditioning or a chiller, try to get a fan set to cool down your temperatures to at least 28 degrees. 28 degrees will allow you to keep ordinary mushies, LPS, and some soft corals, but ideally, you ought to aim for slightly lower temps, around 26-27 degrees.

3) additives/foods/maintenance.

Maxstar, i think the reason why youve not received any replies to your post is because theres really to much to answer, and you need to do some reading on your own.

with regards to foods and additives, as it is with lighting and temperatures, it is all related to what you intend to keep in your tank. fish may be fed so many different foods, from pellets to nori to frozen feeds like mysid shrimp. additives are also varied. if youre keeping calcifying corals, youll definitely need to constantly supply alkalinity and calcium, on top of magnesium and strontium and iodine. if youre keeping simple mushrooms and leather corals, then mere frequent water changes should be able to get you by if you plan your system well, and skim adequately.

pls kindly read up more, within SRC, RC, or places like wetwebmedia.com, to understand more, then perhaps when youve narrowed down the things youre looking at, or dont understand, then we'll be better able to help you.

to the left of this screen are links to two online reef magazines- reefkeeping and advanced aquarist. pls do check out their current and previous magazines as they feature great articles and tank features from you, and the rest of us, can learn from.