Minimal equipment for a reef tank

[cyberpig]

Hi Gurus!!!

Can U advise what are the minimal equipment for a reef tank?

The last time I tried to set up a salt water aquarium, the fish shop says an external canister filter plus a hang-on bubble skimmer can liao. No wonder everything I put in the tank dies afer a short while..

I gather a sump and a skimmer is absolute must. What else?? Have read through some threads in this forum and the equipment U guys have are amazing!! Looks like U are running some chemical plant... Are these equipment necessary?

Thanks!!! Sorry for all the newbie questions...

[blueheaven]

It depends on what type of setup you are looking at

Maybe give us some more details of your plan so that we can help better

[Maxstar81]

Welcome cyberpig,

Its good to do reading & asking Questions !

You have taken the right steps into this

hobby!

As per BH, state what U are interested in &

we can reply U more appropriately.

Dun follow me & run a 2ft tank w/ only

a wool filter. U will exhaust yourself w/

the neverending cleaning & maintenance.

(yes, i'm veri cheapskate)

[Elune]

Hi hi cyberpig.

yep, like Blueheaven said, it depends.

tell us the following first, then we'll answer more accurately:

1) How big is your tank?

2) What do you intend to keep?

- Fish-Only

- Fish Only with Live Rocks (short for: FOWLR)

- Fish with Live Rock and Invertebrates (Corals, shrimps, Nudibranches etc.)

As for me, mine's a 1feet pico tank, specially to keep nudibranch. Consist of 3 pcs live rocks and also 2 nemos to swim around).

So my set up is merely a sponge filter ###### pump, and a simple 7W clip-on light!

Nice and easy for a starter.

[Mr CRABS]

Give you my 2 cents for coming into the hobby.

First of all good luck.

You should try keeping A FLOWER tank,and dun spend too much on it.

you learn more every step you take.Dun invest all your money unless you are a billionare.And then you can start keeping corals slowly.with chiller etc....

You can keep normal fishes by just with good paremeters(water quality)

Light ,chiller etc is important when you keep corals.Lights will cost you more.The more you intend to keep the more electricity needed.

You keeping just fishes then the above is enough. A sump would be reccomended because you dun need to spend lots of money upgrading.

and pls read up on the fish you are going to keep because some may be dangerous or hard to keep.Whatever you do readup lots on it.

I can help you find info just add me in kanesh92@hotmail.com

[cyberpig]

Thanks for the fast replies guys!!! This community is GREAT

I am thinking of setting up either a 4 ft or 5 ft tank. Width and height would be around 2 ft and 2.5 ft. Ultimately, I hope to keep fish with live rock and invertebrates but as a start, I don't mind starting off with FOWLR first..

Will be starting from scratch and budget about $2K (or my wife will kill me and cook the fishes)!! Any recommendations on what I can get with this budget?? Will the tank maker build the cabinet as well or do I have to find a separate carpenter? Any good (and cheap) tank makers to recommend??

[blueheaven]

With such a big tank, I'll advise you to get a good skimmer

You can get one easily under 1K if you are looking into a beckett

As for lighting, you might want to get a couple of T5s

But do note that it is rather hard to convert a FOWLR into a reef tank and you'll probably have to tear down everything and start again.

[nakazoru]

Thanks for the fast replies guys!!! This community is GREAT

I am thinking of setting up either a 4 ft or 5 ft tank. Width and height would be around 2 ft and 2.5 ft. Ultimately, I hope to keep fish with live rock and invertebrates but as a start, I don't mind starting off with FOWLR first..

Will be starting from scratch and budget about $2K (or my wife will kill me and cook the fishes)!! Any recommendations on what I can get with this budget?? Will the tank maker build the cabinet as well or do I have to find a separate carpenter? Any good (and cheap) tank makers to recommend??

Welcome;

Firstly, being knowledgable is going to save you money. With the knowledge, you plan and it is going to save you even more money.

Most reefers has a different idea on different equipment. It is the knowledge that keeps the LS alive not equipment. Equipment lightens your husbandry not eliminates. I personally have used canister for all the marine, I only maintain once a month, the canister. Everything is fine. So the LFS may not be wrong.

On tank maker, you can check with bro fins, he just bought a very good price tank with sump. Get one that does the cabinet too.

One more point, if you can get hold of used sand, LR from fellow reefer, it will effectively reduce the cycling to about 1 week, of course that is with NSW. And you may keep corals.

Good luck.

[blueheaven]

Equipment lightens your husbandry not eliminates.

This is a very good point

[Elune]

Will be starting from scratch and budget about $2K ...

(my pico tank a mere under $100)

oK, U are rich. Get a good skimmer. Its live and death here.

But do note that it is rather hard to convert a FOWLR into a reef tank

Blueheaven, can elaborte on this? Wats the difference between reef tank and FOWLR tank? Why need to tear down?

[blueheaven]

Basically, it is all in the cost

For beginners who start off with FOWLRs, they usually have a small budget

With that, they'll get poorer quality rocks and usually skimp a little at almost everything.

For a successful reef, that reefer might need to purchase better rocks, redo the aquascape, purchase better equipments and such

And not to mention about removing fish that are not reefsafe

So that might as well sums up a tear down right?

[cyberpig]

oK, U are rich. Get a good skimmer. Its live and death here.

No lah.. very poor.. $2K max is for everything including the tank itself... what skimmer do U recommend? I read that Beckette is very good but dun think I can afford it.. also read somewhere that the running cost for this skimmer is very high.. Any other reasonably priced and energy efficient skimmer that is sufficient for a 4ft tank??

[c0ol]

No lah.. very poor.. $2K max is for everything including the tank itself... what skimmer do U recommend? I read that Beckette is very good but dun think I can afford it.. also read somewhere that the running cost for this skimmer is very high.. Any other reasonably priced and energy efficient skimmer that is sufficient for a 4ft tank??

hi bro..i think you could get a beckette skimmer from some bros here if you want Buying a beckette can save you some trouble in time to come as it is a really good skimmer...i dont think the running cost of the skimmer is expensive...For me i think its the chiller btw you cant get cheap/reasonable price for euipments from bros in the sell/palsar malam section ;)And 2K is maybe abit tight as you say its your budget for everything including the tank..and you still have to get testkits,marine salt,LS and LRs e.t.c

Just my 2 cents

[blueheaven]

A beckett can cost anywhere from $300+ to $800+

The running cost might be around $20 or so

[Maxstar81]

BH,

Sorry ah, um wat do U mean by running cost !?

[c0ol]

BH,

Sorry ah, um wat do U mean by running cost !?

Bro maxstar if i am not wrong..what bro BH mean for the running cost is the electricty bill per mth for the skimmer

[Maxstar81]

c0ol,

for the fast response.

[barnacle]

Basically, it is all in the cost

For beginners who start off with FOWLRs, they usually have a small budget

With that, they'll get poorer quality rocks and usually skimp a little at almost everything.

For a successful reef, that reefer might need to purchase better rocks, redo the aquascape, purchase better equipments and such

And not to mention about removing fish that are not reefsafe

So that might as well sums up a tear down right?

can u elaborate more on poorer quality rock and

better quality one. how to differentiate it.? what can

better quality rock do that poorer quality one can't

to be success in reef? juz curious and hopefully cyberpig

can learn something on how to choose rock....

[subxero]

I feel that with 2k budget.. it is only sufficient for Main tank, sump tank, cabinet, pipings and a reasonable skimmer. After that, there will not be much cash left

[nakazoru]

I feel that with 2k budget.. it is only sufficient for Main tank, sump tank, cabinet, pipings and a reasonable skimmer. After that, there will not be much cash left

Maybe it is a good idea to name the critical item first. Some of the stuff can be optional or schedule for future expansion.

I felt for now these has to be quality stuff and my estimate:

1. 4 ft Main Tank with sump and piping and cabinet, enuf space for future Skimmer, CR, FR - budget $1000-1200

2. Lightings - 4ft T5 budget $400, can be T8 and be cheaper if FOWLR.

With that you have a tank that is basic sufficient and expand accordingly.

My idea is "Slowly but surely"

[blueheaven]

can u elaborate more on poorer quality rock and

better quality one. how to differentiate it.? what can

better quality rock do that poorer quality one can't

to be success in reef? juz curious and hopefully cyberpig

can learn something on how to choose rock....

Sure!

In poorer quality rocks, they usually are mostly dead already and it is obvious especially when they look a drab brown.

The problem with these rocks is that they have not gone through proper curing and have crabs, worms, algae, etc on them.

If you want a FOWLR, the reefer might want to consider killing these rocks to remove any unwanted hitchhikers and kill algae spores.

This is especially so if the reefer does not want his/her tank to have a diatom bloom which is totally unsightly and without "up to standard" filtration, the nitrates will cause the rocks to have a massive algae bloom.

But for reef tanks, good quality rocks are needed and these are already cured without crabs or algae (except coralline).

Furthermore, when you kill the rocks for a FOWLR, the beneficial bacteria in the rocks are also gone so they serve no filtration purposes. But for a good reef setup, these bacteria in the rocks are crucial to maintain a highly effective nitrogen filter.

So basically, for a FOWLR, you'll only need a tank, a skimmer, moderate lights, dead rocks and some synthetic salt. Occasional additions of "ice bottles" would do some good too.

Hope this helps

[subxero]

Maybe it is a good idea to name the critical item first. Some of the stuff can be optional or schedule for future expansion.

I felt for now these has to be quality stuff and my estimate:

1. 4 ft Main Tank with sump and piping and cabinet, enuf space for future Skimmer, CR, FR - budget $1000-1200

2. Lightings - 4ft T5 budget $400, can be T8 and be cheaper if FOWLR.

With that you have a tank that is basic sufficient and expand accordingly.

My idea is "Slowly but surely"

I think a skimmer is also a very important equipment to have..

[Maxstar81]

My live rocks are fresh out of the waters man.

Bought at ah beng's shop. Lots of stuff inside.

Have to take the good with the bad.

Cured rocks are more expensive.

U choose loh. I love my rocks cuz

lots of stuff inside.

Took me some time but i manage to

get rid of a lot of the "bad" stuff.

[nakazoru]

I think a skimmer is also a very important equipment to have..

I'm a firm believer of the capability of skimmer. Dun doubt its ability! Water are just too good.

But I also believe unskimmed tank has its benefit with other means of filtration.

When I buy my skimmer, I will put my skimmer on timer. Reverse the light cycle.

[cyberpig]

Sure!

In poorer quality rocks, they usually are mostly dead already and it is obvious especially when they look a drab brown.

The problem with these rocks is that they have not gone through proper curing and have crabs, worms, algae, etc on them.

If you want a FOWLR, the reefer might want to consider killing these rocks to remove any unwanted hitchhikers and kill algae spores.

This is especially so if the reefer does not want his/her tank to have a diatom bloom which is totally unsightly and without "up to standard" filtration, the nitrates will cause the rocks to have a massive algae bloom.

But for reef tanks, good quality rocks are needed and these are already cured without crabs or algae (except coralline).

Furthermore, when you kill the rocks for a FOWLR, the beneficial bacteria in the rocks are also gone so they serve no filtration purposes. But for a good reef setup, these bacteria in the rocks are crucial to maintain a highly effective nitrogen filter.

So basically, for a FOWLR, you'll only need a tank, a skimmer, moderate lights, dead rocks and some synthetic salt. Occasional additions of "ice bottles" would do some good too.

Hope this helps

Hi Blueheaven,

How do we kill the rocks? Immerse it in hot water? It it possible to clean and add non-marine rocks (i.e. those U find on roads, in parks, etc) into a tank? If I mix these with live rocks bought from LFS, through time, will these also become live?

Thanks!!!