First time reef builder here

[Unlimited16]

I have been in the the aquarium hobby for about five years now dealing with mostly CO2 injected planted aquariums (attached a pic of one below), and thought I'd delve into the reef world and see what all the hype is about! Looking for suggestions to getting started, I know absolutely NOTHING about coral keeping so feel free to treat me like a noob here! Below are some of the questions I have about getting started:

1) I have a 40 gallon tall that I will be using, and am curious if there is any write ups as to how to make it reef ready, and utilize a sump with it.

2) I would like to stay with LED lighting since I already have several planted tanks around the house sucking up enough electricity, what would probably be the best LED strip light to grow just about any type of coral? I have had a lot of success with the current satellite pro with my planted tanks, is this bright enough for a reef?

3) Recommendations for a good sump, and protein skimmer? Not looking to go cheap here.

4) Should I be looking into getting live rock? If so, what would be the best way to acclimate this with the new tank?

 

[Greybeard]

Welcome

Planted freshwater aquarium can be quite complex. You'll find that even though reefkeeping is quite different, many of the skills will transfer.

A 40g is about as small a tank as I would recommend for someone starting a reef. Small reefs are an expert challenge. 40g gives you enough volume to be fairly stable, especially if you add a sump.

For a new reefer wanting to put an overflow system into a 40g tank, I'd probably recommend a Glass Holes overflow kit. Comes with everything you need, and good directions. Keeps things simple, and the quality is excellent.

Lighting: There are excellent LED reef lights available these days. I use an Aquaticlife Halo, it does fine for me. Kessel and EcoTech are excellent. The Satellite Pro is for freshwater... but Current USA offers the Orbit line for reef tanks. Lighting really depends on what kinds of corals you want to keep.

Since cost is no object, Trigger makes a very nice sump. Eshopps would be a bit less expensive, I have an EShopps R100, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I like Reef Octopus skimmers, but there are several high quality skimmers available these days. Bubble Magus get good reviews... as do several others.

A reef without live rock would be tough... The old recommendations of several pounds per gallon is considered overkill these days, but 25 lbs of rock would probably be a good target for a 40g tank. You can use dry 'base rock' instead of live rock and get the same filtration capacity, though you don't get the variety of life you get with live rock. Note that the variety can include things you don't want in your tank as well as those you do!

Enjoy

 

[SnoopyDaPimp]

1) Link to How to

2) This is an ongoing discussion. My reef tank I have Rapid LED and like them as does my SPS. My swim tank runs Current USA that I used to keep LPS under with no problem.

3) Really up to you on this one. Could by a premade sump or build one yourself. I run a reef octopus skimmer and have no problems with it.

4) If you are buying live rock just put it in the tank with new sand and water. If you are using dry rock feed TSP of pellet food for every 10 gallons of water volume. You have no need for lights at this point. Watch for your ammonia spike and everything to level out. Once your chemistry has leveled out for a week do a 50% water change. From that point you can begin to add your CUC. Plenty of threads regarding this since my version is summarized.

 

[Reef Frog]

For question #2:

Lights with the individual LEDs that are 1 watt or less are not suitable for most reefs, especially hard coral reefs, except as a supplemental light.

If you want hard corals I'd look at more powerful lights with good control of spectrum and light intensity. Properly managing LED lights is not as easy as it may sound and will have more challenges than you would have in a FW planted tank.

 

[Unlimited16]

Thanks for all of the info! Is the orbital light from current a good LED light that would handle ally types of coral? I will most likely be buying a lot of these items on Amazon. Not a whole lot of local reef hobby supply around where I live.

 

[Greybeard]

Is the orbital light from current a good LED light that would handle ally types of coral?

I've never owned one, but from the specs on their website (Max par of 400, 18w), I'd say it's only sufficient less light loving corals. Nothing wrong with lower light corals... but the light loving, brightly colored SPS 'stix' that are so popular are unlikely to do well under such a light. Look at EcoTech's Radion XR30 Pro for comparison, with a max par of 1100, and 75w. Yeah, some corals really do need that kind of intense lighting. My Halo is 85w, delivers quite a punch... and I've been seriously considering upgrading to a 250w halide. Everything is healthy, colors are good, but I'm not getting the growth rates I'd like to see. If it wasn't for the heat issue, I'd have already upgraded. I may end up with one of those expensive EcoTech Radions.

Not a whole lot of local reef hobby supply around where I live.

Hm I can relate on that one.

 

[Unlimited16]

What do you think about this light? http://www.amazon.com/Programmable-..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1YWG6A7CQGPZ2Z09PWFM

I looked at one of those radeon lights you mentioned and it was going for $700 on Amazon?!?

 

[Greybeard]

I looked at one of those radeon lights you mentioned and it was going for $700 on Amazon?!?

Yup, that's what they go for.

I have no opinion on the other LED you mentioned. Might do a search for the brand, see if someone else around here has tried it.

 

[sde1500]

What do you think about this light? http://www.amazon.com/Programmable-..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1YWG6A7CQGPZ2Z09PWFM

I looked at one of those radeon lights you mentioned and it was going for $700 on Amazon?!?

I run the reefbreeder branded version of that light, it will grow any coral you could want. Not sure if there is a warranty or not on it, but you could always check out reefbreeder, they have a newer version and offer a warranty on it, two years I believe.

 

[Unlimited16]

Do you have a link to where you got it from? I was looking on their website, and I am not seeing any par ratings listed for their new V2 LED's.

 

[sde1500]

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-24-v2/

It's listed in their pictures. 10th pic.

 

[bshow24]

I don't know your location, but I would check out some of the main reef supply websites as I've found most of the time their prices are cheaper than Amazon for whatever reason. Most of the decent sites are sponsors on this forum, so you can go check them out.

As for equipment, I think it's great you want to go big, in my opinion it's the best way so I'll mention a couple things:

First, look into getting a controller. There are a couple different types but I use the Neptune Apex and I stand behind it. A controller makes life easy and allows you to program your tank how you want it...and also will let you know if there are any issues such as a high temp or low salinity/ph (depending on what you have it looking for). I don't know what I would do if I didn't have an Apex!

Second, I also suggest Reef Octopus skimmers, or if you want to go into extreme high end look at a Bubble King or ATB protein skimmer. Those will do you just fine.

Keep using the forum and asking questions, everyone is obviously here to help! It's exciting to have a reef tank and it looks like you want to start in the right direction.

 

[Unlimited16]

bshow thanks for the advice, do you have any recommendations for lighting? Also, how do you go about seeding the coral in the first place? Obviously it doesn't just start growing on the rock itself! Lol shows how much I know about reefing

 

[Greybeard]

Hm. Don't know how basic to make this...

Virtually every coral in our tanks comes from one of three sources. You can purchase a colony, which can be expensive. Sometimes live rock will have a bit of coral already growing on it, in which case yes, it will 'just start growing on the rock' Or, you can obtain a frag, or a bit of coral broken or cut from an existing coral. You can buy them, or, if you can, find a local reef club, you'd be amazed at how generous folks can be, sharing coral frags.

Many frags will already be attached to a rock or bit of cement. If not, you can simply wedge them in a crack of a rock, or use super glue gel to attach them. Yeah, plain 'ol super glue. Once in your tank, if they like the conditions (lighting, flow, nutrients, water quality), they'll start growing for you. Some species grow fast, others not so much. In time, you've got your reef