Need some guidance

phishman1

New member
I have a 45 gallon bowfront with cichlids I'm thinking of now converting over to a reef tank. Had one in 2004 and the Hurricane left us without power for 9 days, had no generator then and all corals died, gave up.

The tank is not pre drilled. Obviously I know I need an upgrade on lights, other than that I plan to use live sand and live rock and hopefully get a jump start with a friends substrate.

I will have to use a power hang filter for filtration, not sure I need a skimmer.

Anything else you all can think of, the hobby has changed a bit since 2004 I'll bet.

Thanks, Jim
 
That had to suck losing your reef system that way! :(

And Welcome back!

First thing I would recommend is getting Forest ROhwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" (kindle ~$10, paperback ~$20). The major change since 2004 is our understanding of the role Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC, plays in the health or decline of reef ecosystems and ROhwer's book is an excellent introduction.

A good light is important. Some of the "Black Box" fixtures have good reputations, some do not. Higher end lights will be more compact and have better heat management and have more bells and whistles.

Testing has improved with digital testers, ICP tests which check several dozen things and 16S rDNA testing is available to check microbial populations in the water but has the shortcoming of not actually testing the coral holobiont (se Rohwer's book). See Richard Ross's article here on testing and chasing numbers and see this one also on the limitations of ICP tests

Here's some videos you might enjoy:

Richard Ross "What's up with phospahte"
https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

University of California: Rohwer, Doc and Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU

And "Changing Seas" Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA

ANd here's videos of some of my systems without skimmers

90 Gallon Mixed Reef
https://youtu.be/4t8IjelZwUk

GRJ 500 gallon
https://youtu.be/_Uf5IyXvajg

Mixed Reef started in 1997, 10-07-19
https://youtu.be/dh_nLhj1QXc

220 Rimless 450 view
https://youtu.be/aCRYfIZs8N8

And a couple cleaning techniques I've developed to help with maintnenance

Steel Straws
https://youtu.be/QkABhAFhGKQ

Paper towels for algae
https://youtu.be/_yoh9DYkiWA
 
Thanks for your reply

Thanks for your reply

Well I just went to the local fish store here which I love by the way, but to outfit my tank I will have to spend close to $500 and I'm on a bit of a budget so that's not going to work.

Do folks know any mail order sites that offer good lighting without all the store mark ups. Filters, heaters, maybe live rock and live sand, an all in one location perhaps?
 
Then don't spend a dime. Use your fresh water stuff for now, and research and save up for the reef stuff you need. Get your feet wet!
 
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