New and researching

JW Frink

JW Frink

New member
New to saltwater. I am a disabled Vet and I have had many freshwater tanks in the past. I am still in the research phase of building a reef tank. I would like to build one tank so I am gonna go with a 300 gal. reef tank. I am interested in softies and I really like the zoanthids. So, I will check threads often as part of my research and will let you know when I actually get it up and running. My main questions are about the cycling of the tank (should I do it without lights?) And will coralline algae grow naturally or do I have to "seed" it...? Thanks and I welcome any and all advice in the future.
 
Welcome to Reef Central, and thank you for your service, I'm a Marine. Look through tanks and build threads. This should give you lots of ideas.
 
Welcome, thank you for your service and I look forward to following your progress.

As for cycling the tank, there are a lot of bacterial products on the market these days that allow you to, "instantly" cycle a tank. You might want to look into some of those.

As for the rock structure, depending on you budget, you could go with dry rock (such as Caribsea, Real Reef, Marco Rock, etc.), REAL Live Rock or a combination of the two. There are some good companies that provide aquacultured live rock here in the US such as Tampa Bay Saltwater, KP Aquatics, Gulf Live Rock, and Salty Bottom Reef Company. Australian live rock is also available but, it is a bit pricy at around $25 per pound.

I personally have always left the lights on during a cycle, especially when using live rock to help keep any hitchhiking corals and macroalgae alive.
 
Welcome to the hobby. The posts above got it pretty well covered for cycling. As for coralline, that honestly depends. At one point or another, it will be introduced to the tank, whether on the shells of hermit crabs and snails or rock that coral comes on, or if you buy live rock. I have never seeded and have never had a lack of coralline but I also always start with at least some live rock.

If you start with all dry, it’ll just take a bit longer to develop but it will develop (generally it seems after the ugly phases).

Whether lights on or lights off is personal preference. I did lights on but I also start with live rock and I wanted to keep what came on the rock (not just the good bacteria) alive.
 
griss said:
Welcome, thank you for your service and I look forward to following your progress.

As for cycling the tank, there are a lot of bacterial products on the market these days that allow you to, "instantly" cycle a tank. You might want to look into some of those.

As for the rock structure, depending on you budget, you could go with dry rock (such as Caribsea, Real Reef, Marco Rock, etc.), REAL Live Rock or a combination of the two. There are some good companies that provide aquacultured live rock here in the US such as Tampa Bay Saltwater, KP Aquatics, Gulf Live Rock, and Salty Bottom Reef Company. Australian live rock is also available but, it is a bit pricy at around $25 per pound.

I personally have always left the lights on during a cycle, especially when using live rock to help keep any hitchhiking corals and macroalgae alive.
Click to expand...
Ok...thank you...I think I am gonna go with dry rock and let it mature that way...I will be patient...as for coralline...that will form eventually on my rock that I want to use?
 
Yes, coralline will eventually develop as Shane mentioned. I, personally, would highly recommend adding some live rock, even just 5-10 pounds. The amount of life that introduces to your tank will amaze you.
 
I am continuing to watch videos and I saw one that talked about live rock. It was a BRS video and they were talking about dark curing the live rock (or cooking it referring to this technique). I do plan on using a small amount of live rock from the beginning so my question is should I cycle the tank in the dark? Put the live rock in the dark for a couple of weeks and then add it to the tank? Or is the live rock dark cured at the supplier's end?
 
Curing and cooking live rock are different things, IMO.

Cooking live rock is generally reserved for live rock that has been in an aquarium for a while and has developed a build up of nutrients, primarily phosphate, which is causing algae issues. In that case, we cook the rock to allow the nutrients to leach out over time and we do this in the dark to prevent further algae growth.

Curing live rock is generally done with fresh live rock that has been shipped to you. We put it in our aquarium and let the bacteria convert anything that may have died during shipping and handling be converted from Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate. This also allows (nitrifying) bacteria to become able to handle the future bio-load of the system. Curing is generally done with no other livestock in the tank. You CAN cure rock without lights, some people do, some don't. I personally cure with the lights on as I want to make sure to give any photosynthetic organisms on the rock a chance to recover from shipping and potentially thrive.
 
Ok...sounds good...but I will use mostly dry rock so I can build my aquascape ahead of time...then when I get ready to add substrate and water I will put in some live rock...
 
JW Frink said:
Ok...sounds good...but I will use mostly dry rock so I can build my aquascape ahead of time...then when I get ready to add substrate and water I will put in some live rock...
Click to expand...
That’s a good plan. Seeding dry rock with live helps a lot. May not be noticeable, but it’s there
 
In my research I am watching online videos and looking at forums. I am seeing a lot of videos on Nano tanks. Since I am itching to get a saltwater tank, I am wondering if something like a 29 gal. Nano cube would be a good starting place before I move on to my ultimate 300+ gal. reef tank.
 
I think you’ll get a few different viewpoints.

Pros of a NanoCube:

Easier maintenance (smaller water changes, algae scraping, etc)
Allows you to get a good starting point without going “all in” (primarily cost wise)
Great little tanks
All in one so it doesn’t take up much space
If you decide the hobby isn’t for you, you’re not out nearly as much money
If you like the hobby, you have a nice little grow out or QT tank.

Cons:

All in one - just as it doesn’t take up much space there’s not much space to add “extras”
In this hobby they always say going bigger is better for stability
Less fish selection
Something can go wrong quicker
If you decide you like the hobby and go bigger, you may have “wasted” money on equipment that can’t be used in the large tank as well.

Umm that’s all I got off the top. I’d say do whatever you’re comfortable with :)
 
reefing102 said:
I think you’ll get a few different viewpoints.

Pros of a NanoCube:

Easier maintenance (smaller water changes, algae scraping, etc)
Allows you to get a good starting point without going “all in” (primarily cost wise)
Great little tanks
All in one so it doesn’t take up much space
If you decide the hobby isn’t for you, you’re not out nearly as much money
If you like the hobby, you have a nice little grow out or QT tank.

Cons:

All in one - just as it doesn’t take up much space there’s not much space to add “extras”
In this hobby they always say going bigger is better for stability
Less fish selection
Something can go wrong quicker
If you decide you like the hobby and go bigger, you may have “wasted” money on equipment that can’t be used in the large tank as well.

Umm that’s all I got off the top. I’d say do whatever you’re comfortable with :)
Click to expand...
Well summarized.
 
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