New and starting up a reef tank.

[jdoenumber2]

Well i finally made the jump and got a reef set up this time around. I had a fish only for about a year now and i got really bored and now im up for a real challenge. Any good tips for a beginner? Such as what is a good type of coral to start with? I just set up a 55 galon for my reef that has about 60 lbs live rock and it already has some xenia in it and some mushrooms that i cant identify. Wow this ought to be fun. Im sure i will have tons of questions i just wanted to pop in and say hi. Have a great day everybody.

 

[SkiFletch]

Hey man, welcome to URS, you've come to the right place It is gonna be a great challenge and very rewarding too, so good luck .

 

[gary greguire]

welcome..

You picked a great time to start there are two meets in july so there should be lots of beginner corls up for grabs before the meets. It is also great to meet and talk to other reefers about their systems...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Hi and welcome to the forum, jdoe2.
Please tell us more about your reef aquarium (how long has it been set up, what's the filtration on it, what kind of lights etc.) and tell us what kind of reef animals you want to keep.

 

[ReeferMac]

Welcome Mr. Doe...
Ditto what Gary said... Ya gotta tell us more about where you're at, before we can try to offer some help to get you where you want to go!

- Mac

 

[Namyar]

Welcome great place to get some starter stuff

 

[jdoenumber2]

I will be using a 55 gallon with a large double biowheel filter and a bakpak skimmer. It has about 60 lbs live rock and i got the water from the guy who i purchased the set up from. I have no substrate at this time but i do plan on getting a sand bottom from CF today to add. I use coralife 4x65 2 10k and 2 actinics. Currentlly it has what i belive to be a xenia and a few mushroom corals in it. All the water in it is RO/DI and that is all i will ever put in it this time. It looks to have a healthy amount of coraline algea all over the rock.
I currently have about 60 lbs of "lace rock" to put in as well under the live rock. Hopefully over time the rock will get seeded, however this "lace rock" has diatome algae all over it. What do you guys suggest the order of operation i take? Do i clean it off in salt water or boil it off? I have posted this question in another forum and havent gotten a definite answer.
As for live stock i really want to get a Blue hippo tank for sure. I want to do all non agressive reef safe fish. And as for coral i am open to suggestions for what would be a great species to start with. I dont have any intentions of getting a MH lighting set up any time soon.
Thanks again guys (and gals)have a great day!!!

 

[nwrogers]

Welcome to URS!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Snails eat diatoms.
Take my advice for what it's worth, but a 55 is too small for a Hippo Tang.
I see no reason to use biowheels on your set up.

 

[dreaminmel]

Gonna agree w/ Gary... (he's a wise man )

I just put a 1 inch hippo in my 72gallon and thank god I've got a 125 sitting in my dining room I'm upgrading to as he's already doubled in size and is growing fast.

I used to utilize a hang on filter. The biowheels could be noisy and a nitrate factory and w/ all your live rock you'll have plenty of filtration. I used to only use mine for a convenient place to put carbon and other media.

Oh and Welcome! We've been seeing lots of new people here lately and it's really quite exciting. I'm sure it'll add some interesting dicussions to our forum.