Alright this is my first of probably un ending noob questions that Ill be posting here so humor my absolute lack of knoledge about salt water tanks =D
My wife and I have been discussing building a reef tank for our two children (one of which is our disabled 7 month old) to give them some educational entertainment. After reading alot about it on these forums over the last few days I realize I have my work cut out for me.
I figured Id start at the local pet store. The owner has always treated me well as I have kept a few nice freshwater tanks, as well as various reptiles over the years. I expressed to him that cost was an issue, knowing that reef tanks can be very expensive. He went about showing me a large variety of options from the super expensive to the fairly cheap. He also expressed that having a sump system was not a requirement for a sucessful saltwater tank as long as I didnt mind having a few things hanging off the back of my tank. He then proceded to direct me in picking out the basic equipment that I would need to get set up.
My first question is: Is a sump system required, greatly reccomended, or just something nice and cosmetic for people with more money to spend? If its a necessity to the long term sucess for the tank I can save up some more and work towards it, but if its just a cosmetic plus then I will probably not do it.
Here is a list of what he supplied me.
Tank: 75 gallon all glass tank
Lighting: 2x 65w TruActinic 03 Blue Compact Fluorescent and 2x 65w Daylight 10,000k Fluorescent
Filtration: "Rena" Canister filter rated for 75g tank at 300gph, "CoraLife" Super Skimmer rated for a 65 gallon tank. (I was concerned about the gallon rating of the skimmer but he assured me that it would be fine unless I had ALOT of fish), "Riot" Aqua pump/powerhead 1100 rated at around 340gph
Other: "Kordon" Coral Rubble 40lbs, "Kent Marine" Superbuffer-dKH, "Kent Marine" Synthetic Sea Salt, along with a water test kit and some sort of salt measuring device.
Do you feel that I have what I need to even consider putting water into the tank, or is there a ton more I need to do first?
His basic instructions were to put it all together, put filtered water into the tank, wait like 2 days and put some live rock in the tank, then about a week later we would discuss the introduction of a few fish. As I said earlier I had been sucessful with his advice about reptile care in the past so I kinda just took his word for it.
Oh one last thing, when I put water in the tank what is the best meathod for filtering it? Ive read anything from bottled water to using a "Brita" style just (seems like this would take forever). Any suggestions here would be great.
My wife and I have been discussing building a reef tank for our two children (one of which is our disabled 7 month old) to give them some educational entertainment. After reading alot about it on these forums over the last few days I realize I have my work cut out for me.
I figured Id start at the local pet store. The owner has always treated me well as I have kept a few nice freshwater tanks, as well as various reptiles over the years. I expressed to him that cost was an issue, knowing that reef tanks can be very expensive. He went about showing me a large variety of options from the super expensive to the fairly cheap. He also expressed that having a sump system was not a requirement for a sucessful saltwater tank as long as I didnt mind having a few things hanging off the back of my tank. He then proceded to direct me in picking out the basic equipment that I would need to get set up.
My first question is: Is a sump system required, greatly reccomended, or just something nice and cosmetic for people with more money to spend? If its a necessity to the long term sucess for the tank I can save up some more and work towards it, but if its just a cosmetic plus then I will probably not do it.
Here is a list of what he supplied me.
Tank: 75 gallon all glass tank
Lighting: 2x 65w TruActinic 03 Blue Compact Fluorescent and 2x 65w Daylight 10,000k Fluorescent
Filtration: "Rena" Canister filter rated for 75g tank at 300gph, "CoraLife" Super Skimmer rated for a 65 gallon tank. (I was concerned about the gallon rating of the skimmer but he assured me that it would be fine unless I had ALOT of fish), "Riot" Aqua pump/powerhead 1100 rated at around 340gph
Other: "Kordon" Coral Rubble 40lbs, "Kent Marine" Superbuffer-dKH, "Kent Marine" Synthetic Sea Salt, along with a water test kit and some sort of salt measuring device.
Do you feel that I have what I need to even consider putting water into the tank, or is there a ton more I need to do first?
His basic instructions were to put it all together, put filtered water into the tank, wait like 2 days and put some live rock in the tank, then about a week later we would discuss the introduction of a few fish. As I said earlier I had been sucessful with his advice about reptile care in the past so I kinda just took his word for it.
Oh one last thing, when I put water in the tank what is the best meathod for filtering it? Ive read anything from bottled water to using a "Brita" style just (seems like this would take forever). Any suggestions here would be great.