Any SW aquarium keepers?

[BasserJim]

Looking to add a small, simple, reef tank to our home....

Any tips for a newbie?

[larryhyco]

Buy a Biocube aquarium. It makes things a whole lot more simple.

[Richie B]

A lot of good all in one kits for the nano size. Just make sure you get enough wattage on your light to keep whichever corals you're wanting to keep. Decent protein skimmer and maybe a small refugium and you'll be good to go with patience.

[FES313]

Win the lottery! I keep a 65 gallon fish only with live rock aka FOWLR* along with a 40g tropical community. I recommend starting with a 40 to 75 gallon FOWLR tank for a beginner. This size is easier to maintain water parameters**, too small and even a slight change can crash a tank. A hang on back filter can be sufficient but you have less maintenance and longer intervals between cleanings with a canister filter, this and a good led light will get you started but you will eventually end up getting a protein skimmer and a wave pump or 2. I wont discuss sumps and refugiums here. If you want a true reef setup, the equipment list gets even longer. The biggest recommendation I can give you is to be very patient and do not rush things. You need to research what makes a "cycled" tank and a "matured" tank. I wish I had more time right now to go further into detail both those trees aren't going to cut them selves. Im here if you wish to discuss more.

* FOWLER- can include inverts such as anemones, fan worms, shrimp and crabs. this is usually used to describe tanks that house no corals .

** Water parameters- include PH, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, salinity and hardness. in the beginning these will need to be watched on a daily basis. once you gain experience and know your tank you can drop back to a once a week check unless you notice something that prompts you to do otherwise.

[BasserJim]

Win the lottery! I keep a 65 gallon fish only with live rock aka FOWLR* along with a 40g tropical community. I recommend starting with a 40 to 75 gallon FOWLR tank for a beginner. This size is easier to maintain water parameters**, too small and even a slight change can crash a tank. A hang on back filter can be sufficient but you have less maintenance and longer intervals between cleanings with a canister filter, this and a good led light will get you started but you will eventually end up getting a protein skimmer and a wave pump or 2. I wont discuss sumps and refugiums here. If you want a true reef setup, the equipment list gets even longer. The biggest recommendation I can give you is to be very patient and do not rush things. You need to research what makes a "cycled" tank and a "matured" tank. I wish I had more time right now to go further into detail both those trees aren't going to cut them selves. Im here if you wish to discuss more.

* FOWLER- can include inverts such as anemones, fan worms, shrimp and crabs. this is usually used to describe tanks that house no corals .

** Water parameters- include PH, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, salinity and hardness. in the beginning these will need to be watched on a daily basis. once you gain experience and know your tank you can drop back to a once a week check unless you notice something that prompts you to do otherwise.

I’ve got a 30 gal aquarium I’m planning to use. I know that I’ll have $$$ into water flow/filtration and aqua scape before I even buy any much-more-expansive-than-my-freshwater-tank fish or corals

[juice780]

Make sure you have enough time to devote to it weekly. It’s an expensive hobby and if you get bored or neglect it everything will go south on you.

[Ol-Blue]

Research and more research. Sift through the BS and do even more research. Just be ready for expensive failures unfortunately. Find a good network of reef keepers in your area. I had an SPS reef for 8(ish) years. Redundancy is critical.

[BasserJim]

Research and more research. Sift through the BS and do even more research. Just be ready for expensive failures unfortunately. Find a good network of reef keepers in your area. I had an SPS reef for 8(ish) years. Redundancy is critical.

I’ve found a (semi)local reef club..... they are having a frag swap in a couple months I may go to to learn about their club

[Ranchhand02]

I have a couple of tanks I keep. One 10 gallon and the other is a 28 gallon. Get on you tube and watch bulk reef supply 52 weeks of reefing. They guide you through the entire process of setting up a tank. They have tons of you tube videos to watch and great customer support.