New to reef... supplies?

[ino]

Hello. I'm considering myself new to SWF because I haven't had a tank in years, and when I did it was a fish-only. I want a small reef tank. I have a 55 gal standard tank... that is my starting point.
Planned inhabitants:
Standard size cleanup crew
2 clowns
1 small angel- flame or coral beauty
1 mandarinfish (after I begin to get lots of copepods)
3 neon gobies (or other small gobies)
2 banggai cardinals (perhaps, but I want shrimp, too, though)
1 banana wrasse
various soft and stony corals
So I need strong lighting, strong pump, strong skimmer, etc. But can you give me suggestions on a bit of a thrifty vein? I know that to do this right, it costs cash, but I don't want to spend unnecessary fortunes.
First off- what rock do you recommend? Fiji? All live, or only a few seeds? etc.
Next- lighting. This is a huge one. I want the stony corals, but I plan to put them right up near the top... close as I can get if possible. Are metal halides a must? I mean, they're just so expensive... what about power compacts or VHO lights? And what wattage? Would about 300 W do?
Skimmer. I want one more powerful than recommended. maybe for a 125 or such, but what brand? I don't plan on having a sump, so it has to hang on the back.
Filtration. Here I'm a bit lost. Do I need one with a powerful pump, or do I have to buy another pump for the water flow?
And anything else you feel the need to add. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by Ino
Hello. I'm considering myself new to SWF because I haven't had a tank in years, and when I did it was a fish-only. I want a small reef tank. I have a 55 gal standard tank... that is my starting point.
Planned inhabitants:
Standard size cleanup crew
2 clowns
1 small angel- flame or coral beauty
1 mandarinfish (after I begin to get lots of copepods)
3 neon gobies (or other small gobies)
2 banggai cardinals (perhaps, but I want shrimp, too, though)
1 banana wrasse
various soft and stony corals
So I need strong lighting, strong pump, strong skimmer, etc. But can you give me suggestions on a bit of a thrifty vein? I know that to do this right, it costs cash, but I don't want to spend unnecessary fortunes.
First off- what rock do you recommend? Fiji? All live, or only a few seeds? etc.
Next- lighting. This is a huge one. I want the stony corals, but I plan to put them right up near the top... close as I can get if possible. Are metal halides a must? I mean, they're just so expensive... what about power compacts or VHO lights? And what wattage? Would about 300 W do?
Skimmer. I want one more powerful than recommended. maybe for a 125 or such, but what brand? I don't plan on having a sump, so it has to hang on the back.
Filtration. Here I'm a bit lost. Do I need one with a powerful pump, or do I have to buy another pump for the water flow?
And anything else you feel the need to add. Thank you in advance for your help.
for the cardinals i have 2 in my 29 with cleaner shrimp and they are all happy together. i wouldent get a mandarin without a fuge in a 55. and for a skimmer i would go with the aquac remora i have one im going to be puting on my 75 but havent set it up yet but have heard great things about them. and for the rest ill let someone else help you on it.

 

[anonome]

Your list of fish is great, except for the mandarin. I wouldn't try this fish without the tank being at least 18 months old, and plenty of live rock to get its pods from.
Skimmer....the aqua C remora pro is a wonderful skimmer.
other means of filtration....a hang on the back or canister is great for running carbon, just be sure to change out at least monthly.
Lighting, the coralife brand makes a great light with halides, pc and moonlights all in one. 150w halides should be sufficent.
Live rock really helps with the filtration, so can't really have enough. Figi is really good, but there is many types out there that does the same. Just be sure to get good quality.

 

[apos]

Seems like a lot of fish for a new reef tank that's only 55gal.

 

[ino]

Originally Posted by Apos
Seems like a lot of fish for a new reef tank that's only 55gal.
Key word being new. I don't plan on adding these fish right away. It'll take months. I'll let the rocks sit for a few weeks, let the whole thing run, then I'll add some of the cleanup crew a few weeks later... more weeks, first fish, etc. I'm not trying to rush this... i may not have had a tank in quite a while, but that doesn't make me completely ignorant of my fishes' needs. ;-)
Edit: Thanks for the feedback. The mandarin is iffy, and most certainly it will be the last fish of the group that I add... after, as I said, I have an overload of pods, like I remember having last time. They took over the tank without something to eat them. Hence, mandarinfish. ;-)
And with the cardinals, what about with peppermint shrimp? Are they going to become snacks?

 

[ino]

If I may also ask, what sorts of corals would you recommend for your average decorative reef? I do want some stony corals, right up near the top, and some soft ones and mushrooms a bit further down. But what species are both decorative and relatively low-maintainance? Is there any species of stony coral that doesn't require a ton of calcium added, because I'm not really good at additives. It always seems like there's too many, and I can never decide which ones I actually need and which ones are just there because some people decided they could trick me into paying for them.

 

[apos]

Pods bloom and then crash bloom and crash without a predator to keep their numbers down, because they are then limited only by the varying availability of their food. But mandarins (and SS stars I believe?) consume so many at once that they can pretty much strip the tank clean in a matter of weeks and then the population can never recover in sufficient volume by natural means to keep them as well fed as they need.
That said though, I've seen some pretty simple DIY plans for massive pod farms (a fuge is good too, provided you have room enough for a big one plumbed into the DT, but you can keep the water in a pod farm really "green" and hence explode the pods even more than normal) which seem like a low cost way to always have tons of pods around at all times. I've read about mandarin owners whose farms were so productive that they started giving/selling pods away on the side.

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by Ino
If I may also ask, what sorts of corals would you recommend for your average decorative reef? I do want some stony corals, right up near the top, and some soft ones and mushrooms a bit further down. But what species are both decorative and relatively low-maintainance? Is there any species of stony coral that doesn't require a ton of calcium added, because I'm not really good at additives. It always seems like there's too many, and I can never decide which ones I actually need and which ones are just there because some people decided they could trick me into paying for them.
for easier corals i would go with stuff like mushrooms, ricordeas and just stuff like that. but remember if your going to do stony corals and some of the harder stuff your water needs to be better like cal and alk

 

[paintballer768]

SPS corals need great lighting, and your water parameters in check. I would recommend metal halides for SPS/some LPS corals. Ive read of good success with salt water mixed at home, specifically with Oceanic and Tropic Marin. They dont need to add any supplements as long as weekly 10% changes are done.
Just make sure your water is near perfect, with calcium, pH, and alkalinity in check. Cant forget about the trates/trites and etc..

 

[ino]

Thanks. I just ordered a light today- it's not metal halides... I just really don't want the trouble of halides, or the expense. But the light I got seems to be sufficient for most things. it is a 48'' Power Compact Aquarium Light 6X 65 w/4-10k white bulbs and 2 – actinic blue bulbs / Moon lights. For this light, what can I have? If I keep them right up near the top... good flow, good water quality, etc., will SPS corals thrive with these lights? I always hear about watts per gallon, but if the coral is right up near the top, one would think that it would cease to matter how many gallons are beneath it. Is this a false view? I mean, I understand that surface area comes into play, but this seems sufficient, and I hear that PCs are sufficient for any kind of corals although inferior to metal halides.

 

[big]

Welcome to the bunch!!!!!Are the lights T-5's?????, If not rethink that light order. PC's just do not hold a candle to the new T-5 lighting systems and in some cases cost less too.

 

[ino]

no, they aren't. And the order is set. But I hear PCs are good, too, and I just like the light system in general, so it'll be sufficient, I think.

 

[matt b]

Originally Posted by Ino
no, they aren't. And the order is set. But I hear PCs are good, too, and I just like the light system in general, so it'll be sufficient, I think.
if its got good reflectors on a 55 those lights should work out good

 

[teresaq]

when my 55 was running, I had pc 4x65 wtts, and kept, mushrooms, zoos, leathers, xenia, gsp, rics. since you have 6x65 your lights will be a little stronger. you may be able to add monti plate towards the top, you should also be able to keep, lps such as candy cane, hammers, and stuff like that.
I added a cpr hang on back fuge to mine, and kept a mandrine very well. I had lots of pods in it for the fish.
Good Luck
Post pictures when you can.

 

[ino]

I would be perfectly happy with various soft corals, but my dad is going to get stony corals to put in there whether I like it or not. I need to know which will survive.