New to Reefs

[sprieto]

So I want to do my first reef tank (nothing to fancy, just a small start).
I was going to use my 30g tank (30x12x18) with a 280gph Power Filter as a primary filter, w/ a Protein Skimmer rated up to a 90g tank.
Generic questions:
1) Should I add a internal filter for extra water flow (or a power head?)?
2) Doen it matter how many corals you add at a time and is there a max? (Does the rules on fish and inches apply in any way to corals)?
3) If no drip acclimation is needed, (just temperature acclimation in the bag) will they cause the tank to "cycle"?
4) Does corals reduce the fish habitiat requiremets for space?
5) Would Soft corals requireing medium light by okay with Florescent Compact Lights if the outputed watts was high enough?
6) Do stongerer lighting and longer lighting hours cause unwanted algea growth?
Okay that's enough questions for know, if anyone culd provide some impute it would be most appriciated.
Thanks.

 

[king_nothing_]

1) Should I add a internal filter for extra water flow (or a power head?)?
--YES. you need a lot of circulation for a reef tank in order to wipe the waste away from corals and to bring new food to them in the water. 10-15 times your total gallons per hour is recommended
2) Doen it matter how many corals you add at a time and is there a max? (Does the rules on fish and inches apply in any way to corals)?
--NO. corals can be added whenever you want, just make sure its AFTER your tank is cycled because water conditions will kill them if not good enough
3) If no drip acclimation is needed, (just temperature acclimation in the bag) will they cause the tank to "cycle"?
--I don't understand this question....im assuming you're talking about corals? corals never cause the tank to cycle becasue they produce no ammonia
4) Does corals reduce the fish habitiat requiremets for space?
--YES, by the area that the coral takes up, obviously. It's not much though, and corals look great so its not really like you're losing anything.
5) Would Soft corals requireing medium light by okay with Florescent Compact Lights if the outputed watts was high enough?
--MORE THAN LIKELY. individual species differ though
6) Do stongerer lighting and longer lighting hours cause unwanted algea growth?
--OBVIOUSLY. the longer you have your lights on, the more algae will grow. Im not sure about STRONGER lighting making more growth, but it makes sense that it would make it worse as well.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by sprieto
So I want to do my first reef tank (nothing to fancy, just a small start).
I was going to use my 30g tank (30x12x18) with a 280gph Power Filter as a primary filter, w/ a Protein Skimmer rated up to a 90g tank.
Generic questions:
1) Should I add a internal filter for extra water flow No(or a power head?)Yes at least one, then asess weather or not you need another, depending on your LR placment. ?
2) Doen it matter how many corals you add at a time and is there a max?Yes IMO it does, tanking things slowly is key, even adding corals. They dont add anywhere near the bioload a fish does so you can add more at once and the size of the coral will also dictate how many you should add at one. IMO 10 small frags of 3 to 5 polyps ea of zoas is fine but 4 large leathers at once IMO would be too much. (Does the rules on fish and inches apply in any way to corals)NO?
3) If no drip acclimation is needed, (just temperature acclimation in the bag) will they cause the tank to "cycle"? No it wont. Besides most of the corals you will get will be in SW so there is no die off to worry about. Temp acclimate and place in tank is fine, some people FW dip others iodine dip first some do both.
4) Does corals reduce the fish habitiat requiremets for space? If the piece of LR its on takes up a lot of volume I guess in some aspects it could but generally, no.
5) Would Soft corals requireing medium light by okay with Florescent Compact Lights if the outputed watts was high enough?For the most part Yes, again this is dependant on coral selection.
6) Do stongerer lighting and longer lighting hours cause unwanted algea growth?Yes there is a balance that must be found when you set your light schedule.
Okay that's enough questions for know, if anyone culd provide some impute it would be most appriciated.
Thanks.
First welcome to the boards..
You will find some varying opionions here but for the most part they will be the same. My opionions are in red above.

 

[sprieto]

So where would be a could position for a power head?
1)At the bottem, in a corner, pointing to the center of the tank?
In my previous FO tanks I placed rocks far enough away for the glass to be able to run a cleaning magnet past, is this still okay, or should the rock be stacked in the back against the glass?
Could I put the power head under the rock to conseal it?

 

[sprieto]

Okay, so I am reading buring power heads under rocks are okay.....
How do you hide the power cords......with rocks all the way to the top??

 

[perfectdark]

There are many places to put a power head in your tank. Your goal in a reef tank is to minimize dead areas. Places where the water is still and can collect detrius, and other debris that should be filtered. Corals will benifit from flow as they rely on the current to supply them with their trace elements and food. Depending on the coral some prefer strong or heavy some like indirect flow and some light to moderate flow. You dont want to start a whirl pool in your tank so to have the power head create a swirling motion isnt recomended therefore if you have only one in the tank aiming it so it pushes against the glass wall of the tank or a piece of LR to dispurse the funnel of water maybe needed. 2 power heads running against eachother one in front of the tank and one behind will create that non directional current.

 

[sprieto]

Okay, so 2 power heads pointed towrds each other to conter act the flow is okay???
What about 2 power deads under rocks?
Would this create enough water flow (obviously depending on the gph of the power head)?

 

[perfectdark]

There is no exact science to it. Its all about experimenting and seeing how things are going. Most power heads have adjustments on them to throttle them back so they dont create a hurricane in your tank. All of the adjustments and placement is soley dependant on your tank set up. And outside advise is something I personally cannot give because I dont have a working knowledge of your system. Its all based on trial and error.