Pleas help me get into the hobby...

[bb7551]

Hello fishy people. I am John, I am 15 years old, and love fish. I just set up my 55 gallon tank with saltwater and have ben looking into reefs. To gain experiance I plain to do a ten gallon nano. What kind of florescents should I use, I want to use 20 inch dual bulb fixtures, because I have no place around here to get a balast for vho's or pc's, Can I get either of them from home depot or lowes? When I do set it up, If I have like... 40 watts on top of it will I have enough for those cool clams? Will natural sun light (2-3 hours/day) be good for them, I know it will prolly incourage algae but, I will have LOTS of little blue leg hurmets and turbos, maby 7-10 of each. What kinds of coral do you recomend, With my budget, I cant afford to many cotals, unless I can get frags from someone out there, I got unusual plants to trade, brugmansia canna, spiders??? other stuff prolly, will have to check. Thank you verry much for reading my post. John
*feel free to email me at bb7551@aol.com or instant message me at bb7551.

 

[flamingkingofhe]

To start will the nano be a reef? many people have tried using ballasts and equipment for lights from home depot and have not been successful. you can buy vho ballasts online as well as pc ballasts. a great site for lighting that is reasonably priced is hellolights.com. many members on this bb use the hellolights set up and are vary pleased with it I am one of them.
40 watts on top of it will I have enough for those cool clams?
it depends on 40 watts of what type of light and where you place the clams as well as the kalvens and intensity of the bulbs. with pc imo i wouldnt try any clams with vho you might be ok with dersa and squmosa ,but to house maxima and croecia you will need metal halide. many people try to hose the maxima and croecia without mh and are successful but it all depends on what your level of success is do you want them to just survive if so vho will probably work on the max. and cro. but if you want them to really flourish than you will need mh.
Will natural sun light (2-3 hours/day) be good for them
i don’t know that it would do any harm most people dont try it. imo dont because if you plan to achieve this by putting them by a window or outside or something else wacky than you will probably heat the tank to much plus you will still need some supplemental lighting .
hope this helps !!!!!!!!!
t-bone

 

[thomas712]

I know this may be dissapointing advice but I would recommend one or more of the following books.
Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1: Reef Gardening for Aquarists - Anthony Rosario Calfo
Reef Fishes Volume 1 - Scott W. Michael
Corals: A Quick Reference Guide (Oceanographic Series) - Julian Sprung
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists - Robert M. Fenner
The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide - Michael S. Paletta
Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History - Eric H. Borneman
Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms - John H. Tullock
Aquarium Corals by Eric H. Borneman,
Natural Reef Aquariums by John H. Tullock, Martin A. Moe
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta,
Do yourself a favor and find some of those books and read on this forum daily no matter what the post, if you don't understand at first you will later on. Do searches on different subjects by using the search button.
Thomas

 

[bb7551]

Yes I know I should do some more homework, I will probly not set it up till like next month. For the 40 watt, they would be NO's coming from a fluorescent fixture with a white and a blue light. John

 

[jrein40806]

Soembody correct me if I am wrong. But I thought the smaller the tank the harder to keep. A 10 gallon is going to be some kind of challenge. My advice is to save up enough money until you can get at least a 55 gallon. I found a 55 with a metal stand,2 penguin filters,hood light,heaters,pumps for $125.00.
Check your local newspapers.

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by JRein40806
Somebody correct me if I am wrong. But I thought the smaller the tank the harder to keep. A 10 gallon is going to be some kind of challenge.
Yes IMO, a nano is less forgiving of mistakes than a larger tank. I believe small water changes to be the key for nanos.
Thomas

 

[javatech]

here is some good on line reading for you
http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq/faq.htm

 

[bb7551]

with that link it says 3-5 watts gallon and 275 watts is the most you can put in the reef. well, I disagree, I know alot of people with 440 watts in their 55 and mor extreme, I was looking at a ten gallon nano reef with 195 watts of light above it. wouold 275 be big enough for the higher light corals? I was told at least 7 watts/gal for them. I can get a 400 watt MH fixture, for like 200 dollars for my 55 gal, work good? but will one 400 watt MH be better or worse them lets say 2 200 watts? John

 

[javatech]

Yea he is a bit low on the lighting thing i have 0ne 175 MH and two 03 PC 65watt's on my 29 gal that makes 10.5 watts per gal. but there is a lot of other good info there

 

[broncofish]

Like Thomas said...read read, and read. IMO do not start with a ten. If you already have a 55g, save up enough mone to buy some MH, dual 175watt metal halide, or 250watt metal halide will work perfect, you could get 12,000-20,000k bulbs so they would be the only light you need. A nice little prizm protein skimmer, maybe a small HOB filter for running Activated Carbon on occasion, 55lbs of Live Rock, 75-90lbs for a DSB, If you want clams you will need to dose your tank with calcium, iodine IMO, and DT's phytoplankton etc... and these are just the things you can plan for. I'm not trying to scare you away.....but I'm letting you know it can be expensive, and you can save a lot of money doing a lot of it DO-It-Yourself, it makes a great project if you get your Dad, brother, uncle etc...involved. If you get a 10 it may be cheaper at first but I can almost promise you it would be way more difficult and costly in the long run. If you realy realy want a clam you are going to have to wait six months IMO for your system to mature, and I would not keept them under anything less than MH, or an extreme amount of VHO. Good luck welcome to the Hobby, and please visit all the forums, it takes a lot of work...but after you get it going it's addicting, and a big stress reliever.

 

[javatech]

http://www.masna.org/
http://www.Mr4000.com/
http://www.ozreef.org/
http://www.Nano-Reef.com/

 

[firefishspike]

why is it that most people's opinion is to turn new hobbyist away from the smaller or nano reef tanks?
I started small and went larger although I still have my 10 gal still up and running really well for a long time now.
One of our friend has an 8 year old taking care of a 10 and a 180.
As long as you have the proper equipment and time for it, you'll be succesful at keeping saltwater tanks.
I came into the hobby knowing nothing about it, but being open to all directions helped me become a good keeper
No offense to you guys that said to stay away from the smaller tank, it's always nice to have different opinions, but rarely does a person stand up for the smaller tank guys

 

[jrein40806]

With a larger tank there is more room for error.
No offense to anybody that is "young" but how many 15 year olds do you know that will take the time for a saltwater tank? At 8 the kid is still with his/her parents. I know at 15 there were more important things for me than fish-school sports,dances,parties,school,and most importantly girls I almost forgot-driving in a year too.
Do what you want. You asked for advice and that is my honest opinion.Start out larger.

 

[broncofish]

Originally posted by firefishspike
.......but rarely does a person stand up for the smaller tank guys.......
I have a Nano, and i have a 90g, and I can tell you that taking care of the 90g is a heck of a lot easier than taking care of a nano, and my nano is at the large end of the nano spectrum(29g). It has nothing to do with standing up for the "smaller tank guys". Think about it this way, what's 2g of evaporation in a 55g? not much right, now imagine 2g of evaporation in a 10g, what's that going to do to salinity etc... Yes Nanos are possible for a newbie, are they the best option IMO no. Is a 55g more forgiving than a 10g. Yes.

 

[bb7551]

Here is some info that I did not incluse : I am home schoold, so I don't have to worry about my school work, in fact I want to make this tank into an experement, Hey, I have already hand fed lovebirds, 4 times/day NO exceptions untill they can eat on their own. Also, I grow MANY plants, and have had fish sence before I can remember. This is just another chapeter in my animal life. LOL I love all animals and am pretty cool on it. I can get the balasts at a local hydroponic supply shop, although at one time they had a cop outside and going after anyone who looked like they were going to grow, well lets say something else LOL. If I mount the light up above the tank over the center brace, will that affect the lighting under the brace to much as to worry about it? John

 

[broncofish]

Originally posted by bb7551
If I mount the light up above the tank over the center brace, will that affect the lighting under the brace to much as to worry about it? John
If you are talking about 1 MH over a 55g it won't work, you need 1 mh for every 2' of water, so a dual 250watter, or dual 175 watter would be perfect.

 

[jrein40806]

Also, I grow MANY plants, and have had fish sence before I can remember. This is just another chapeter in my animal life.>>
I thought I had all the sense in the world at 15 too. I would ask for advice,not like what I heard, and then turn around and do whatever I wanted. Things don't change too much, do they?
It's a free country do whatever you want. Just take your time and practice a lot of patience with this hobby.

 

[bb7551]

humh, sarcasum, well, I can SAFLY say that I am not getting into the reef just yet, but will still have the FO tank for now. When I do get the lights, I am gonna use 2 250 watts one hung over each side of the center brace. John

 

[nm reef]

bb7551
First let me welcome you to the forum and second congradulations on having the common sense to ask first before you leap. Establishing a satlwater system for the first time requires some basic knowledge and you've done the right thing asking questions.
I do agree that smaller systems can be more problamatic.....check this link out for some excellant information in regard to establishing and developing a marine system.....research and ask all the questions you need to have answered as you establish your reef. Knowledge and patience are vital in this hobby and you sound like you've got a fair measure of both.
Reefkeeping 101
Good luck and keep us posted as your reef developes!

 

[jrein40806]

humh, sarcasum, well>>
Your assumption is as wrong as your spelling.
Like I said- do what you want, just take your time. Every single person on this board that has the slightest idea about this hobby will agree with me on that point.