Noob Advice

[confusion]

So, I have FW MTS pretty bad, and it continues to get worse. BUT, I have started to spend more time admiring the SW fishes at some of the local fish stores.

I am in the process of finishing my basement off and seriously thinking about getting a reef, in addition to a new 240G planted FW tank.

I've read most of the pinned comments, but I still have some questions:

What is the upkeep effort for reefs relative to planted FW aquariums? I have not seen anything on water change frequency, etc.
I understand from some reading that shallow is better than deep for lighting. What is a good size for a tank? Would a 95G wide (48"x24"x17") be a good size, or should it be narrower also, to pull forward the fish and coral? The 100G long (72"x18"x17") is another option I was looking at.

I see that nano reefs, like nano fw setups are very difficult. Is the same true for larger aquariums being easier?

I prefer more smaller, colorful fish to a few larger fish. What are some good options? I really enjoyed watching one that I think was some kind of blenny that crawled around the bottom of the tank taking big mouthfuls of sand and sifting them out through it's gills.

What is the story with lighting? Is power compact adequate, or are MH lights needed? I suspect MH is mostly for deeper tanks, correct? They probably add some heat/cooling issues.

What is a protein skimmer?

How much live rock do I want? Is there a pounds per gallon rule of thumb?

If I buy cured live rock, do I still need to cycle my tank?

Does LR really take the place of a traditional filter canister? (I'm from the FW world, remember)

How damaging is the SW aquarium to things around it? Do you have to do anything special? I am going to have this in a new family/theater room in my basement. It will be a pretty big room, but I am planning on have nice trim, decorations, furniture, electronics, etc in the room. Do I need to vent it to the outside?

Is using RO water important? What are the critical chemistry parameters (other than salinity, ammonia, nitrites)? I think I've picked up that PH is important. Is it more important than with FW? Will SW fish just acclimate to whatever kh/gh/ph you happen to have?

Thanks!

 

[enjoiskater158]

to the dark side. First i'm going to say that once you start a marine tank, your gunna be sorry you didnt make that new 240 gal a marine tank.

As for upkeep a weekly water change, cleaning algae off the glass, feeding the fish and corals/inverts, checking levels of salt/nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/pH and if you have lots of coral calcium/alkilinity/strontium.

Yes the larger the tank the easier, nanos are not for beginners. as for tank size you want a deep tank meaning front to back which is good for aquascaping. Taller tanks look better IMO but the deeper the tank the higher you have to place corals that need stronger light.

Metal Halides are not needed unless your planning to keep anemones/SPS corals/clams If you just want to keep Softie and LPS corals you can get away with power compacts or T5. Metal Halides usally come with built in fans so they don't create as much of a heating issue. Power compacts dont give off very much heat so you shouldnt have a problem with temps in the tank from them.

If you enjoy smaller fishes you could start with clownfish(they dont need an anemone to survive in captivity, which is good because anemones are very hard to keep) also you could start with basslets, blennies, chromis, gobies, psuedochromis, or some wrasse.
Here is a good website to research different fishes and their needs along with corals and inverts

A protein skimmer helps filter the water along with the liverock in a marine tank. They take out organic material before the it can be turned into ammonia and other harmful chemicals.

Liverock you want between 1 and 1.5 lbs per US gallon. The more the better just make sure you dont get so much that you get dead spots.

If you buy cured liverock, yes you will still need to cycle the tank. Cured liverock isnt alway 100% cured and still has dead matter on the rock which will turn to ammonia and such. And yes with liverock you wont need a canaster filter.

As far as damage goes, its pretty much the same risks as a freshwater tank. just make sure you dont have open lights without some type of cover to protect the bulbs from any salt that might jump up from movement of the water at the surface.
No need to vent it to the outside. If you have a heat problem you can get a chiller to bring down the temp.

Using RO water is very inportant. Tap water can have phosphate and nitrate along with heavy metals and other stuff that you dont want in your reef. As for all the water parm. for a reef with many corals you should test Temp/pH/Ammonia/Nitrate/Nitrite/Alkilinity/Calcium/Strontium.

If you have any more questions dont be afraid to ask.