New to Reef2Reef and saltwater tank

[dans_tank]

Hello all, my name is Dan. My wife and I recently decided that we would like to start a saltwater tank. Our end goal is to have a reef tank. We have some experience with a freshwater tank (years ago), but not much. We will be using the same 36 gallon bow front tank that we used for our freshwater tank. To be honest, we're a little overwhelmed by the amount of information that is out there about saltwater tanks. I've been doing a lot of reading online, but will probably be heavily relying on things like this forum for guidance. Speaking of which, are there any general tips worth mentioning?
We do have some general initial questions:
1. What kind of filter should we use? We won't be using a separate tank for the filters and other items, at least not at first, so it'll have to go in/on our main tank.
2. We're leaning towards using LED lights. Any recommendations? Is that a good idea for a small tank like ours?
3. Do we need to get a RO/DI filter to fill our tank? Some sites say it's okay to use tap water while others say that the copper lines the tap water goes through adds copper to the system, which is toxic.
Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to interacting with this forum.

 

[fishroomlady]

a solid amount of live rock with a little sand will be th ebulk of your filter - I think a skimmer is an important piece of equipment to use - there are some good hang-ons - I would also suggest using a regular hang-on filter that you can put media in as well as a way to polish your water (remove detritrus). You'll need a couple of nice powerheads as well because water movement is critical.

I'm sorry i can't help on LED's - I use T5's

ABSOLUTELY use RO/DI water - the easiest way to make sure you get high quality water is to make your own. Starting out with high quality water is the best thing you can do for your tank in the beginning and in the long-run......never use tap

Welcome to the hobby and it's great that you both are entering this adventure together

 

[Reefing Madness]

#1- Biggest skimmer you can fit on the tank, minimum of at least twice your total water volume.

#2- Look through this link, there are a bunch of LED light links in there for you to go through.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...tion/163141-opinions-lights-new-hobby-me.html

#3- Need an RO/DI? No you don't need one, or have to have one, but it sure beats trying to use chems to get rid of all the crap that is a part of tap water. But for a start up with fish only, no its not essential.

 

[Karen]

Welcome! My filtration consists of live rock and live sand. After buying the live sand I have been reading that it is not necessary to buy your sand live, just dry sand and a cupful of sand from an established aquarium to seed the sand with the beneficial critters needed. Some even start with dry rock.

 

[mike007]

Welcome to r2r!!!

 

[dans_tank]

Thank you all for the welcomes and tips.

Update:
We were having trouble finding a stand for our 36 gallon bow front. We ended up buying a 50 gallon bow front with stand on Craigslist. Hopefully the large tank will make it a little easier to stabilize the tank for us newbies.

 

[revhtree]

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