Starting My Reefing Journey

[ljwillyl]

Hello awesome reefers!

So I'm about to begin my beefing journey after hours and hours of videos and everyone's amazing but varied preferences I have just purchased my first tank the RedSea Reefer 625 xxl (they say to start as big as you can )

I'm looking for general advice from experienced reefers. Any advice is welcomed and very greatly appreciated.

I take delivery of my new (second hand) setup in the next week or two and I'd like to get prepared before hand.

I'm planning for a mixed reef starting with some hardy soft corals and cardinals, clowns etc then seeing how it goes from there obviously slow and steady taking my time.

How could I achieve adequate flow?

Which type of substrate do you use and your opinions on others?

What kind of filtration would you use besides skimmer and roller mat?

I could go on and on with the questions so I'll just wait and see how this thread goes first.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to your responses.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Welcome to the hobby. This article is a good starting point. Do as much reading and research as you can, this is a complex hobby at first. There's so much info to take in that we can't teach it to you in one post, better for you to do the research and then ask more direct questions.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Just remember the golden rule of reefing. Go slow. Don't rush into getting livestock or rush anything with your tank. All good things in this hobby happen if you take it slow

 

[ljwillyl]

Welcome to the hobby. This article is a good starting point. Do as much reading and research as you can, this is a complex hobby at first. There's so much info to take in that we can't teach it to you in one post, better for you to do the research and then ask more direct questions.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

This is amazing thanks so much!

One question i would like to ask without starting too much of a debate is:

What substrate do you prefer to use and what is the reasoning behind your choice?

 

[ljwillyl]

Just remember the golden rule of reefing. Go slow. Don't rush into getting livestock or rush anything with your tank. All good things in this hobby happen if you take it slow

I plan on taking my sweet time getting the perfect body of water before adding anything

 

[Gumbies R Us]

This is amazing thanks so much!

One question i would like to ask without starting too much of a debate is:

What substrate do you prefer to use and what is the reasoning behind your choice?

I am a fan of either Caribsea Live sand (this is what I used in my tank to start with, its thicker sand, doesn't blow around as easily as fine sand, and increased micro biome), Fiji Pink (Never used this sand but I love the look of it. Just keep in mind it is very fine), or using Tampa Bay Salt Water's live sand (have this in my pico tank, has incredible life in it and is a great way to give you a boost on your tanks micro biome).

 

[Uncle99]

Welcome to R2R!
I use Carib-Sea for sand.
For filtration, good porous rockwork is the backbone of your entire system.
You can start seasoning that right now in a brute trash can, some flow, and some bacteria.
Enjoy!

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome to R2R. :-)

 

[torombolo]

Welcome to R2R and this amazing Hobby, the only EXPERT advice I can give you is take it slow, take your time, don't fall into impulse buy's. I have become an expert in the mess up for impatient part of the hobby LOL

 

[ljwillyl]

Great responses I really appreciate them!

As for flow I have just ordered 2 of the Maxspect Gyre XF350CE. Has anyone used these and will I need some single heads also? Or should I just have one each end at different heights and angle some to create surface agitation and random flow patterns?

 

[lduncan]

The good old Berlin method is a great base to work off:

Live rock for the bulk of your biological filtration - harder to find these days, and the mined dry rock tends to be more dense and takes longer for your tank to mature when getting established.

Strong protein skimmer.

Good flow for getting as much detritus out of the tank to skimmer as possible.

High light.

Kalkwasser for maintaining calcium and alkalinity (two part for any residual supplementing after Kalkwasser is maxed out).

Today that Berlin method base is often modified to include a roller mat (mechanical filters like canisters were historically avoided as they left waste to sit and decompose in the water, roller mats largely solve that problem)

As for substrate I like bare bottom, for a few reasons
• Allows for high flow in the tank without blowing sand everywhere (I have a lot of SPS so that flow is necessary)
• Allows for easy manual detritus removal.

Sand or gravel substrates have some benefits over bare bottom, new systems with sand often mature faster, as the sand tends to provide and environment that allow bacterial populations to establish faster. Some also prefer the aesthetics of sand. If I were to do substrate in a tank, I'd probably lean more towards more a rubble size (5-10mm) than a fine sand. One of the reasons being you then aren't constrained in flow, it's easier to clean out the detritus which inevitably accumulates, and there's less chance of anoxic regions developing which can be disturbed.

For bare bottom tanks, people often incorporate marine pure style porous biological media in the sump to add more substrate for bacterial activity. Especially when the display uses the more dense dry rock products typically used today over live rock.

One of the best things you can do establishing a new tank, is to leave the lights off for as long as possible (months). Especially when starting with dry rock!