What equipment do I ACCUALLY need to have a flourishing Coral tank?

[Krixic]

Hello! Im fairly new to reefing, something I am a bit confused about is the equipment I need to have a flourishing tank. I hear people who have calcium reactors, GFO and Carbon reactors, UV Lights, ect. Im a bit overwhelmed by all of these things and was wondering if they truely are needed? I plan I having a sump with a skimmer, filteration and refugium as well as a dosing set up. Are reactors nessecary? They seem like an easy way to over complicate things in a tank. I plan on having a semi-heavily planted coral tank with the possiblity of anenomies being introduced farther down the line along with fish. Thanks!

 

[tsouth]

Bare necessities?

Water movement (powerheads), a heater, appropriate lighting for what you want to keep, Ro/Di (Ideally), bucket o salt, and a test kit (Ammonia, Ph, Nitrites/trates)

You can get very far with water changes only.

You don't need much more filtration aside from a protein skimmer, or even a refugium, and definitely not a dosing setup.

I would advise you begin from the basics, and understand that in this hobby - you should consider purchasing something when you're trying to A. Solve a problem or B. Improve your quality of life. I can't urge you enough to do research on the "why's" for all of these things. For example, a refugium is a means of nitrate reduction through the growth of macro algae. Therefore, if you do not need to reduce nitrates, there's no need to have a refugium. This doesn't mean you can't prepare for one in the future by having a sump with a refugium compartment available.

 

[Dave Cureton]

People keep reefs in flower vases. It doesn’t take much. Vessel for holding salt water, light, water movement cover the absolute basics. Ideally a heat source and something to replenish elements would be closer to ideal. It sounds like you’re on the right track. I have found gfo/carbon reactors to be a pain and use another valuable outlet space. I have run them passively in the past and would again.

 

[Krixic]

Bare necessities?

Water movement (powerheads), a heater, appropriate lighting for what you want to keep, Ro/Di (Ideally), bucket o salt, and a test kit (Ammonia, Ph, Nitrites/trates)

You can get very far with water changes only.

You don't need a much filtration aside from a protein skimmer, or even a refugium, and definitely not a dosing setup.

I would advise you begin from the basics, and understand that in this hobby - you should consider purchasing something when you're trying to A. Solve a problem or B. Improve your quality of life. I can't urge you enough to do research on the "why's" for all of these things. For example, a refugium is a means of nitrate reduction through the growth of macro algae. Therefore, if you do not need to reduce nitrates, there's no need to have a refugium. This doesn't mean you can't prepare for one in the future by having a sump with a refugium compartment available.

Gotcha. Believe me I have spent more hours than I'd like to admit reading fourms and watching videos on these topics but there seems to be so many different things that its easy to get overwhelmed. I heard refugiums are also a great way to produce pods which are good food for certain fish and anenomies, is this true?

Im potentially buying a used tank and it comes with some bells and whistles succh as a dosing set up so I figured "why not". Should I put it aside untilmneeded? One thing I learned from my planted tanks is how sometimes ferts are not even nessesary as fish, food and other things may already contribute to the proper amounts of required elements that the plants need to grow. Is this the same case for reef tanks?

 

[Krixic]

People keep reefs in flower vases. It doesn’t take much. Vessel for holding salt water, light, water movement cover the absolute basics. Ideally a heat source and something to replenish elements would be closer to ideal. It sounds like you’re on the right track. I have found gfo/carbon reactors to be a pain and use another valuable outlet space. I have run them passively in the past and would again.

Gotcha, thanks!

 

[blasterman]

People may keep corals in flower pots but many of nano bowls suffer big problems and a sudden stagnation.

Dont get a tank bigger than you need. If possible get something smaller and then migrate rock and corals. Best way for beginners to learn. If you cant grow coral in a 29 standard you wont grow coral in a 125gal.

Do not over-freakin-stock with fish. That's easily the biggest mistake beginners make.

Unfortunately there's a lot of signal to noise in this hobby: UV LEDs, etc. Look at people who have thriving reef tanks and you will see they all follow about 90% of the same formula.

 

[Krixic]

People may keep corals in flower pots but many of nano bowls suffer big problems and a sudden stagnation.

Dont get a tank bigger than you need. If possible get something smaller and then migrate rock and corals. Best way for beginners to learn. If you cant grow coral in a 29 standard you wont grow coral in a 125gal.

Do not over-freakin-stock with fish. That's easily the biggest mistake beginners make.

Unfortunately there's a lot of signal to noise in this hobby: UV LEDs, etc. Look at people who have thriving reef tanks and you will see they all follow about 90% of the same formula.

I see! Thank you.

 

[SPR1968]

There are many things you dont need, but it depends very much on the type of reef you want to create and the size of It.

You have to remember your trying to simulate the conditions In a real reef enviroment, and if you can do that the corals will generally flourish. If you can do this without things like protein skimmers, fine, but it will be difficult.

You also need to keep parameters stable, and some of the equipment like reactors help. A reactor is just something to hold types of media, there not complicated.

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