Hello AA

[JSPK]

Hello AA,

My name's John. I now have an empty 30 gallon fish tank and am hoping to make it a reef tank. I am a little experienced with freshwater tanks and I hope to learn much about salt water aquariums. I am a bit unfamiliar with lots of terms and how a salt water aquarium works. Could anyone please link me to a thread or web page where I can start setting up my reef without anything live (coral, rock), the only LFS is PetSmart and I will be ordering other parts on the internet in the future.

Thanks

 

[jessicasmarine]

To start a S/W tank all you need is salt, sand, and dry or live rock.
Melevsreef.com - Reef Tanks!
Fishless Cycling Made Easy
Step by Step Guide to Setting up a Reef Tank - Reef Setup
To get it running properly for a reef you need a lot more.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard.

 

[JSPK]

Okay, so at my LFS I can purchase salt and sand. But, will Pet Smart sell live rock? I'm not sure.

I was thinking about buying all the utilities first.
I don't want anything cheap and want to get my money's worth.
I was thinking about purchasing these: Tunze Nano Reefpack 200
and Eco-lamps ONLINE SHOP
I am also going to purchase a new heater and powerhead. (visi-therm and aquaclear)
I already have both thermometer and hydrometer.

 

[Flake]

Petco supposedly sells it. I'd just go through your lfs for that.

What is the reef pack? I can't figure it out from the website? is it a skimmer or some sort of filtration?

 

[Sharkbait430]

Welcome to AA!

First of all, Flake, I think it's both a skimmer and filtration, I'm not entirely sure if it will be good or not so I will let the experts comment on that one.

JSPK, I would ditch the hydrometer and get yourself a refractometer. You will be amazed at how much more accurate they are and it will definitely pay off. IMO. They are ~$41.99 at drsfostersmith.com. Also, look into marcorocks.com for dry base rock (nice and cheap yet good quality) and then you can get some pieces of LR from an LFS...OR...go to intmarinefish.com and get some LR from there because they have free overnight shipping.

Hope this helps =)

 

[JSPK]

.OR...go to intmarinefish.com and get some LR from there because they have free overnight shipping.

Hope this helps =)

Wow, that's a really good deal. My tank hasn't been started yet, but is there a specific way to contain the live rock without having my tank started?

 

[Sharkbait430]

Wow, that's a really good deal. My tank hasn't been started yet, but is there a specific way to contain the live rock without having my tank started?

If you have some premixed SW, I would get a rubbermaid container with the SW, heater, and a PH - then you can keep the LR in there. If you get it from marcorocks.com, obviously its dry rock so you can do the same to start the curing process.

 

[jessicasmarine]

Good advice, its also a good time to make sure its cured all the way.