I would like to attempt a small coral reef tank

[MyCatsDrool]

I have a lovely 6.6 gallon/25 litre acrylic aquarium that I would like to attempt a small reef in. I have never done saltwater before, but have kept freshwater fish and plants for some time.

I have been reading about this quite a bit, and believe I want to do biological only filtration with a deep sand bed and live rock. At this time, I do not plan to keep any fish, only soft corals and invertabrates.
While I recognise this is the more difficult path for introduction into saltwater tanks, please do not discourage me. This is what I desire. I do not want a large saltwater tank or saltwater fish, and believe a coral only large tank without fish would be something of a shame. Also, cost prohibits me from purchasing the equipment needed for a larger aquarium.

I plan to add 15 pounds of cured figi live rock, as well as a mixture of dead aragonite, live sand and some crushed coral. My water tends to be soft and acidic, which is why I plan to add the coral. I am planning for a 4 inch sand bed.
I also plan to cycle the tank with only the live rock and sand, and whatever creatures may come on the rock.
My questions include how many watts of lighting per gallon are needed to raise corals? Also, how does cycling a saltwater tank differ from a freshwater tank? Lastly, other than using cured rock as opposed to uncured rock, how can I avoid aispista and bubble algae from the start?

I appreciate any help in advance!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Hey, MyCatsDrool. Sounds like you've done alot of research, that's great.

Before you questions, how tall is your tank? Just making sure you realize that a 4 inch DSB is going to take away alot of room in your tank, and you can have a great source of biological filtration with just more liverock. 15 lbs is a great number. Nothing wrong with a DSB, but just throwing that out there.

About the crushed coral, your salt will buffer your water to be hard and alkaline automatically. Unless your water is VERY soft and VERY acidic, I don't see the need to add crushed coral. Again, just my opinion. It can cause problems with nitrates, which is why alot of people don't add it.

As for lighting, all depends on the coral you want. Measure the width across your aquarium top first and find a fixture to match that size. My guess is that you'll have to go with a Power Compact Fixture. Shoot for more than 4 wpg. That opens up your choices to everything but some sps corals and clams.

Cycling a saltwater tank doesn't differ much from a fw tank. Cured rock won't give you much cycling power, but adding live sand will help. My suggestion is to use a raw shrimp. Pop one in the tank and let it work it's magic (ie: decay and produce alot of ammonia), as well as adding in your liverock and sand. You'll still be watching for the same thing, a hike in ammonia, followed by nitrite, then nitrate. Ideal 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <10 nitrate.

Finally, there really is no way to avoid aipstasia and bubble algae other than to look for it beforehand. I (think) though that aipstasia are an Atlantic species...however I could be wrong. Bubble algae isn't as common, however I did get some with my Florida rock. Aipstasia is easy to get rid of too, if you catch it from the start.

HTH

 

[roka64]

If you are interested in bio filtration, most recommend 1.5-2LBs of LR/base rock (cheaper and will become live) for proper filtration.
You may want to rethink the DSB. Some like it but it can have a build up of dead space. Try to shoot for 2-3 inches.
About the CC, keep in mind the sand will sift to the bottom and the CC will stay on the top and limit your clean up crew. It also gets dirty. I had it in mine and ended up removing it.

I also plan to cycle the tank with only the live rock and sand, and whatever creatures may come on the rock.

That will work great.
I would at least look into on or two small fish for your tank, otherwise you are stuck just looking at corals, but that is a personal preference.
Here are some great suggestions from liveaquaria.com:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=2124

Also, how does cycling a saltwater tank differ from a freshwater tank?

As far as I know, they are similar, the only difference, from my understanding, is different bacteria.

Lastly, other than using cured rock as opposed to uncured rock, how can I avoid aispista and bubble algae from the start?

You could visually inspect the rock, but that is still no guarantee. Maybe boil the rock (which I wouldn't do, personally).

 

[MyCatsDrool]

Thank you both for your replies. I have somewhat revised my plans, after more reading last night. One of the things I am going to change is rather than using a very small aquarium right away, despite my original pompousness about it, I am going to use a 20 gallon high tank. I feel I will have greater success with my new plan of action.
Last night I stumbled upon a company called Tampa Bay Saltwater. I must say, despite many reports of nuisence creatures that come with their "Package" such as mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs, I am wholly impressed with their prices and product. I believe I am going to order their "Package" for a 20 gallon tank.
I am going to have to go much slower, due to the higher cost of the initial setup, but here is my set up plan.

I intend to purchase a JEBO protein skimmer, a refratometer, and t-5 lighting (2*28 watt 24 inch dual strips with 50/50 actinic lighting).
I plan to use the 25 litre aquarium still as a quarentine and grow out tank, possibly even a refugium for pesty mantis/gorilla crabs or sump if I can get my partner to help me rig something up.
Also, I am very interested in mandarin dragonette fish, and hopefully a larger 20 gallon tank will allow me to keep one. I doubt I will want more than 1 or 2 fish. I am mostly interested in corals, anemones and invertebrates at this time.
How do you feel about the Tampa Bay Saltwater product? It seems popular, and the information on their website really impressed me.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Sounds like a plan. The TBS liverock is topnotch. Look for posts from Newfound and Mike469. They both have documented their TBS experiences on here. I've heard lots of good stuff.

Mandarins are very tough to keep, due to the fact that they need continuous sources of live foods, pods. I would not attempt this until you have a very aged and active refugium in which to grow them out.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

Thank you for that piece of advice. I plan to wait quite some time before adding such a fish. I may add a perc clown or other beginner type goby at the beginning (after the cycle is complete, of course) or maybe a pair of damsels. My goal would be to have an environment safe for a mandarin some day; I am thinking a year of success with my tank and I will reward myself with one of these lovely fish. I have patience (learned from freshwater tanks) and time.
At this point, I have decided on a 20 gallon aquarium, a 10 gallon sump/refugium tank (I want the refugium for pests, filtration, food such as copopods, and 10 gallons for a sump so that I make the total volumn 30 gallons which is recommended for my goal fish).
I have done quite a bit more reading this evening and have more questions, specifically about sumps.
It took me some time to grasp the entire concept. But now I believe I am starting to understand. My questions are:
Where should the hole for the bulkhead be drilled in the tank (height wise)?
What is a return pump? Is this the same as a power head? How much return pump power do I need and how do i match the overflow to the return?
What is a bubble trap in simple term? What is the purpose?
What is a bubble valve regulator? Where can I get one and how does it work to regulate the return?

Thank you.
Also, if this should be moved to the saltwater beginners forum, please do so. I apologize for not starting this there.

 

[lando]

I am going to use a 20 gallon high tank

If you do not already have the tank, I suggest getting a 20L instead. It will give you more surface area on top for better gas exchange and allow for better lighting of corals, due to less depth the light will need to penetrate. If you already have the 20H or space is an issue, it will work okay as well.
I agree on the manderin. Just not a good option for thta size of tank.

 

[hc8719]

cost prohibits me from purchasing the equipment needed for a larger aquarium.

then i wouldnt recommend a coral tank, halide lighting and moonlights are expensive to buy and maintain

 

[roka64]

I think Lando might have meant a 20G. I agree, you probably don't want a 20G tall, I have a feeling you will have pH troubles. If you haven't purchased it yet, go with the regular 20G.....Lando, forgive me if I misspoke for you!

 

[An t-iasg]

I think Lando meant 20 gallon Long, not 20 litres.

 

[lando]

I think Lando meant 20 gallon Long, not 20 litres.

Correct! Sorry for the confusion