New saltwater tank questions

[Dadodvd17]

Hi! I'm currently looking to get a saltwater tank, mainly coral. Maybe 2 clowns. Something basic, looking at a nano tank 10-20 gallons on a budget, any suggestions on how to move forward, do I need a skimmer (advantages vs disadvantages) and also types of lights.


Thank you!

 

[ImACoolguy]

Hello!

If you want to check out my thread I'm in the same boat! I'm doing a 10g nano reef. I'm a newbie at saltwater as well so it's pretty basic stuff right now.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=334853


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[Sniperhank]

Small tanks can easily avoid a skimmer. For coral, you should research what you want to keep as lighting will be your biggest expense. Almost everytime someone gets into corals they end up upgrading lighting because of them thinking the light will do more than it can. With such a tank, I'd suggest one of the taotronics panels. It would cover the whole tank and you can then keep anything photosynthetic you want.

 

[Dadodvd17]

Small tanks can easily avoid a skimmer. For coral, you should research what you want to keep as lighting will be your biggest expense. Almost everytime someone gets into corals they end up upgrading lighting because of them thinking the light will do more than it can. With such a tank, I'd suggest one of the taotronics panels. It would cover the whole tank and you can then keep anything photosynthetic you want.

okay cool! since i'm trying to avoid the skimmer, what type of filter should i use? (brand, model please) thank you for the information on lighting, currently looking online for them!

 

[Sniperhank]

You want to have one lbs of rock and sand per gallon in the tank. That is your main biological filter.
For a reef tank, I typically suggest a sump setup. This is a body of water under or behind the tank where you can place additional equipment. In such you can then choose whatever kind of filtration or nitrate removal method your heart desires. In mine I have a protein skimmer, my heater, an algae turf scrubber, an automatic top off, and run a dual reactor for chemical media out of it.