Treading (nervously) into new saltier waters

[pictuslover23]

So where do I start?? After four months of "maybe later" and "soon" I've given up on my dreams of a 150 gallon frontosa tank. For now. Anyhow I've chosen to focus on a completely new path in the aquarium hobby: nano reef keeping. My mom loves my freshwater tank but thinks its too dull to keep in the living room so I've decided to take my savings for the frontosa tank and put it into starting a nano reef display tank. I've been doing research for about two weeks and all that has done is confuse the heck out of me. So my main questions are:

Tank size: what's best to start with? I know that smaller amounts I water can be really temperamental, but I'd really like to stay away from sizes that would require me to need a skimmer.

Lighting: what do I choose? How many wpg? Colors? Brands?

Live rock/sand: cultured or harvested from the ocean? Do I get ones with corals already on them? I've seen a bunch of different live rock from different places, which one is best??

Heating: temps? Brands of heaters?

Filtration: would and aquaclear be ok for mechanical? Would carbon be needed? What about biomax?

Livestock: For cleanup crew I was thinking some kind of shrimp and turbo snails? As for corals. I have no hot clue. Any advice or links would be greatly appreciated on that. Lastly for fish, i was hoping for a pair of percula (?) clowns. Would I need some type of anemone for them (if this is a stupid question I'm sorry >.>).

Anything else anyone has to add that I probably missed it would be greatly appreciated. Also, thanks for reading this whole question explosion!

[pictuslover23]

Parameters!! I totally forgot to ask about parameters!! Is 8.2 a good ph??

[carey]

In my experience I've found that you don't really need a skimmer if your tank is less than 55g or so. You will just have to religious with your water changes.

Clowns don't NEED an anemone so don't worry about that. Plus a nem shouldnt go into a nano tank and it should only be attempted to keep one after say 6 months or so when your tank is established.
Lights are up to what you want to keep. If you do want a nem or other light loving corals you will need a couple of T5 bulbs, 4 seems to be a good number. But it also will matter how deep the tank is that youre thinking of getting.
If under 55g then I think an aquaclear would be good for mechanical filtration. Your live rock pretty much accounts for like 80% of your biological filtration.
And the last thing to comment on is the tank size. I would really suggest getting the biggest tank you can afford/fit in your house. I started with a 29g and I found it to be a good size for starting out.

Hope I helped a little bit! Good Luck!!

[Ibrahim]

40g is my favorite. It's not too small or too large. It's also wide so more room for fish to swim and for you to aquascape

[carey]

I gotta admit 40B tanks are pretty nifty. But as far as starting out I would say a 55 or 75 would be optimum.

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by carey

I gotta admit 40B tanks are pretty nifty. But as far as starting out I would say a 55 or 75 would be optimum.

Yeah a 75g would be good too. Just didn't mention it because you may need to buy more for it such as a skimmer and stronger lights, space may also be an issue. Whatever you decide to go with I'll still follow the build

[pictuslover23]

Alright so after some thinking, I've decided to use my 28g fw tank. My friend is starting up a 55g fw and loves my stock so I figured I'd sell my babies to her ( I trust her with my life, that's the only reason I'm comfortable with this). My pictus would love the much needed extra room so it's all settled.
I've also decided to leave stocking alone until I know how my lighting is going to go. Right now the hood for that tank has a single 100w stock light. I'm thinking I'm going to need a new hood all together. I've seen lots of reef tanks with an open top and a suspended light. I understand that this is to keep the heat under control. Are there any online places you guys would recommend?? I've tried live aquaria and places like that but they don't ship to Canada. Any Canucks out there know any good sites?? My local stores are wayyy over priced. Lastly the tank is about 20 inches tall if that makes any difference.

[pictuslover23]

I've been thinking and I might just leave the corals out until I get a feel for sw. I'm thinking FOWLR.