Help me get started with my recent adoption of an abandoned reef tank.

[Sniperhank]

Well, the deal sounds pretty good to me. Ro/di is really important when it comes to keeping corals successfully. I had mine hooked up to my horrible well water. Resin would last about a month. Now that I've moved into town, I've made more water than I could have ever hoped to create without a dent in my resin. It all depends on what the TDS going into the ro/di unit is and what is in it on how fast your resin will be depleted.

[A Little Fishy]

Okay, he's changed the desk on me now, 200$ for the tank and all the equipment, and 200$ for the RODI, so the change is that now there's no fish going with it, so I'm planning a clean up crew, add I'm talking to a local fish supplier, and he is telling me this isn't enough http://m.liveaquaria.com/product/pro...68&pcatid=1368 won't the fuge also keep all the nitrogen low?

[bribo12]

Arrow crabs, sally light foots, peppermint shrimp and coral banded aren't really cuc imo. They just eat whatever food gets added to the tank. The crabs may eat some algae but imo crabs suck. I had an emerald that decided acropora polyps were his favorite food. They tend to become nuisances after a while. Coral banded shrimp can be jerks as well as peppermints and the sally light foot which get huge. As far as cuc that cleans the tank while snails and hermits will eat algae and detritus they still poop and create nitrate. You don't even need a cuc to have a successful tank. As long as you're doing wcs and maintaining everything in the tank it will be fine. I can't even have hermits or snails in my 40 as my wrasse flips them and kills them and my tank has done fine.

[A Little Fishy]

Also am I completely out by thinking they'll repopulate if they're fed a consistent algee source?

[Sniperhank]

Very rarely will you see any type of crab or snail successfully reproducing in the home aquarium. I've had snails lay eggs throughout my tanks in the past, never 1 new snail. I'm sure there are many reasons behind this, but the most easy to understand is that it all becomes fish food.

[A Little Fishy]

Well the quantity and types of cuc I'll be getting, are going to be sufficient for the algee growth in a 125g

[bribo12]

If you are maintaining wcs and watching nutrient input and export you don't need a cuc is what I have been trying to tell you. They contribute to the bioload as well so having a lot of them will just contribute more to algae.

[A Little Fishy]

I am sorry reefing community for wasting your time, as for the owner of the tank, just all of a sudden drew out of a deal he already made with me, I am feeling as if I have had the the whole month I've spent with nothing but asking questions and getting replies but I am really hurt from this, there is no way I'll ever be able to get into reefing, this was my shot and as quickly as I jumped on it he pulled it away, I am sorry for wasting your guy's whole month plus your expertise. Thanks, and I guess I might as well give up. Thanks for it all.
-A Little Fishy