Posted by gerard on March 10, 2010 under Aquarium Info, Reef Info | 
Ok so your new to the saltwater aquarium hobby and now you want to start to build your reef and load it up with coral frags. That’s awesome! You are going to love it. But as with my “Top 5 fish for beginners” post I will also state here to take it slow.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do first. Go out and buy a 150W-250W metal halide or T5 lighting system for 300+ dollars so you can put some hard corals in your tank. If you have a basic setup with Power Compacts that is fine for soft corals. Let’s start with some soft corals and work our way up.
This list of coral’s all have a few things in common. They are all pretty hardy. As long as you keep your water parameters good, you shouldn’t have any issues. Just remember a couple things when it comes to care and food. Buy yourself a bottle of Seachem Reef Iodide (I have been putting about 1.5ML in my 29 gallon biocube 2 times a week for the past year) and a bottle Two Little Fishies Marine Snow. (I have been doing 1 capful 3 times a week in my 29 gallon biocube.)
These coral’s do not require calcium to live. They do not need high powered metal halide or T5 lighting. A stock 29 gallon biocube can support all these coral’s.
Do your water changes every 2 weeks and your coral will spread like wildfire. Take your time, work slowly until you feel comfortable with your corals. If they are thriving then great. Then you can work your way up to the hard corals and upgrade your lighting system.
Top 5 coral’s for beginners:
- Zoanthid’s
- Star Polyp’s
- Xenia
- Leather
- Mushroom Coral
Tags: coral frags, hard corals, iodide, lighting system, marine snow, metal halide, mushroom, polyp, power compacts, reef, soft corals, water parameters, xenia
Posted by gerard on March 20, 2009 under Aquarium Info, Reef Info |
What’s the best nano reef aquarium? Many people always ask that question. There are so many to choose from. So many different brands, so many different prices. What should I buy?
We are going to talk about a few of the top players in the nano reef aquarium industry. But the first thing you need to do is decide a couple things. What do you want in an aquarium? A fish only tank, a fish only with live rock tank or a reef tank. The reason I start off with this question is because all the new nano tanks out today have various lighting configurations. If you want a fish only or fish only with live rock then compact flourescent lighting will definitely be sufficient. If you want a reef but you only want to do soft corals then compact flourescent lighting will be sufficient. But if you want a reef with hard corals then you are going to need the stronger stuff. Either a T5 or a metal halide lighting system. Which leads to the second question. How much do you want to spend? The big price differences start to apply when you are picking out your lighting. A 29 gallon oceanic biocube with compact flourescents will run you about 300 bucks. A 28 jbj nano cube with metal halide lighting will cost about 500 bucks.
The top players in the nano aquarium industry are Oceanic. They make the biocube which comes in 8, 14 and 29 gallon versions. JBJ makes the nano-cube which comes in 12, 24 and 28 gallon versions, RedSea makes the RedSea MAX which comes in a 34 gallon version and Current-USA makes the Aquapod, the Cardiff and the Solana which all vary in sizes from 12 to 37 gallons.
You really can not go wrong with any of these aquariums. They are all well constructed and will suit your nano aquarium just fine. Some of these models also include protein skimmers which if you are doing a reef is ideal.
If you are in the market for a new nano aquarium I would check out these 4 brands. I personally think the 28 gallon HQI Nano Cube is the most bang for your buck. You can get it at marine depot with a stand for around 500 bucks. There you will have a built in protein skimmer and the metal halide lighting which would basically set you up for anything you want to do whether it be reef or fish only.
The Current-USA solana tanks are geogeous but expensive. Cheapest start around 750 bucks.
All in all if you stick with these brands you will be good to go. You just have to decide what you ultimately want to do. If you think there’s a chance you are going to want to start a reef with some hard corals then shell out for the metal halide so you dont have to upgrade 6 months from now.
If you already have your nano then cast your vote here in our “Best Nano Aquarium” Poll.
Tags: aquapod, aquarium industry, aquariums, biocube, Cardiff, compact flourescent lighting, compact flourescents, hard corals, jbj nano cube, lighting system, metal halide lighting, nano aquarium, nano reef aquarium, protein skimmers, redsea max, reef tank, rock tank, solana, t5
