Reef Aquarium Tanks

To assure this last point is clear. Having low (less than ten ppm) nitrate is desirable, but not essential with fish only, live rock and algae systems.

Your goal in preparing an environment suitable to support your animal livestock is to first get populations of these two bacteria groups going in your new aquarium.

Graph of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate concentrations ver

reef aquarium tanks

As promoters of ideas to general audiences, there are reasons for forwarding generalizations about how big is big enough and hence I have oft-stated (and stand by) my suggestion that forty gallons is a good minimum for a beginner marine system. This is large enough to provide living space, allow for landscaping and grants enough leeway should the "power go out", something die, overfeeding occur

Smaller systems are inherently less stable, more prone to crash, less flexible functionally and esthetically. Plus, surprising to some, no real cost-savings per gallon

There are some amazingly knowledgeable people in the club who are very generous with their experience, their time and their talents. It really is an honor to learn from their wealth of experience in this hobby."

So, yes, given not so common sense, investigation and commitment, you too can have fabulous small reef systems. IMO, more people are likely to have more success starting off with larger systems, but I am very glad to count Tom Walsh as a mini-minireef success story and friend.

And as much fun as it is to collect the coolest coral fragments out there and show them off to your friends, there WILL come a time when you are hauling all of those same frags out of the tank and into temporary storage when your six year old cracks the side of the display tank with a pool ball or some other calamity occurs.

2) Study! Spend time on the internet, in books and watching nature shows on reefs BEFORE you get your animals. Understand the anim

A Whisper Air pump powers the airstones. The Skilter cartridges are changed every other week and the airstones every other month.

Each tank also has a mechanical filter backup. There is a Marineland Penguin 160 on one, and a Millennium 2000 on the other. Cartridges on both of these are changed weekly.

Water, and a Lot More: Tom uses tap water to make up his synthetic seawater! He tried one of the in-line water purifiers but found there was no noticeable difference whether or not he used it or not, so he

Mini-Aquariums
College classes are beginning, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on pets just because you live in a dorm or small apartment. Mini-aquariums can be....

Mud sump
Hi, my husband is starting a new 170 gal tank with a 100 gal mud sump for me. Is it ok to take maybe a third of the mud from my 50 gal mud sump and use it like a sourdough starter? How long would it take for it to cycle? Thanks.