reef tank

[amehel0]

i need help with setting up a reef tank. it will be a 30x24x24 tank. i want to keep xenia and rose annenome. first question is are they compatible(lighting, nutrient levels, temperature etc.)? do i need a w/d if i have a lot of live rock?(and sand). i willbe using RO water every water change (20% every week). do ineed to add anyadditives such as ph up and dh up and nutrients and stuff like that.

 

[Reefscape]

Yes, there is no problems keeping them in a tank of that size providing lighting is of sufficient level, more so for the Rose...

Providing you have 1 - 1.5lbs of live rock per gallon of tank water, you wont be needing any other filtration. Ro water is good, but would suggest you only really need to change about 10% per week on the water changes.

Additive wise, if you using a good salt like Reef Crystals, you should not have to add additives as the salt itself should hopefully buffer your pH to somewhere around 8.1 - 8.4 providing your Ro water is around 7.1 - 7.3..The only thing that may need to be added is calcium, but that all depends on the levels of coral stocking in the tank. People to tend to have a need to add more calcium, or use a calcium reactor when mainly stocking hard corals, as softies dont really take that much from the water column..

Hope that helps

Niko

 

[Pufferpunk]

I use Reef Crystals & still dose Ca & Alk daily. You will have to wait until yout thak has steady parameters for at least 6-12 months, before adding an anemone. I am very pleased with my T5s for keeping anything I want.

 

[sweeTang21]

i agree that t-5s are probably going to be your best bet. they run cheap and dont creat a ton of heat to deal with. the rose is going to be a sensative organsim and you may need to a wait while on that. get some fish going to keep the tank cycled. watch your pH because most of the time, salt does nothing for that. any kind of reef builder chemical will do as long as its for raising the pH. if your shooting for a full blown reef then your going to want to concentrate your effort in effective protein skimming and LR, LS. i would maybe even get a small refugium just for safe measure. good luck.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I keep my alk/pH up with cooked baking soda mixed with RO water.

 

[amehel0]

okay i am gonna run a wet dry as well with calcium as the media to buffer. i have decided i will be going mh for lighting and i may up the size of the tank. so 10% of water every week and the salt itself should up the calcium levels?

 

[sweeTang21]

water changes help but with a high coral and fish load you will find that your calcium levels can drop rapidly. dripping kalkwasser or using liquid calcium is a good method of keeping calcium levels high. this however requires testing so i would get used to it lol. you could also use a calcium reactor. i would only use this if the tank is big enough because these can be a bit of pain to get setup. keep the calcium high and your corals will be rather healthy, along with good water quality in general, and you will also find that your coraline algae will start to grow at a good clip as well.

 

[amehel0]

okay so i have a diy calcium reactor and it works. so all i need to worry about is the calcium levels in between water changes as far as ph level?

 

[sweeTang21]

i lucked out, my ph stays very stable and with the water changes theres no difference becasue the new water is that same. i now of a few buddies of mine who actually add small amount of buffer to there tank becasue there coral and fish loads are high enough to be using eveything in the water lol. heavy skimming can actually cause a small amount of this as well. the best thing to do is to monitor for a while and then when the tank reaches a more mature point the changes should start to relax a bit. correct as needed wheather it be adding buffer agents or doing a small water change. non the less you should have adequite surface water movement, this will allow the gas exchange and this should keep your ph rather stable, and hopefully you wont have a problem with it.