Alright, I've never kept a SW tank before and I have some questions.
I have a small tank that I'm currently housing my cichlids in, once I upgrade to a larger tank, I'm probably going to use the smaller tank as a SW tank. (I know I need to clean the tank out really well before use in SW.) I was talking to a guy at a Petco who claims to have had his SW 75g tank running for 3 years with only a Deep Sand Bed and a sump running as filtration, no protein skimmer. I asked him why he didn't use one and he said all it does is remove the store sold chemicals that are put into the water to help regulate it. I have read little about how protein skimmers work, but are they really necessary?
I have some questions about Corals as well, since when I set up my tank, I only want a reef tank, and maybe one fish (probably a clown fish). How sensitive are corals to ph and light? Do conditions have to be perfect? I've read that some corals are not good together due to toxins released by each one. What corals are good together? Are there certain groups of corals?
(I would really appreciate it if you spell everything out, rather than using abbreviations. Whenever I see a thread about SW I see abbreviations, and not knowing anything about SW, I get totally confused and don't know what people are talking about. Also, it could help me research more on my own if I know the actual name of the corals rather than the abbreviations, sorry if that's an inconvenience.)
I also heard that the key to the tank being good is the "worm colony" in the Deep Sand Bed. I know how DSB work, so no need to explain it. I'm know the worms and microorganisms come from the live rock.. The only thing I'm worried about is accidentally killing the bacteria in the live rock (I also know I need to cure the Live Rock by cycling it in a tank for weeks.) Also, to help jump start the bacteria, would it be suitable to take a little water/sand from the ocean? (I am aware this could introduce parasites and harmful things too) Sorry for all the questions, I am really in the dark about SW tanks. Thanks for reading, haha.
I have a small tank that I'm currently housing my cichlids in, once I upgrade to a larger tank, I'm probably going to use the smaller tank as a SW tank. (I know I need to clean the tank out really well before use in SW.) I was talking to a guy at a Petco who claims to have had his SW 75g tank running for 3 years with only a Deep Sand Bed and a sump running as filtration, no protein skimmer. I asked him why he didn't use one and he said all it does is remove the store sold chemicals that are put into the water to help regulate it. I have read little about how protein skimmers work, but are they really necessary?
I have some questions about Corals as well, since when I set up my tank, I only want a reef tank, and maybe one fish (probably a clown fish). How sensitive are corals to ph and light? Do conditions have to be perfect? I've read that some corals are not good together due to toxins released by each one. What corals are good together? Are there certain groups of corals?
(I would really appreciate it if you spell everything out, rather than using abbreviations. Whenever I see a thread about SW I see abbreviations, and not knowing anything about SW, I get totally confused and don't know what people are talking about. Also, it could help me research more on my own if I know the actual name of the corals rather than the abbreviations, sorry if that's an inconvenience.)
I also heard that the key to the tank being good is the "worm colony" in the Deep Sand Bed. I know how DSB work, so no need to explain it. I'm know the worms and microorganisms come from the live rock.. The only thing I'm worried about is accidentally killing the bacteria in the live rock (I also know I need to cure the Live Rock by cycling it in a tank for weeks.) Also, to help jump start the bacteria, would it be suitable to take a little water/sand from the ocean? (I am aware this could introduce parasites and harmful things too) Sorry for all the questions, I am really in the dark about SW tanks. Thanks for reading, haha.
