Hello

[Metal Militia]

I'm new to this whole reef aquarium thing. I currently have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium that has been up and running for a year. I'm here because I would like to learn about a having a reef aquarium aswell as both the pros and cons. I'm just a teenager with two expensive hobbies, drums and fish. I plan on buying a large aquarium when i can afford it, somewhere between a 250-500 gallon tank. I think big...haha. Oh yea, as for my set up, it's a glass 55 gallon, with emperor biowheel, uv sterilizer, 2 corner filters, various plants aswell as a fairly large piece of driftwood and a 2 1/2 in sand substrate. For my fish, I have 3 discus- 1 golden pidgeon blood - 1 golden dragon, 1-blue/red snakeskin type, an elephantnose, a silver angel, clown loach, golden gourami, and school of 10 neon tetras.(still more to come) I had a freshwater stingray but unfortunately it passed on a few days ago. It was not something wrong with my setup or water quality, the store keeper was quite impressed actually. He said it just happens to stingrays, they seem fine one minute and they're dead the next. Anyway just thought I'd introduce myself.

-Joe from Brooklyn, NY

 

[Gina]

:hallo: Joe and Welcome! Welcome to the world of reefing!!
Your freshwater sounds interesting, I would love to see some pics of it if you could post some!

Have you given any thought as to what type of reef you would like to set up? Don't be afraid to ask any question you may have. We are a friendly group here and love our new members!

 

[Rougiem]

Welcome to RS Joe!

You have come to the right pace. Ask away!

I use to do freshwater but am all salt now. Elephantnoses are really interesting fish though! How long have you had yours?

Cheers!

 

[Metal Militia]

I'll see if can get a picture for all to see. I haven't really given much thought to the type of reef, I'm not too familiar with the differences, besides the formation and areas, the only two I know of are a barrier reef (Austrailia) and a fringing reef (Carribean). As far as the different marine life that resides in each, I really don't know much. I am really just looking for something colorful as well as interesting. Interesting is probably more meaningful to me but it's always nice to have nice fish such as butterflys and angels. I have a strong relationship with all my fish, most will eat right out of my hand and don't mind when I have my hand inside of tank. -I have had my elephantnose for about 3 months, it sure is one wild fish in terms of both looks and behavior and sure loves blood worms.

-Joe

 

[Rougiem]

Hey Joe!

Sounds good.

I would suggest taking a look at our knowledge base under beginning reefkeeping. That may help you. You can design a reef based on an actual ecosystem, but it requires a lof of research I think to do it correctly. You are working in a closed system, so you may not be able to have all that may occur in the wild. They (fish, invertebrates, ect..) may just eat one another! In reference to what Gina asked you - reefs can also be determined by the types of corals you have - soft, SPS, LPS, ect. There are various lighting requirements for many of them along with consideration to water flow in your tank. I hope you find this helpful and like Gina said - We love to answer questions and love our new members!

 

[Metal Militia]

Well so far, I've gathered that I definitely would like to keep soft corals. Is there any particular area on this site, or any other site that could basically break down the main differences. I don't want to be a bother as I have so many questions. Honestly, I love diversity as might already be able to tell. I have done a little bit of reading up (btw I read up about a lot of things, pretty much everday actually) I have found out that:

LPS Corals- can tend to be more of an agressive coral as they have long sweeping tentacles with stingers and prefer medium-high might and medium current.
-Also that Plate corals release a slime coating which floats around the tank and will harm other corals.

SPS Corals- are less agressive, slightly weaker against both LPS corals and certain Soft Corals, and require high currents and high lighting.

Soft Corals- can release terpenoids (such as leathers), a chemical which will affect corals down current and also that they do well in medium light and current.

Polyps- also release terpenoids, mainly used against hard corals. (Xenia)

Mushrooms- are the least aggressive type of corals with the weakest sting and that they have the highest tolerance of all other corals in terms of lighting, current, and water quality making that their main defense system.

Anemones - have the strongest sting but are usually not suitable for marine aquariums as they are very mobile and will roam about the tank stinging any other corals that get in its way. The only reccommended anemones are Bubble anemones.
_________________________________________________________________
Let me know if you would like to correct or add anything to this information. Thanks a lot, I really do appreciate it. If there's anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask, especially with Discus as I am experienced with keeping them.

-Joe

 

[Woodstock]

Well written Joe! I see you've been doing your homework

 

[Rougiem]

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/knowledgebase/browselinks.php?c=8

Take a look at the link above. Very good stuff there.

Hey Joe...you are never being a bother here! That is why we are all here.

There are a lot of soft corals (Ricordias, mushrooms, goniopora as examples). I have polyps in my tank. They are 2 species of zoas (yellow zoas and orange with bright green). These are lower light requirement species and have lower water flow requirements. They are good beginner corals. Here is a picture of my orange greens :http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/5842/cat/509/page/1

Please keep asking...Someone will have an answer or I will help you find someone that can answer your questions.

Good job on your homework too! Hope this is helpful to you.

Cheers!

 

[Gina]

That was exactly what I meant.
Are you interested in keeping corals? If so, what type of corals would you want?
Maybe, it's just fish with LR?

Alot of what you may want to keep will also determine what type of Lighting you will need, what kind of flow you tank will need, etc...etc.

Like mentioned above, ask away! That's one of the reasons we are here! To help each other out with our own experiences and to learn from one another.