Types of Reef Tanks

[Terrance]

Is this information accurate?
Types of Reef Tanks

I'm having difficulty determining what kind of reef tank I want for my 46g. Like many beginners, I want colorful corals for the family to enjoy. What type of reef tank do you guys recommend?

I have not bought any light yet, but I do have 2x 750gph Koralia powerheads. Can I do a mixed reef tank?

Here is my tank (have not cycled yet):



This is my first saltwater/reef tank. I pretty sure I'll set up another (much larger) reef tank after the 46g is set up.

 

[senji]

lps and chalice. acans and zoos,birdsnests.

 

[mfinn]

Is this information accurate?
Types of Reef Tanks

I'm having difficulty determining what kind of reef tank I want for my 46g. Like many beginners, I want colorful corals for the family to enjoy. What type of reef tank do you guys recommend?

I have not bought any light yet, but I do have 2x 750gph Koralia powerheads. Can I do a mixed reef tank?

Here is my tank (have not cycled yet):
View attachment 43631


This is my first saltwater/reef tank. I pretty sure I'll set up another (much larger) reef tank after the 46g is set up.

The information is basicly correct, although I'd break it down a little to a couple different ways to go.
Reef tanks with motion = softies and lps corals
No motion sps tanks.
Soft corals and lps don't require the extra equipment that a sps tank would require and they are generally easier to take care of and have bigger "oops" factors.

If you are totally new to saltwater, I'd suggest getting your feet wet with softies and lps. It's also easier on the wallet.

I see you live in Renton, you have a excellent store near you that you can visit and see the different corals and tanks there are.
Barrier Reef.

 

[kpiotrowski]

not hard to spend many thousands once you cross over to sps and corals with high light demands, lights are expensive and hot so you may need a chiller, they need better flow, cleaner systems, tighter perameters and dosing which requires more monitoring and testing.....its endless. the other day I started to add up the money ive spent in the last year and stopped counting at $12,000 cuz it was making me sick. I'm sure I'm over 15k with all the little stuff, but stopped cuz I didn't want to know if it was heading towards 20k lol.

but if you have the cash I say "do it right the first time" and shoot for the moon. don't nickle and dime yourself by buying lesser than stuff you will end up replacing for bigger and better later!

 

[user 26995]

They said it. Research and figure out what you will really want to keep as far as fish and coral and then get the best you can the first time. I had 4 different sets of lights on one of my tanks. If I'd known I wouldnt have gotten the first two. I ended up going SPS and ended up with LEDs.

Softies and lps make great tanks. Two of my tanks are softies and the 180 is going to be primarily LPS. They are easier to keep.

Your tank looks great. I like the rock. When are you adding water? Looking forward to updates and pics of the progress.

 

[user 26995]

Oh and there is a great group getting together this next saturday in the Auburn area. Puget Sound Aquarium Society is having a frag swap/sale. It would be a great place to see some of the variety of coral and maybe even pick up some equipment you might need. Also get to meet a lot of members of RF and PSAS in the area. It will be a great time. Hope to see you there.