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[Dearth]

Basic Equipment and decorations

There are a lot of people who are becoming more and more interested in the Salt Water world however are very imtimidated by it. There are 2 basic styles of a salt water aquarium the Reef type and the Fish only With Live Rock(Fowlr) but both systems work on the same principles and within that there is the nano system which is generally considered to be roughly 45 gallons and smaller. I will discuss basic equipment and basic accesories for getting started.

COST
The first thing to understand with cost if you go cheap you get what you paid for it and there is the potential for malfunctions do your homework you will find a wide variety of equipment and pricing ask questions, see what other reefers are using on forums and their aquarium builds and if you have a local fish store(LFS) what their pricing is compared to online stores. It is important to remember to not under budget yourself as it will lead to you spending more than you bargained for and buy it one piece at a time if you need to over a period of time.

PLACEMENT
It is important to know what size of tank your getting because when it is filled with water, rock, sand/crush/gravel that tank becomes quite heavy. It is also important to note where you live is it an apartment complex, duplex, house, rental or other form of living quarters as each one has its own weight limitations. Will it be on the second floor of your dwelling or sitting on a concrete pad on the bottom floor. Also another consideration will it be in direct sunlight or in a shaded area if possible try to keep your tank out of direct sunlight as it will promote algae growth shaded or areas with indirect sunlight are the best areas to place tanks. If it isn't possible to keep out of direct sunlight try to cover the windows with dark drapes or blinds it will help. Once you have decided on what size of tank your getting and placement in your residence you can start buying hardware

BASIC HARDWARE
The basic hardware is Lights, Circulation pumps, heaters, Protein Skimmers, timers, salt, RO-RODI, return pump(if using a sump), Sumps

Lights-There are 3 basic types of lighting LED, Flourescent and metal halide lights all 3 have their advantages and disadvantages Metal halides give best light spectrum but cost a lot to buy and run, LEDs offer a huge variety in colours and spectrums and are cheap to run but expensive to buy, Flourescent lights again offer a wide variety of lighting and spectrum needs but again can be expensive to buy and is middle of the road between the other 2 lighting systems to run.

Circulation pumps-Salt water aquariums require quite a bit of water flow in the tank for your critters to thrive and to prevent detrius from building up. Remember the ocean continually moves and we have to recreate that with pumps there are many types to choose from however it is recommended you buy pumps that you can keep in place with magnets(suction cups tend to be unreliable)

Heaters-you have to maintain your water at a certain temperature in order for your reef to survive and again many styles of heaters to choose from best ones to get are the fully submersable ones again the cost varies greatly on these

Protein Skimmers- These skim the water to take out organic material and larger particles and there are 2 types of skimmers Hang On Back(HOB) and in sump submersable skimmers depending on the size of tank you are running one may be better than the other. As a general rule of thumb get a skimmer that skims a larger tank than what you have it will save you a lot of grief in the long run(IE. if you have a 60 gallon tank get a skimmer that skims up to 100 gallons)

Timers-You will need timers at the very least to turn your lights on and off at set times as your fish and critters need a set routine leaving your lights on 24 hrs a day will cause serious harm to your fish and critters

Salt-There are many types of salt out there it is basically a personal choice on what type to use

RO-RODI water filtration systems-we use these because generally our tap water contains trace metals and chemicals that can harm or kill our tanks so we use these to filter out those metals and chemicals. These filtration systems can be bought at water purification stores or some LFS will carry them as well cost varies greatly depending on what you get

Return Pump -This is used if you are running a sump system in conjunction with your aquarium. The return pump is just that it pumps the water from your sump up to the aquarium at a set rate and again many styles and types to choose from and cost vary widely as well

Sump-this generally is another tank roughly one third to half the size of your display aquarium that sits under or beside your display aquarium. The sump serves many different functions you can hide all your equipment down in it(heaters, skimmers and other equipment) the sump can also serve as another filtration system or a habitat for beneficial algae, plants and to help seed live rock. There are many types, styles and functionality of sumps so choose what will best suit you

BASIC DECORATIONS
This is your rock, sand or other substrate.
Rock-There are two types of rock dead rock and live rock. These can be bought from LFS, online suppliers or other reefers and the rock comes from many different places in the ocean and are in many shapes and sizes and weight. Live rock contains organisms and critters that will help your tank cycle and mature. dead Rock is just that it is dead nothing lives on it and it will eventually become live rock in your tank again after a period of time.

Sand/crushed coral/rock rubble-this is a personal choice on what to use and how much you want in your tank anything from a thin layer to a bed that is several inches deep. Sand is pleasant to look at and many fish and critters will use it to hide in but sand has a downside in that it will get blown around in the tank and depending on how deep the sand bed is it can trap gases and other stuff in it and when released can affect water parameters of your tank. Crushed coral and rock rubble is larger and heavier and won't move near as much and is liked as coral, clams and other organisms can attach to it easily however downside is with a lot of surface area it can attract algae buildup and be very difficult to clean.

The above is a very basic list of your equipment there is a lot more to be said but this will give you a general idea of what to start with