Looking for expert opinions

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Where are you located? Oftentimes, tank tours and other reefing events are organized in different cities so if you can, join one. You'll get a chance to see lots of dif. systems & see what works, what doesn't & talk to local reefers about their experiences.

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner (as recommended by others) is one of the better beginner books on the topic.

If you like sand, go for it and ask someone local with an established reef tank for a cup or two of live sand out of their tank to seed yours.

Deciding what type of corals/inverts/fish you want to keep (ie. softies, lps, sps, clams) will help you figure out what type of lighting & skimmer (if you go with one) you will need.

If you post your location in your profile, you can probably find someone local who would be happy to show you their tank & talk about their positive & negative reefing experiences.

Anthony

[danny zubot]

I would recommend reading and not taking all advice given from us amatures.

I know for a fact that:

If you go over 3.5 inches it will be a de-nitrifying sand bed and that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you talk to.

This isn't true, 87% of all denitrfication takes place in the first 3/4 inch in live sand. So if you like sand, an inch might do the trick for you.

Go with 1.5lbs per gallon eventuall, so about 45lbs.

I'd like to know where people come up with these numbers? Since all live rock is different in its mass and relative density you might find that 15 lbs works as well as 30 lbs in your tank. I do agree that this item is expensive, and most people tend to collect LR over time to build their reefs.

[TheReefGeek]

-Light (not sure of the brand name, but it meets the requirement for corals)

Need more details on your light. This is crucial to success. Different corals have different requirements.

Need to know what type of bulb(s) it is, the watts, and the color termperature

[Sarina]

Here's what my light says:

JEBO R24 (610mm) 55Wx2 AC120 V 60 HZ

Hopefully you can understand what that means. Is that a good light? I paid $100.00 for it.

What corals would you recommend for beginners?

[TheReefGeek]

Jebo is a cheap brand name light, not worth $100 IMO, but hey its what you have so its a start. FYI, it is 110watts total, so over a 28g that will keep soft corals.

Good starter corals would be:

Mushrooms
Zooanthids
Colt
Xenia
Star polyps
Kenya tree
Toadstools
Leathers

[Willow]

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

Jebo is a cheap brand name light, not worth $100 IMO, but hey its what you have so its a start. FYI, it is 110watts total, so over a 28g that will keep soft corals.

Good starter corals would be:

Mushrooms
Zooanthids
Colt
Xenia
Star polyps
Kenya tree
Toadstools
Leathers

yeah actually it's really only 55 watts as half the light is actinic. your 10k part of the light is the only usable part of the light the corals are going to be using for growth. you should be ok with soft corals but that isn't much light.

[TheReefGeek]

Actinics will still help corals grow, maybe not as much as 10K lighting though.

I would stick with soft corals until you upgrade your lights. (if you want to keep LPS, SPS, clams, anemones, etc)

[mark]

I also totally believe in reading and researching as much as you can first before adding water.

Along with Canreef and the other forums, found this site useful as well; http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm . It belongs to Fenner of the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist".

[vanreefer]

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/for...&daysprune=365

There's a huge reference library now just scroll down on the index page

If it says there are no posts.. simply change the display options. Change "last 2 weeks" to "begining"

P.S. Maybe the mods could adjust the display options in the reference library