Re: [GSAS-Member] New Salt tanks?

["Matt Staroscik" <matt@wrongcrowd.com>]

>
> One of the random goodies is a very sparsely labeled ballast with an
> 18-pin "quick connect".  It says 4x48, which I assume means four
> fluorescent tubes? I'm guessing that's not enough for fancy corals, but
> it's a start.


It may not be enough for non-fancy corals either. ;) I was really surprised
at how much light corals need to thrive.

Since I missed the meeting, here are my Lessons Learned in case they may
help someone.

1. Planning for proper lighting was my biggest lesson learned from my first
reef tank. Corals needs a LOT OF LIGHT and the built-in light in my nano
tank was not even enough for "easy" corals like mushrooms to thrive.

2. Figure out a better way to do water changes. Find a way to easily remove
water, store a large volume of salt water, and pump it in.

3. Smaller tanks are always harder and this is more true in reef thank fresh
tanks. Get the biggest tank you can afford to run. My tiny tank couldn't
accomodate a protein skimmer. (I tried a nano skimmer and it sucked.)

Still, that tank was one of my best fishkeeping experiences. It's inevitable
that I will try it again someday.

One accessory that I really, really loved was my dosing pump.

http://www.innovativeaquatics.com/Pages/products.html

I got one for about $100 off ebay but there are many sources and prices. My
reef tank lost about 300 mL of water each day in evaporation, and I used a
programmable pump and a 3 gal water jug to keep it topped off. If you are
growing hard corals you can use a pump like this to deliver Ca supplements
to the tank too.

MS
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