Building Your First Reef (and going on from there)
If you are like the majority of reef beginners, you have some experience with saltwater (fish-only) tanks or at least a freshwater aquarium, so you have some of the basics regarding water quality, filtration, lighting, temperature, and maintenance. A reef aquarium is the same only more so!
We recommend that you take the time to go through the pages below in the order they are given. For your convenience, each page has a link to the next one in the list. Even though some pages are incomplete, all are listed to let you know what will eventually be here. Feel free to call or e-mail if you have questions.
What is a Reef Aquarium? describes the basics of reef keeping
What does a Reef Aquarium Look Like? shows some of the systems we have designed and built.
A successful reef aquarium begins with some important basic investments of your time and money and some patience in resisting the urge to buy the prettiest animals you see in the fish store and putting them in your tank before it is ready. Assuming you have a decent tank and pumps to adequately circulate water, you should consider the live rock you will use to build the reef, the water you put in the tank, and the light you provide to feed the organisms - live rock, photosynthetic corals, and algae which serve as food for the animals in the tank. We recommend you thoroughly study the following sections before you begin acquiring the livestock you want to have in the reef community.
What is Live Rock? illustrates the function of live rock and tells you how we cure live rock.
Water Quality is critical to the success of your system and depends on your water source, your filtration/water treatment equipment, and addition of chemical supplements that are helpful to the organisms in the system.
Lighting is more important in a reef system than a freshwater or fish-only saltwater aquarium, where the primary purpose of light is to illuminate the tank so that it looks nice. In the reef system, light feeds and cleanses the system.
Temperature Control Tropical Reefs not only require high levels of light, but they exist in a narrow range of temperature. The optimum temperature in a captive reef aquarium is generally regarded as 74-78oF. How can you insure this optimum in a small system?
Stocking your Aquarium What do you put in the reef aquarium first? The selection of livestock should be based on some knowledge of suitability and compatibility, not just a flashy animal or something recommended by the teenage clerk in the local pet store. Cost is not always the best measure of the value of a reef animal.
Reef Cleaners are biological cleaning agents, such as snails, crabs, sea cucumbers, and brittlestars that improve the health and appearance of your system.
Basic Reef Invertebrates are hardy, attractive, and relatively inexpensive species of corals and anemones that we recommend to start your reef community.
Basic Reef Fish are fish species we recommend for the beginning of a reef system.
Advanced Reef Livestock are species more suitable for a more developed reef and a more advanced aquarist.
Species to Avoid in the Reef, is a list of plants and animals that make trouble from the start!
Uninvited Guests in the Reef are species that enter your tank hidden in the live rock, the inverts, the fish, and other things you add to the system.
Helpful Animals in the Reef are those that can be effective in getting rid of the uninvited nuisances that cause you grief.