- Hi guys and girls, I'm Reef Man,
and today I want to talk about
how to get started with reef aquariums.
How can you build something like this
without spending a whole load of money.
What is the minimum set-up
that you could actually start with and be successful with?
And really that depends a lot on what you want
to keep in the tank of course,
but I'd like to propose
that everyone start with a small tank.
The expense of a tank is directly proportional to the size,
so I think something like a 10 or 20 gallon reef tank
would be an ideal starting place for most people.
Also, don't forget to subscribe,
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and it helps me just know that people are interested
in the content that I'm making.
So let's dive in.
So a nano reef is a great way
to get started in the reef aquarium hobby.
If you don't believe me,
just scroll through some
of the featured reefs on nano-reef.com.
I'm showing some here,
you can see that you could do amazing things
in small tank sizes,
and it won't cost you nearly what it cost me to set up
and run the tank that's behind me right now.
My first tank was an eight gallon MiniBow aquarium,
which I had in my college dorm room.
I had just a single clownfish,
I think a goby,
and maybe a cleaner shrimp?
And I had a bunch of palythoas, zoanthids,
some green star polyps,
and a few stony corals at the top,
and it was really great.
And it was easy to take care of.
Reef tanks are really about making something colorful,
full of life.
Almost something magical.
We're not trying to recreate reality.
Reef tanks are your vision of reality.
So you should really just enjoy it.
It's the only reef like it in the entire world.
So it is something special.
You can start a reef tank
with just a very simple
10 or 20 gallon tank from
a store like PetCo or PetSmart.
They even have them on sale from time to time.
Right now they're having a dollar per gallon sale.
You could get something a lot fancier
from your local fish store
and your local fish store
probably has rimless tanks,
tanks with low iron glass so I'll link a video above.
Both of which can make your tank look nicer and cleaner
but you don't need low iron glass,
you don't need the extra expense
that that's going to add for your first tank
unless you want it.
So once you have a tank,
you'll have to consider what you want for lights.
This is probably one of the most expensive things
that you're going need to buy.
And I'd recommend looking at small LED fixtures
from companies like AI, Kessil, EcoTech Marine and others.
Your small tank will heat up fast
so to avoid needing to get
a little itty bitty chiller,
LED lights will be a great option.
If you get an all-in-one tank
like the ones made by Innovative Marine and others,
it might even come with a light
that would be good enough for zoanthids,
things that you want to grow to start with.
So depending on how warm you keep your house,
you might not even need a heater
but you do want your tank
to stay around 78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
so consider that when you are thinking about a heater.
If you bought just a standard aquarium,
consider painting the back either a dark blue or black.
Any high quality paint will work
but a lot of people use Krylon brand spray paint
and just tape up the inside edges
and then give it a few good coats
so you can't see light through it anymore.
Obviously this step is up to you.
You can paint it bright pink if you want
but having the back of your tank painted
is going to hide all the wires and junk and equipment
that'll be behind it and the tank is just going
to look a lot better from the front.
So next up we need to consider flow.
Flow is important because it provides oxygen
as well as removing waste from the coral.
And so what I did in my eight gallon aquarium
and what I recommend to buy something like this.
This is just a hang-on-back filter
and it has a place that you can add live rock rubble
and these little aqua-clear filters are great
because you can just take out the filters inside
and then you can fill it up
with little pieces of live rock
which just adds extra filtration to your tank.
You can also pick up a little add-on for it
called a surface skimmer which can go
a great way towards reducing the protein scum
that just builds up on the surface
of your water because it will suck it into the filter.
All of the all-in-one tanks
likes those from Innovative Marine
that I mentioned will have an integrated overflow
which will do the same thing for you
so you don't need to worry about
that if you get one of those.
So now you're almost ready to start thinking
about what will be going into your tank.
Do you want sand?
Do you want live rock in your tank?
These are choices that are
obviously just gonna be up to you
and you can do whatever you want to be successful.
Look at what your local reef store is selling
and think about how you want your tank to actually look.
Remember in a small tank,
you don't need that much live rock.
So small pieces, maybe even this small are best.
And you can use a hammer, chisel to break up larger pieces
and shape them into any crazy arrangement that you want.
Remember don't pack your tank so full of live rock
that you don't have room for coral to grow
and fish need space to swim.
They also appreciate overhangs, caves, nooks
and crannies that they can swim in and hide in
and it makes them feels safe
and they'll actually end up being out more
if they have a spot to hide.
So speaking of fish,
you can have any number of small reef fish
that will do well in a nano reef.
You're not going to be able to get Giant Tang
but you could have clownfish, damsels, gobys,
a whole bunch of other things.
Just don't try to put too many fish in the small reef.
I would say, if you have a 10 or 20 gallon
probably two or three fish would do best.
Maybe a shrimp.
So make sure that the fish that you
are considering are something that you really like
because you have options.
Coral is also totally up to you.
I would suggest looking through
the featured reefs on nano-reef.com
and seeing what you like if you're just beginning.
Some people really love zoanthids.
Others like chalices, stony corals.
Really it's your tank
and your imagination is the only limit
as to what you can keep in it when it comes to coral.
Remember though some coral have different requirements
so your corals needs to match the
overall setup of your tank.
Maintaining a nano-reef is actually super easy compared
to the tank that yous see behind me here.
You can just go to the store,
buy a three gallon jug of filtered water
at the grocery store
and that's all you need for a water change.
Mix some salt water up at home in a bucket,
add the three gallons,
do your water change every couple weeks
and that's really it.
The water change will replace every trace element
that you need and your coral will do just fine.
And you don't need to work about dosing
or a calcium reactor
or anything crazy like that
because your tank has such a small volume of water,
you can just replace the water
and replace all of those chemicals.
If you don't wanna mix water yourself,
you can even buy pre-mixed saltwater
at your local reef store
and you'll save a little bit of money
if you do it yourself
but it's a lot easier just to go to the local store
and buy some that's already mixed.
Keeping your reef tank doesn't have to be hard
and it doesn't have to break your budget.
Start small, get involved on forums like nano-reef.com
and you'll really have a great tank in no time.
So good luck!
Let me know how it goes.
Drop a link in the comments below
if you do start one of these tanks.
Maybe start a build thread on nano-reef or another forum
and it'll be really awesome to see what you build
and what you have at home in your tanks.
So thanks for watching.
Please subscribe if you haven't already
and I will see you next week, bye!