[gpodio]

I did that at the start of this year, took down a 10 gal planted and got a 40 gal reef. Only problem is that now I want a 120 gal reef

It's adictive man, careful what you wish for!!

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

True they are more expensive to setup, but easier to maintain and require a lot less work IMO than fast growing planted tanks. As long as you keep the corals apart and know which ones need more room than others it's quite easy if you did your homework and set it up right from an equipment perspective. You need patience with reefs but they aren't as difficult as many make them out to be.

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

Perhaps in a very small tank it is. The nice thing about reef tanks is that the salt mixture has just about everything you need, it's as if our water conditioners had all the fertilizers needed for plant growth! All I add occasionally is Kalkwasser for now, I'm sure once the corals get big they will consume more and I may need to add a couple more elements here and there but it's nothing compared to what we have to do to keep our planted tanks running at full speed. Things are certainly more delicate however so more care needs to be taken to maintain a stable temperature, salinity and so on. In general good things happen slowly and bad things happen overnight :wink:

Besides that, you will be surprised just how easy it is. A lot of light, lot's of water movement, plenty of rock for filtration and a skimmer. That's the important equipment IMO. I have a fuge but since running the skimmer 24/7 the macro algae is struggling so it's being converted to a smaller fuge with built-in frag grow-out tank.

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

Art, my tank is SPS although until I get enough of them there are a couple LPS in there that are making it look a little less 'empty' Need to trade/buy some more acros though, I'd like a little more red and yellow in there. I'm hoping the tank will be grown in nicely by end of 2005. I'm using RO/DI, doing 5 gallon water change once a month.

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

Gomer, you don't need anyone to tell you that smaller is harder, you know what you're doing.... I'm sure you also know of this site: http://www.nano-reef.com/

The only thing is that you'll be wanting a larger tank shortly after this one is up and running :wink: Specially if like me you will not be doing the usual reef wall which would allow you more space for corals.

Here's some great examples of reefscaping:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=441773

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

We'll have to trade some frags one day. Mine are all frags too for the moment. I'm using the CPR Backpack skimmer, it's doing the job but the pump is loud because it's sucking in air from the impeller, I plan to add a venturi or air stone to it next and connect it to my return pump rather than having it's own pump.

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

Here's my money pit, still has a long way to go...

Giancarlo