What kind of Saltwater Tank do you want?

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What kind of Saltwater Tank do you want?​

MICHAEL PALETTA
5 DAYS AGO


Up until this point just about everything that has been done in preparation of setting up a new tank is pretty much the same. A tank, stand, skimmer, lights, etc are all going to be used regardless of what you want to put in the tank. However, after planning and getting all the equipment up and running, curing the live rock, and aquascaping the tank it is time to get to the nuts and bolts of reefkeeping and decide what kind of livestock will inhabit your little piece of the reef.

With so many beautiful and interesting invertebrates available the usual first thought for what will go into the tank is “everything”, a mixed tank. But after helping set up many tanks and helping many new hobbyists it is my opinion that at least to start this is often the most difficult tank to set up and maintain successfully long-term. The reason why this may not be the best choice to start is simple: despite most corals inhabiting a reef there is a wide variety of conditions under which they thrive.

As a result, in a small system, and despite our best attempts and wishes the conditions in a reef tank are significantly different than the conditions on an actual reef. Because of this, the specific micro-environments each coral will do best in and the often-neglected aspect of coral aggression, setting up a tank housing a wide variety of different invertebrates may not be the best idea for starting a new reef tank until some experience in these aspects is gained.

For the whole article, including descriptions on different types of saltwater tanks, please go:
 
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