Reef Aquarium Basics

Reef Aquarium Basics and Setting Up Your First Reef Tank

Many aspiring coralheads delay setting up their first reef tank, as they are often intimidated by what they don’t know about coral husbandry and the seemingly overwhelming amount of information out there. Often, this information is anecdotal and one reefer’s success and approach to the hobby is in direct opposition to another’s. Our goal is to always provide factual information to our customers, help set them up for success in the hobby and build their confidence so they can progress and create their own stunning coral reef display. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of reefkeeping basics to help you get your new tank ready for your first coral frags.

• Get informed – Your success with corals will be directly proportionate to the amount of time you invest learning about coral husbandry before you set up your first tank and on an ongoing basis after you introduce your first coral frags. Join a forum or two, find, join and support a local community of reef hobbyists, gather new information as often as your schedule allows and ask questions from reliable sources.
• Bigger is not always better – That sexy 125-gallon system on craigslist may catch your eye but that’s probably not your best option for starting out. You’re much better off starting with a medium-sized 30- to 55-gallon system. All-in-one systems such as Red Sea Reefers and other complete systems can be a good place to start or, if you’re up to the challenge, building your own system can work also. It all depends on your budget, timing, and perhaps a supportive reefing community with people willing to help you set up your first reef tank. We’re strong believers in the support and expertise of local hobbyist groups at every stage of your coral expertise.
• Test your water quality regularly – This is one of the most important commitments you can make to the hobby. If you’re unwilling to test your water quality regularly and chart the results to track trends over time, you are setting yourself up for failure. There are several key WQ parameters that you’re going to need to keep stable in order for you to have a healthy life support systems and healthy corals living in it! For more information about optimal WQ params, check out each of our coral species pages.
• Lighting – Whether you light your reef tank with LEDs, fluorescents, sodium halide or a combination of two or more of these types of reef lighting, there’s no one type that is better than the others. It all depends on your budget, the location of your reef display, the type of reef display you’d like to have and the types of corals that you’d like to have in it. When just starting out, we recommend that you go with LED lighting that allows you to adjust the whites, blues and other light colors. Over time, you’ll appreciate having this type of control and you can experiment with different intensities and see how these adjustments affect coloration and polyp extension over time.
• Flow is important – Even when just starting out with your first coral frags you’re going to learn very quickly that water flow is essential for coral health. Think of it this way: natural coral reefs have lots of shifting, laminar flows that deliver food to coral polyps and help remove digested waste. There are some very good adjustable powerheads on the market to choose from when setting up your first reef tank. Some have built-in controllers to make flow adjustments on the fly or pre-programmed controls to vary the timing and intensity of the flows while others have external controllers that you plug each powerhead into for controlling multiple powerheads. No matter which type you choose, it’s worth paying a bit extra for quality powerheads and definitely choose ones that can be programmed and adjusted.
• Feeding – Part of the fun of reefkeeping is feeding your corals and watching them grow over time. The types of foods you feed and how often you feed them will be largely dependent on each coral species you keep. It will also depend a great deal on how often you work on the system maintaining each life support component, cleaning filters, performing water changes, etc. When feeding, always remember that you’re introducing nutrients to a closed system. You will have to counter that with extra maintenance and water changes or you’ll trash your water chemistry and make your fish, corals and other invertebrates sick.
• Maintenance – Speaking of maintenance, budgeting time for regular maintenance is one of the best things you can do to have a healthy coral reef display that you can enjoy and feel proud about. Much will depend on your schedule but working on your system for a few minutes each day is much better than putting it off and doing it all at once every once in a while. Daily maintenance makes everything easier and seem less like a chore, allows you to notice small changes for better or worse over time and results in a much healthier system with healthier animals in it. This dedication and attention to detail is crucial for a successful reef aquarium.
• Patience – This may be the hardest part of setting up your first reef tank. Experienced coralheads will tell you, “Only bad things happen quickly in a reef aquarium” and they are absolutely right. It takes time for corals to metabolize nutrients out of saltwater, build their skeletons (and/or soft tissue) and generate new polyps but the payoff happens as you observe subtle changes in each coral colony and chart their growth over time. Your patience and investment of time researching and maintaining your system will be well rewarded with a stunning display over time.

Please bear in mind that this is a very cursory overview of a technically challenging hobby but one well worth pursuing if you love keeping aquatic animals in your home or business and are willing to invest the time to learn about systems and corals. It’s never been easier to be successful with coral frags and coralkeeping than right now and there are many resources available for learning. Like any other new endeavor, the journey begins with a single step. You’ve already taken the first few steps by looking for information online and reading this article. Keep on moving forward and get started with your first coral frags. It’s a rewarding journey that never stops for most of us and everyone has to start somewhere. For the next step, consider checking out our reef corals for beginner’s page. Thanks for reading!