New to this

[ginnis]

Ok I am new to the salt water world. I am starting out small 20gal long tank. I have only put real sea water and sand from same beach. I would like to do a small live reef, but colorfull before i do fish. anyone have any tips for me I know nothing. I have read a little about live rock and corol, but not too sure about what can go togetther and look sharp. I have a filter on the tank now is there a way to do this with out a macanical filter. let me know I am open at this point. :o

[brody98]

Read, Read, Read, and then read some more otherwise you will be killing virtually everything you put in your tank. Read up on water parameters first and then start out with live sand and live rock. Once you get the tank well cycled and can keep the water in check you can start with beginner corals.

[ginnis]

Thank you that helps

[brody98]

You don’t need a mechanical filter in a "reef tank", the live sand and live rock do all you’re filtering for you. If you’re new to salt water you might want to start out with a larger tank if you can, it is much easier to keep your water parameters in check. The larger the tank the slower the water changes if something goes wrong. There’s a lot of valuable info on this board if you dig around and do some reading.