Starting out from scratch with no corals or fish!

[ATLJonathan]

I will soon have two tanks and 465 gallons of aquarium to fill. If you were starting out brand new, how would you go about selecting and acquiring all your coral and fish?

[Ron Reefman]

People always say on here that bigger is better, but starting out with 2 tanks and a total of 465g is a big job. I hope you have done a lot of homework.

Go slow! I can't stress that point strongly enough. Take your time or with such a big system or you could have a major disaster! Will these 2 tanks be tied together, as in sharing the same water thru a common sump? If not, why do 2 tanks at once? Trust me, twice as many tanks isn't neccessarily twice as much fun, but it is twice as much work.

Before you get to fish and corals, you need to get thru the nitrogen cycle, some algae blooms and stable water parameters. Do you have an RO/DI system? What kind of rock will you use (LR, dead rock, base rock) and what kind of rockscape (islands, a wall...). What kind of lighting do you have for each tank? It will make a difference in what kind of corals you can keep. What are you doing for circulation? Powerheads, a big sump with a big pump, a Closed Loop, some combination of systems? Do you have skimmers? How many and what kind?

Most people do fish before corals because they are more tolerant of water parameter swings. Add the least aggressive fish first. Don't add more than a couple every week or two unless you have a lots of good LR.

Pick easy, less expensive corals to start (zoas, palys or LPS). Do you know what kind of corals you want in the end?

I wish you great luck and I hope you understand what you are about to get involved in. A system this big involves a lot of work and upkeep. It can be HUGE fun, but it can be a HUGE pita if you aren't having fun! :thumbsup:

[ATLJonathan]

Thank you so much for your reply and your advice! I think "Go Slow" is great advice as I don't want to loose my investment when I start to acquire livestock.

Everything is plumbed into one sump in the basement, so hopefully from a maintenance standpoint I will be keeping up with one set of equipment (except for cleaning the algae off of the glass on each tank). All of the water changes will be done using large containers for fresh and saltwater that feed the sump, and the sump feeds a drain. I should be able to do a 100 gallon water change in 5 minutes. I am hoping that with the correct equipment and setup, I can focus more on the corals and fish.

The equipment is mostly My Reef Creations (MRC) skimmer and reactors and other components. I will post more information on the system in the future.

Thanks again!

[fishgate]

1 sump for 2 tanks is pretty cool if properly engineered. I'd love to see your plans/pics of the setup!

If I was doing what you are, I'd work on aquascaping and get my water perfect and running for at least 1-2 months before introducing a few fish.