What will I need to start raising corals

[ClownsRCoo]

Hey guys

I need your help. Right now I only have a 90g FWLR tank. I only have a simple 2 bulb T5 set up right now. I have a 30g sump with chaeto. I want to get into corals but I know I'll need to upgrade my lighting. I want to get 2 kessil A360's.

Can you guys please tell me what kinds of things I'll need to add to the tank to b successful. I know I'll need to start testing for a lot more than I am now, like calcium/magnesium/alkalinity. What things should I keep on hand to keep those levels stable?

I'm using normal instant ocean salt but would be switching over to reef crystals. What's the best way to switch over to that? Just switch over to it through water changes?

[Maxxumless]

A lot of people have differing opinions, these would be mine:

Really love Kessil's (I use two myself), but you'd probably need three for a 48" long tank that is 24" deep, BUT your tank probably has a center support, which would cast a big shadow. So, I'd probably start looking into a system like Reef Breeders Photon48 series.

With a tank that size, I highly recommend getting a calcium reactor to deal with Ca depletion.

Reef Crystals or Red Sea Pro Salt would be my two choices - but the calcium reactor is going to be doing a lot of the work for you unless you do a lot of water changes.

A very good skimmer is a must. I'd go with a Reef Octopus of 150+ gallons or greater capacity.

Other gadgets like a controler, GFO/media reactors, and RO/DI units will help too if you don't already own them.

[ClownsRCoo]

I've got a bubble
Magus curve5, and do have a RO unit

[Maxxumless]

You'll definitely want to get a DI kit to add to the RO unit. Even if you had 20 TDS you really don't know what those dissolved solids are.

[Im14abeer]

What types of corals do you ultimately want to keep? If SPS, then big light, big flow and maybe a calcium reactor, possibly carbon dosing also. If LPS, you might be able to get away with adding a few more tubes and dosing two part. If softies, you might be good to go already. If a mixed reef. then you need to either choose specimens very carefully, or equip it like a SPS tank and find niches for the other corals. I said all that to say, let your equipment choices be guided by what you want to achieve and what is being successfully used to achieve it.

[ClownsRCoo]

I would like a mixed tank but prob dominated by SPS. I plan on gettin a controller, 2 kessil 360's, and prob 2 MP40's as well in the near future. I'm getting 2 TDS as my filtered water and I get what you are saying about you don't know what's in there but I think with that low of a % I'm prob fine. I'll more than likely add a DI stage to my system too and slowly bring my tanks to full 0 TDS water through my water changes.

I was also having a diatom outbreak after my recent cycle which I read is normal and my phosphates were climbing. I put some chaeto in my refugium section of the sump and that seems to have taken care of my phosphate problem but in the future if it climbs again ill prob add a reactor and some GFO

I just see all these chemicals and powders out there and really am unsure what they all do so I was looking for advice more on that. I have the equipment side down but need help with what water Params are the most important? What do successful reef keepers always try to keep on hand and why? So I can build my inventory up

[MondoBongo]

i would say on the chemistry side calcium and alkalinity are the biggest areas of concern for stony corals.

keeping both of those stable and in the proper ranges is an excellent starting point.

i'm using kalkwasser to stabilize mine. currently a mixed reef that is growing out from frags, i expect at some point my demands my outstrip what kalk can provide, but for now it is working well.

[Sk8r]

If softie corals, you just need to do weekly 10% water changes. That will handle all your dosing.

If stony corals, imitate my water parameters (in my sig line) and (my advice) start with LPS corals instead of SPS---LPS are much more forgiving. But if SPS are what you love, go for it, and start reading posts in the SPS forum. Once your water is balanced (as in my sig line) you can start adding kalk to your topoff reservoir and that will handle things until your corals have grown enough to need more than kalk alone can do. Kalk can handle a really packed 50 gallon reef, or a moderate 70. For SPS you need a hypergood skimmer, to get the water clarity good enough to give them a lot of light; and you need a test that will read phosphate more than 'yes, there is some.' Phosphate is NOT the friend of any coral, but SPS is fussy.

You need tests and supplements to handle: calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. I have instructions for kalk somewhere in the startup instructions in the stickies up at the top of the posts.

HTH.