Nano Reef Advice... Got some?

I am not too experienced at Saltwater, but here is my opinion.

1. Since you are filtering with the live rock/live sand, I would reccomend about 20 pounds (1 pound per gallon, and extra just in case)

2. Here are some nano corals you can use http://home1.gte.net/rhe1/nanoreef/livestock.htm along with some fish, and since your tank is 18 gallons instead of 2.5 or a mini nano you could just get more mini corals, and make a really neat scape.

3. I think just shrimp would be awesome. I know it sounds kind of bland, but if you get like 10 shrimp, they will be amazing to watch. I had a planted nano I did this to, and it was amazing.

4. I don't really have a preferance, but others might.

I reccomend a book called Saltwater Tanks for Dummies. I bought it, and it really helped.

EDIT: Yeah, it will be harder than a regular salt water tank, but not impossible. I set up a 20 gallon long, and it did fine, but also I had done a TON of research.

To get it out of the way, bowfronts are not reef friendly due to hight. Light has limited penetration.

I have a 36 gallon bow front with about 60 LB of live rock and a 4" sand bed. No filter, no skimmer. I have a HOB refugium for nitrate control.

1] 20 lb of live sand, I would not go any more than this unless you have a really good reason to. A 4" bed if fine sand will reduce nitrate though. 25 lb of rock 18 lb would be the minimum and 25 would go much farther.

2] Depends on your lighting. Low amount of t5 HO and you can keep some soft coral, A 150w or perhaps even a 70w Metal halide and you could keep any corals you want.

3] You could keep a pair of ocellaris clowns, you can also keep a pair of Firefish but they are not really very active and could spend all their time hiding. Hermit crabs, snails, and shrimp along with other inverts are all price choices. I keep a pair of Coral banded shrimp in my 36g. These will make attempts to kill other shrimp but look great.

4] Instant Ocean is my choice. If your tank gets loaded with coral that uses calcium then you could go with reef crystals which is the same thing with extra calcium but I choose to dose calcium which is cheaper anyway.

If you have any interest in coral then I'd suggest starting with a halide light or your will just get deep into the hobby to have to buy a halide to replace what ever light you started with. Some online shopping and searching and you can find a deal on a clamp on halide or even a pendant that is a much greater deal than buying anything less to begin with. The best option on halides is to find a high quality used one that you may only have to replace the bulb in oppose to buying a low quality new one that will have a low quality ballast and bulb.

If cost is limiting, the recommended option is going to be the Jaubert method that relies on more live sand than live rock (sand is cheaper).

1) You'll want only a few pieces of live rock, like one nice stack but leave lots of sand area. The sand you'll want some DSB (deep sand bed) approved sand, and about 4-6 inches on average. For your size tank two 25# bags should be plenty. Ideally use a plenum setup.

More here:

http://www.saltcorner.com/Articles/Showarticle.php...

2) Oh yes, lots of soft corals, some LPS,mushrooms, zoanthids, etc, all will do very well. Just get these type corals that fit your lighting. Plants will help with your natural filtration. All my stable and easy nanos use a refugium with a DSB and caulerpa as the filter, and lots of live rock in the main tank. CPR makes a great hang on back refugium but they can be pricey new. You can achieve the same thing, just have the plants in the tank, but be aware that the plants will need pruned a lot and can overgrow the corals, which is why a separate refugium is best.

3) You cannot have much fish, even with an elaborate filter setup, etc, just because the size. A clown goby is always nice, or other small goby species. Maybe one firefish. Many of these small species are surprisingly territorial so keep that in mind, but really the tank size won't allow for many fish anyway so just stick to one or two non-related species of tiny fish. There are many neat inverts though, like many shrimps, worms, etc, that can add lots of life without the problems you have with fish.

4) Reef Crystals from Instant Ocean is perfect, just plain Instant Ocean is a bit cheaper and works well too (just a little less calcium).

Remember water movement is very important in saltwater. Plan on 15-25 times the volume of the tank in needed gallon per hour flow rates. About 22 times works well for my soft and LPS nano tanks. You can use powerheads or filters to get the water movement. You'll want some mechanical filtration anyway to remove solid debris, so it usually is not hard to reach this flow.

As far as lighting, there are corals for all lighting setups. IF you have low light, get low light corals (they just need fed more). Sun corals are always very nice and eat brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, liquid coral foods, etc. For medium to high lights there are some very nice soft corals and brains you might enjoy. Star Polyps also love high light. A 250 watt 14000-20000K halide works great on the 15-30 gallon reef tanks. A spotlight fixture is usually perfect! This would provide high light and would allow for just about any coral or clam. If you only want sun corals, fan worms, etc, a cheaper and less intense light like a fluorescent or T5 is fine.

My advice is "Don't."

Sorry, but nano-reefs are about the most difficult kind of aquarium to do successfully.

That's even more true if you want to go for "all natural" filtration.

If you haven't kept a saltwater aquarium before, this is not a good introduction to the field.

For your first reef tank, don't try anything smaller than 75 gallons.

Many, many people out there wish they had followed this advice, or they just gave up keeping an aquarium as being too hard, and they don't know why they failed.