What Is the Difference in Equipment Between Reef and Fish-only Tanks?

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pockylory

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For a reef tank... from what I gather it would be RO water, live rock, a good protein skimmer, and if possible a wet/dry trickle filter. Also full spectrum lighting (such as halogen lights).

For a fish-only saltwater tank, what equipment would be needed? Is RO water just as neccasary?

Thanks! :)
Oh and does it depend on what fish you keep? For example would a clownfish and an angelfish require the same equipment in the tank?
 
The main differences between reef and fish only are lighting and dissolved organics. Most fish can tolerate nitrates at a very high levels, (over 100 ppm) corals and inverts can only tolerate very small amounts (under 10 ppm). This means that in a reef tank you will need a better filter system than one that's for a fish only.
As for lighting, fish need light just to simulate day and night, corals need it to eat and grow just like plants. Most reef tanks use vho t5 florescent bulbs or metal halides most fish only tanks use t12 florescent bulbs. So, for a fish only system your looking at a good canister filter with basic lighting.
As for filtering tap water it really depends on how clean the water you get is. Test it and if there are more than 1 ppm of nitrates filter it before use in the aquarium no matter if its a reef or fish only.
Each kind of fish can tolerate different water quality clownfish are very hardy and can live in very dirty water seahorses are very fragile and require basically reef tank water quality.
I can not cover everything about fish keeping here, so please look into a book written by Robert Fenner called "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" it helped me to no end when I started and to this day is a great reference.

If you need more help feel free to add more information; I will check back.
Cheers Max
 
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