New to zoa garden

[cmasson]

Hi everyone, I’ve been keeping freshwater for a while but I have an old tank lying around it’s 60L or 14 gallons. I was thinking about trying a Zoa garden as my first step in marine as I read they are a bit more hardy and budget friendly.

I’ve found videos on cycling and additives and water chem but I can’t find info on the basic gear needed for marine.

Do zoas need a protein skimmer, or a sump?
Currently I have a tank and a canister.

I know I need coral sand and live rock and salt water and additives but to make a very simple system work is there any other major kit that I haven’t seen?

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef and to saltwater!

You don't "need" a skimmer or a sump, those are just tools. You will need water movement, so you're going to need some wavemakers or a powerhead in the tank. You can also use a simple Hang On Back (HOB) filter you may already have.

You'll also need a heater ;-)

And you want to start with pure freshwater, don't use tap water. Look into getting an RODI water filter to make your own freshwater to be used to mix saltwater and to replace fresh water that evaporates. You can use jugs of distilled water from a grocery store or pharmacy if you don't yet have an RODI filter. You may also be able to buy fresh and/or premade saltwater at your Local Fish Store (LFS).

Many here recommend this guide as a great place to get started:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no where near simple. This task is going to take patience, a ton of...

www.reef2reef.com

And I think this video series is very informative:


Good luck with your tank!

 

[folsomreefing]

This is great advice above. Depending on if/how oversized your canister is you might not even need a wave maker but you can get one for very cheap if you do.

I recommend looking through the build updates threads for a nano build that uses a canister. If you find active threads you can chime in that you’re looking to make a similar build and see if someone will buddy up with you.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Read that guide above and do some more research, this hobby is very different than freshwater.

But IMO you can run the tank with your canister filter, all you need is the heater and a light. Something like an AI Prime is a good light for that size tank, but there are cheaper options for budget friendly.

To give you an idea, I have a 15 gallon softie tank that is mainly mushrooms and zoa's, its run with 2 sicce voyager nano powerheads and weekly water changes, thats it. No need for testing or dosing for a small zoa tank. This is what I call "my easy low budget tank".

 

[VintageReefer]

If I ran a canister I would fill it with live rock rubble and a pouch of chemi pure elite sized for your tank. Once a month I would swap out the chemipure