unclenedsfishfactory.com

basically
the less you do the better
in my opinion

you want:
LOTS of scavengers; red leg hermits, algae blenny, turbo snails, nasarius snails, foxface, emerald crab, kole tang ... all of these are a must in my opinion

minimum 3.5 watts per gallon, maximum 7 watts per gallon ... depends on species of corals you want to keep

in most cases
get 2 timers and set
blue lights for 12 - 14 hrs per day
white lights for 6-10 hours per day

do NOT get an expensive bright light and then keep 1 coral, get 6 or 16 or 26 corals !

we like adding
ESV B-Ionic 2 part additive
and
Purple-Up

depending on coral species
you may wish to add micro-foods such as oyster eggs and/or cyclop-eeze and/or phyto plankton

we sell all of the above

65 watts x 2 bulbs divided by 29 gallons is 4.48 watts per gallon

about the only thing you couldn't do is sps
which no beginners start with any way

you want to have fresh blue bulbs aprox every 8 - 10 months
and fresh white bulbs every 10-12 months

keep hood glass CLEAN of algae and salt creep

do not put the light on for the 12 - 14 hours UNTIL you get a good amount of corals in there

Can you suggest some hardy corals for beginners?

And maybe how flow, lighting, and suppliments factor in those decisions.

How does Kalkwasser Solution work, and when is it required?

Can you suggest some hardy corals for beginners?
sure....
Mushrooms
Leathers
Brains
green star polyp
button polyp
... practically anything I'll carry
acroporas and montiporas are not difficult, as long as you have
the correct lighting and supplements
... the truly difficult one is the sun coral
very colorful but needs direct feeding
and most people (at least most Fish Factory employees)
simply don't perform that chore

And maybe how flow, lighting, and suppliments factor in those decisions.
well
the more flow the better
..not necesarily a jet directly onto a coral
but a large volume moving through out the tank...
a standard overflow drain can handle about 750 gallons per hour
so I try to max that out
(I'll use a 900 pump, and either ball valve it down
or the head pressure from going from sump to top of tank will slow it down)

lighting is a matter of personal choice
...in my opinion HQI metal halide looks best
the standard color bulbs are
10000K
14000K
and 20000K
...in my opinion the 14 and 20 are the most attractive (more blue)
...theoretically 10K is for shallow water species
14K is for mid-water
and 20K is for deepwater
however
almost everyone keeps a mix of species anyway

power compact florescent is still very popular

T5 high output florescent is probably the most economical

the metal halide lights give a sunbeam effect that I like very much
the florescents give a soft overcast effect

generally
we have the blue supplemental lights on for about 10 - 14 hours
then the brightest white bulbs on for 7 - 11 hours

all corals have essential algaes living in their tisssues that need this intense blue (actinic) light

the bright light hitting the water
makes its own phyto plankton (green water)
but you can also buy and add phyto plankton

phyto plankton is used directly by some corals
but more importantly is used by zooplankton (microscopic animals)
that live in the water column

How does Kalkwasser Solution work, and when is it required?
I am not an expert
but
if you do add Kalkwasser often
you will get alot of purple coraline algae

it is best to add a small ammount daily

at the store we have been using ESV, a 2 part additive that is simple to use
and
we are having great success with our acroporas