Never had SW, please advise me!

[pinballqueen]

I'm thinking of converting to saltwater, I've kept freshwater for many years and I was wondering what the differences are in setup and maintainance for salt. My existing tank is a 55 gal.

For example, what extra equipment will I need? I am already going to have to buy a new filter (my fluval died this afternoon), but what else is necessary? I'm thinking about maybe a few invertebrates and some non-agressive fish to start with.

Also, what fish/invertebrates/live rock do you suggest that would be fairly easy for a beginner to keep. (Bear in mind that I have kept FW for upwards of 10 years now....just ready for a new challenge).

Any and all information would be appreciated.

[fishfreek]

Dont run out and buy a filter right away. There are varing methods of filtration used on saltwater tanks but the method I like best is the most natural. This method uses live rock and live sand as the bio filter. With the use of LR and LS and also making sure you dont overstock the tank and have very good water flow 10X or more per hour based upon tank capacty you will not need much more than maybe a protein skimmer when it comes to external filtration.

Here you can find an article on this method of filtration (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=9)

Here is a list of good books. (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=17) I stronly urge all new saltwater hobbists to pick up one or two of the books on this list and read thru them. They will be a great resource for you when your setting up and getting started aswell as in the future.

The main basic differences is that if you want to keep corals you need MUCH more light than even for a planted tank. Many of us keep our tanks at 80-82F vs the 74-76F range of freshwater. You have items like specific gravity or salinity to worry about.

The key is to go slow and ask questions along the way.

[sparky7]

Hey Pinballqueen,
Since you've been f/w so long why not try discus, they are a challange, but I know what you mean.......I'm thinking of getting one of the 12 gal. tanks and doing a live sand and rock just to get the hang of it and still keeping my 80 discus tank........:)

[tubbanorman]

Hi, I would definately recomend converting the 55 to saltwater. I had kept freshwater for 20 years before finally talking the plunge into the ocean.
I setup a 29gal almost a year ago and two months later converted one of my 55's into a salt talk. I am going to turm my 120 into salt in a year or so. It is definately worth the added cost, which is not much.
Here is the basic 55 setup I have right now.

about 70lbs of liverock
5" DSB, commercial grade sand from HD with 10lb live sand seed
4 powerheads
aquaclear 200 for extra movement and chemical filtration if needed
prizm skimmer ($70 from bigals)
4 NO 40w bulbs

It is working really well so far and I have a lot of iverts, shrimps snails, crad, cucs, stars, mushroom corals and a kenya tree coral.
Fish: yellow clown gobi, royal gramma, maroon clown, lawnmower blenny and firefish.

I peiced it together over the last year, buying things as I could afford them, and just added the skimmer as a x-mas present. This forum was a huge help to me in setting this up, thanks Boogie, oriongirl, and all the others who gave advise.

Did they get rid of names that haven't been used in while? My logon was not registered.

[Elmo]

tubbanorman ,
See this (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12) thread about getting your old account restored.

[tubbanorman]

Thanks Elmo!

[99RedSi]

Originally posted by tubbanorman
Hi, I would definately recomend converting the 55 to saltwater. I had kept freshwater for 20 years before finally talking the plunge into the ocean.
I setup a 29gal almost a year ago and two months later converted one of my 55's into a salt talk. I am going to turm my 120 into salt in a year or so. It is definately worth the added cost, which is not much.
Here is the basic 55 setup I have right now.

about 70lbs of liverock
5" DSB, commercial grade sand from HD with 10lb live sand seed
4 powerheads
aquaclear 200 for extra movement and chemical filtration if needed
prizm skimmer ($70 from bigals)
4 NO 40w bulbs

It is working really well so far and I have a lot of iverts, shrimps snails, crad, cucs, stars, mushroom corals and a kenya tree coral.
Fish: yellow clown gobi, royal gramma, maroon clown, lawnmower blenny and firefish.

I peiced it together over the last year, buying things as I could afford them, and just added the skimmer as a x-mas present. This forum was a huge help to me in setting this up, thanks Boogie, oriongirl, and all the others who gave advise.

Did they get rid of names that haven't been used in while? My logon was not registered.

How much did all of that run you? I'm looking to setup something similar..

[tubbanorman]

well let me list it out. I did it with the least expence in everything.

-70lbs Live rock/base rock my LFS had a sale on liverock at 4.25/lb and I bought about 40lbs the rest is dry base rock $170. I bought it all over a couple months. I will oder online next time.
-sand/ 50lbs HD $6, 5lb live sand $15 LFS.
-power heads, 2 I had i bought two from bigals, $8 ea.
-aquaclear 200, bigals, $14
-Prizm skimmer, bigals $73
-lights, two shop lights from HD, $12ea. I know they aren't the best for a tank, but they are working fine for now.
-two actinic blue, one 50/50, one 10,000 $90 total
-i built a hood to fit the lights in and keep them above the water, $40.
-tank, $99 combo from petsmart.
-cheap timer from walmart, $4
That's about it for equipment. The fish I bought from a LFS and the inverts from eTropicals before Dr. Foster & Smith bought 'em out. Last I checked they still do the build your own at about $70 with shipping, but the selection isn't as good as it used to be.
So for the setup it was about 550 plus salt but I spread it out over 7 months so it wasn't that bad. Just add as you can if money is tight, plus it helps the tank get established if you add slow.

[99RedSi]

Originally posted by tubbanorman
well let me list it out. I did it with the least expence in everything.

-70lbs Live rock/base rock my LFS had a sale on liverock at 4.25/lb and I bought about 40lbs the rest is dry base rock $170. I bought it all over a couple months. I will oder online next time.
-sand/ 50lbs HD $6, 5lb live sand $15 LFS.
-power heads, 2 I had i bought two from bigals, $8 ea.
-aquaclear 200, bigals, $14
-Prizm skimmer, bigals $73
-lights, two shop lights from HD, $12ea. I know they aren't the best for a tank, but they are working fine for now.
-two actinic blue, one 50/50, one 10,000 $90 total
-i built a hood to fit the lights in and keep them above the water, $40.
-tank, $99 combo from petsmart.
-cheap timer from walmart, $4
That's about it for equipment. The fish I bought from a LFS and the inverts from eTropicals before Dr. Foster & Smith bought 'em out. Last I checked they still do the build your own at about $70 with shipping, but the selection isn't as good as it used to be.
So for the setup it was about 550 plus salt but I spread it out over 7 months so it wasn't that bad. Just add as you can if money is tight, plus it helps the tank get established if you add slow.

Thank you for listing that out! It helps give me a better idea of things!

I already have the tank and 2 PC lights (110 watts). I may buy an Oceanic "cap" (wooden canopy) and retrofit the lights on that but that would be down the road.

What about a sump? How come you don't run your tank with one? Or do you regret not running a sump on your 55g?

How would I piece this together over 6 months? Buy the sand first and live sand, fill the tank with water/salt (tap water or do you use RO?) and then maybe a month later buy the live rock? And then let it cycle? I'm all about taking things slow and PLANNING :).

Thanks again for your help!

[tubbanorman]

hey, 99RedSi. Yes I sorta regret not having a sump. When I go to the 120gal I will have one on that. The real thing i would like the sump for is keep all the macro algea in. I got some grape caulerpa and it is all over the tank now. I got the macro algea to help my tap water. If I did it over again I would start the tank with RO and then go to tap for top of and water changes.

Buy the sand and add some live to seed it, Then I bought some base rock and maybe 10-15lbs of live rock. Throw some cocktail shrimp in to get the tank cycling, I waited a month and then bought one fish, then I added small abounts of liverock over the next few months, It went through mini cycles each time so add fish every month or so. The first fish I got was a royal gramma. Don't add any snails right away, they are very sensitive and I lost a few. I would also stay away from Turbo snails, I've had trouble with them and I've heard other people say the same thing. Get Trochus or Astrea snails and nassarius snails to stir the sand bed.
Plus while your waiting read lots and look up info an the net to get ideas of what your next purchase will be, that is the best part, planning the next step. If I did it all right away I probably would have spent my rent money.:)