Freshwater convert... reading all I can and have a few questions:

[JWeb]

What shall I call you guys n' gals? Reef'ers? :)

I have always been interested in maintaining a marine aquarium, however, I have never been prepared to make the commitment. The time now seems right and I am prepared to "do it right". I currently have a 30 gallon freshwater setup that I'd like to upgrade to marine status. Through all of my reading, I'd like to do the following (questions will follow, please bear with me!)

1. Maintain and enjoy a 30 gallon reef tank that consists of a sand base, the appropriate amount of live rock, a cleaning crew, and 5 - 7 fish (probably clown, dottyback, chalk bass and maybe another interesting "beginner" fish). I think invertebrates are extremely interesting, but understand the complexities of having them as tank mates and would probably be satisfied with the varieties of invertebrates I may have in my cleaning crew.

2. Be prepared to upgrade (hopefully sooner than later) to reef items such as coral (easier to maintain varieties), anemones, etc

To accomplish this, I'd like to use my current tank and stand. Unfortunately, it is a bit taller than it is deep (18" tall, 12" deep). I hope that I can look past this slight disadvantage since I already have a great stand and like how the setup looks in the room. I am very interested in building my own W/D filter that has provisions for, but may not use, bioballs (I'd like opinions on live rock + bioballs... I do indeed plan to have 40-50 pounds of live rock unless my new friends here direct otherwise). I will have as much of the ancillary equipment housed in the W/D sump as I can: carbon filters when needed (simply insert into the housing I will construct), the heater, pumps, protein skimmer, etc. I do plan to build my own venturi-powered protein skimmer from information obtained from the diverse sources on the 'net. In fact, much of my interest in pursuing this hobby is that I have the opportunity to build the equipment myself and watch it all succeed. I understand that to be fully "upgradeable" to reef items, I will need a strong lighting system. Once again, I'd be interested in obtaining a kit which I can install into a hood that I fabricate myself.

That is the background. If you are still with me, I'd like to ask the following questions:

1. I plan on using a 10-gallon fish tank (bought from Walmart) to begin construction of the W/D filter. I have a 3' x 4' piece of acrylic sheet that I will use to build the sump, biotower (which may remain empty) and baffles, as needed. I would like advice on where to look for sizing. I am an engineer by trade and have a plan that used some science to derive the sizes, but would like to draw from practical experiences.

2. I would like to know where the best place is to obtain a Mazzei venturi nozzle (or, a suitable alternative that may be a favorite for the protein skimmer construction).

3. I would like to understand if there is a disadvantage to running a biotower (bioballs) AND a live rock setup (in addition to a protein skimmer). Can I be OVERfiltering? I don't plan to do this so that I can overstock the tank... but merely to feel confident that I have more than enough filtration capacity.

4. I would like opinions on the best source for live rock and sand. I am interested in cured rock since I don't want to go through the hassle of curing it myself but would rather spend that time focusing on cycling the tank and making it look great.

5. Is the general consensus that a PC lighting "kit" would be the best alternative for my setup? I have seen posts regarding (I believe I have the name correct) CustomSeaLife kits. Which should I be thinking about?

For starters, those are my questions.

I appreciate the responses as I am eager to learn more.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff Webster
Amherst, Massachusetts

[OrionGirl]

Welcome aboard! I can only answer a portion of your questions...

Overfiltering isn't really the term--it's a matter of imbalanced filtering. Mechanical filtering in saltwater is a bad idea. It traps the debris in the media (be it sponges, bio balls, noodles, etc) and the cleaners--worms, crabs, shrimp, snails, stars--can't get to the debris to eat it. This means the bacteria start breaking it down, producing lots of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites can be readily handled by bacteria, but nitrates are slower to be consumed (these bacteria are anaerobic, so live in deep sand beds and the interior of porous rocks). The more this happens, the more you have to do to address it. If you remove the mechanical filtration, the debris is readily accessible to your clean up crew, and a portion of the debris becomes more worm, crab, shrimp, snail or star, instead of more waste. I wouldn't go with a wet dry, just with a sump. Stashing skimmers, heaters, and other clutter here is fine--any debris build up can be addressed by cleaners introduced into the sump. Wet-dry systems don't allow these critters access, since the mechanical filtration is not submerged.

For lighting, PC should be adequate for most corals, and some clams. There are a number of kits to retro fit a hood, or ballast kits to build your own. Building your own is easy--I've assisted on the design and construction of all the tanks in my house.

You may want to rethink the number of fish you want. I know it doesn't sound like much, but SW systems have a much lower carrying capacity than FW. In a 30, I would go with 3 or 4 fish maximum. I would say that a trio of chalk basslets and a single dwarf angel would be plenty. A pair of clowns could fit, depending on species--maroons and tomatos will get too big, but percula or clarkii should be okay. Keep in mind that clowns are territorial, and should be added last. A smaller goby should be okay with a pair of clowns.