BFM wants to be a part-time saltie!

BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
Mar 17, 2008
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Deadmonton, lol, Canada
Real Name
Sherry N.
so i've been into fw tanks for a little while now and corals, live rock and little starfish have been creeping into my dreams at night. time to start a lil sw tank???? i think maybe so!

what i have is a 20 long metaframe tank that is going to need a reseal and a bit of a clean up and that'll take me a while what with workjob and mommyness keeping me busy, so that gives me plenty of time to do some research and pickle my brain matter (see, pickle? salt? oh lordy, i make bad jokes! hahaha).

i want to keep this tank as simple as possible, with not a whole lot of rock, easy corals, a fish or two, a small clean up crew, and at least one starfish if that's feasible. if not then no starfish.

what will i need to keep this tank healthy, beautiful, and enjoyable?
i hear so much about R/O water..... is tap water an option at all?
filters? which are the best quality for the lowest price? what exactly is the best media for the setup i mentioned?
powerheads? are they necessary in a smaller tank like this?
what water testing kits will i need to get? what tests are the most important to do?
anything else i should know???

thanks all! i dream of the day i can look into my little slice of the ocean.
 
i have really been wanting to set one up, ive got the salty dreams too! haha
ill be learning from this thread too :)
 
Wow! lotta questions so little time. Ro water is not a necessity but it makes life a ton easier especially if you are planning a reef with corals, ro di is even better (unless your planning a algae farm). General rule of thumb is about 1 pound of live rock per gallon or more. For substrate it comes down to preference Aragonite, crushed coral, sand, you'll get a lot of different opinions. The best type of filter will be a hang on the back protein skimmer, Cpr makes a good one, but you can find cheaper ones made by red sea and other companies. You can use regular filters but they do not work the same as on salt as they do in fresh. Almost all corals will need some kind of intense lighting, MH, Poer Compacts T5, etc. Most star fish are going to need a larger environment, however there are plenty of Serpent Stars that will work, and a few others. A good book is a great place to start. There is a good book called The New Marine Aquarium, It's a great book for beginners as well as advanced hobbyists. I think I have an extra copy. PM me if you're interested consider it a RAOK. Hope this helps! feel free to ask or PM with more questions.

P.S. A lotta of topics are highly debatable, you will get a lot of different opinions.
 
Also forgot to mention. You are going to have to be very diligent keeping that metal fram clean. As I'm sure you know salt water is very corrosive, Inevitably your frame will most likely start rusting. As far as powerheads a couple small ones would be good. Now test kits, Tetra makes a good one for beginners thats easy to use. As you learn more there will be more things you'll want to test for.
 
thanks for all the advice STF. I'm not looking to set this up any time soon, maybe come spring after i get my place painted and do a few small renos. as it is, i'll have two 55 fw gallon tanks to worry about when it comes time to wield the paintbrush..... yay! lol.

so lots of time for me to read up on what i want, what i need to do, and what i can manage and be happy with.

and i could have the option of using a regular plastic rim 20 gal if the metaframe is likely to corrode too much, but i don't know yet if it's a long/standard/tall...... getting it from a friend of mine in the near future. hope it's a long, i love that dimension tank.
 
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