im setting up a 10 gal salt water tank, and i have kept freshwater fish for a long time and i have an extra 10g and i want to try saltwater. What do i do along the lines of filters and testing equipment, and how mush salt and stuff.
Confused and setting up 10g
- Thread starter AlwaysConfused
- Start date
You're getting into something I got into several months ago myself. I was a dyed-in-the-wool plant tank keeper and converted (the grass was saltier on this side).
Let me give you a few tips.
-10gs are difficult to keep compared to 10g freshwater, so stick to hardy fish. Hard to beat a small occellaris/percula clownfish and a few misc. gobies.
-If you can dump the money, shoot for a nano reef. Oddly, these IMO are easier to keep than a fish-only 10g--- the live rock adds incredible stability to the biological activity. Get 8-10 lbs of decent, pink/purplish live rock (avoid the cheap white stuff) and little, if any, sand (less than an inch). If you do this in one day and can hornswaggle 10 gallons of tank water from an friend with an established HEALTHY tank (preferably a reef tank) then you will be able to complete the nitrogen cycle quickly. INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING you can on nano reefs. They are a breeze to light (a ten g only needs 30-50 watts of light, preferably power compact florescent).
Keep at most three to five small fish but add them slow. Use a standard filter, a Hagen Aquaclear that turns 200 gph or so is plenty and gives good water flow. HOT magnums are good too, but quite strong. AVOID corals AND ANEMONES other than mushroom corals and zoanthids until you get the hang of it.
Salt? I use Instant Ocean, I buy the big 160 gallon bucket for $40 at a pet warehouse type store.
testing? Buy a good master test kit ($30-60) with pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and alkalinity (alkalinity is the same as carbonate hardness, or KH). These are the basics and will work fine for a 'shroom/zoanthid nano reef. Many of your freshwater kits will work for saltwater-- read the instructions.
Let me give you a few tips.
-10gs are difficult to keep compared to 10g freshwater, so stick to hardy fish. Hard to beat a small occellaris/percula clownfish and a few misc. gobies.
-If you can dump the money, shoot for a nano reef. Oddly, these IMO are easier to keep than a fish-only 10g--- the live rock adds incredible stability to the biological activity. Get 8-10 lbs of decent, pink/purplish live rock (avoid the cheap white stuff) and little, if any, sand (less than an inch). If you do this in one day and can hornswaggle 10 gallons of tank water from an friend with an established HEALTHY tank (preferably a reef tank) then you will be able to complete the nitrogen cycle quickly. INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING you can on nano reefs. They are a breeze to light (a ten g only needs 30-50 watts of light, preferably power compact florescent).
Keep at most three to five small fish but add them slow. Use a standard filter, a Hagen Aquaclear that turns 200 gph or so is plenty and gives good water flow. HOT magnums are good too, but quite strong. AVOID corals AND ANEMONES other than mushroom corals and zoanthids until you get the hang of it.
Salt? I use Instant Ocean, I buy the big 160 gallon bucket for $40 at a pet warehouse type store.
testing? Buy a good master test kit ($30-60) with pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and alkalinity (alkalinity is the same as carbonate hardness, or KH). These are the basics and will work fine for a 'shroom/zoanthid nano reef. Many of your freshwater kits will work for saltwater-- read the instructions.