TwanDizzle
12-22-2006, 5:37 PM
hey guys, i've finally decided to convert my aquarium to saltwater, FOWLR, and i have a few questions on filters and stuff... ok, to start off, here's what i plan on having... for starters, i want one of the scenic biofilters (its a big foam piece that takes up the back of the tank, and most of the bottom) it acts as a biofilter.... and then, i want a bunch of liverock (going by the standard .75 to 1.25 pounds per gallon of water, minus the space taken up by the biofilter, around 45-50 pounds, give or take)... oh yeah, and the recommended amount of livesand..... and the fish/inverts, 2 yellowtail damsels, an ocellaris clownfish, a diamond watchman goby, some sort of tang, and maybe 2 or 3 hermit crabs.... oh yeah, i've got a 55-gallon tank
i've read all kinds of FAQs and informational sites that cover the kind of filters i need, overstocking, cycling, etc. etc..... but i want to know what brands of filters people are using, the most popular ones for my size tank and stocking level, and stuff like that... i know for freshwater, there's the emperor, eheim, fluval, etc. but would the same filters work for saltwater? what kind of gallons per hour do i need to look into? oh, and i know i'll need a protein skimmer (or is that only for reef tanks?)
oh, and on a sidenote, i was in the petstore a little while ago, and i saw a fish in a saltwater tank, that acted a lot like a very active pleco... i thought he was just one of those gobies, because of the way he would move around... but then he swam up to the side of the tank, and stuck to the glass like he had a suckermouth like a plec... i just thought it was weird because i didn't know any kind of saltwaterfish did that... but then again, i didn't know there were saltwater catfish until this past summer when we were catching them off of the beach at night...lol
i've read all kinds of FAQs and informational sites that cover the kind of filters i need, overstocking, cycling, etc. etc..... but i want to know what brands of filters people are using, the most popular ones for my size tank and stocking level, and stuff like that... i know for freshwater, there's the emperor, eheim, fluval, etc. but would the same filters work for saltwater? what kind of gallons per hour do i need to look into? oh, and i know i'll need a protein skimmer (or is that only for reef tanks?)
oh, and on a sidenote, i was in the petstore a little while ago, and i saw a fish in a saltwater tank, that acted a lot like a very active pleco... i thought he was just one of those gobies, because of the way he would move around... but then he swam up to the side of the tank, and stuck to the glass like he had a suckermouth like a plec... i just thought it was weird because i didn't know any kind of saltwaterfish did that... but then again, i didn't know there were saltwater catfish until this past summer when we were catching them off of the beach at night...lol