What would it take to make this a SW tank? Am I ready to go down this road?

[A. Nonymous]

Well, I will say you all have pushed me over the cliff to where I am definitely going to try SW and probably a FOWLR tank since it sounds like that is the easiest way to start. I'll probably keep picking everyone's brain (but not your nose, just your brain) until I get annoying enough to be ignored though. The more I read up the more I realize I don't know.

1. How many lbs of live rock do I need for a 29g tank? Am I correct in thinking I may only need 1-2 lbs of live rock and the rest of the base rock will end up as live rock eventually?

2. I need separate tubs, pumps, etc..... for SW right? Can't use the same ones I use for FW?

3. A pair of clowns will be fine in a 29g right?

4. I want aragonite sand, not crushed coral? Is that correct? Is there a purpose to the aragonite beyond buffering the PH or is that alone worth having it?

5. Is the live sand you find in the bags at Petsmart/Petco worth it or is most of it dead sand by the time you get it home?

6. I'm ok with just cycling with live rock right?

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Total rock volume for the tank you want to shoot for roughly 1.5lbs per gallon, it can vary a bit denser baserock would require more, fiji, key largo, tonga is less dense.

Yeah generally better to have separate containers, most illnesses can't be transferred from SW to FW but you wouldn't want to contaminate your SW tank with a bucket that may of had copper medicated fw water in it nor do you really want to end up getting salt in your planted.

29g is fine for some clowns, I wouldn't do a pair of Maroons or Tomatoes in a 29g, but perculas, ocellaris, would be fine.

crushed coral can trap alot of detrius, sand is easier to maintain and more friendly for any diggers or bottom dwellers you may decide to get.

Yes by the time you get the prebagged 'live' sand the bacteria is most likely dead, save your money and get dry unless you like a particular sand type that only comes bagged as live. If you can get a scoop of fresh live sand locally from a LFS or someone else with a SW tank that'll help get you going.

You'll want to introduce an ammonia source just like cycling FW to help kick things off.

 

[A. Nonymous]

1.5 lbs a gallon sounds like a lot. The math I'm doing on my fingers is close to 450 lbs of rock. Plus sand, plus sand, plus water. This 29g tank is sounding heavier than my 55g tank is.

Wouldn't uncured live rock be enough to kick off the cycling?

Should I consider an over sized HOB filter for the tank so it would generate more flow?

 

[greech]

1. How many lbs of live rock do I need for a 29g tank? Am I correct in thinking I may only need 1-2 lbs of live rock and the rest of the base rock will end up as live rock eventually? The 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon is not written in stone. I would shoot for 20 lbs minimum of total rock. If you end up packing the tank with livestock, you may need more. Sumps (not sure if you will run one) can also house LR. I prefer less rock. Tanks look better and have better flo. If you do end up packing the tank with rock, your flow must be increased as well.

2. I need separate tubs, pumps, etc..... for SW right? Can't use the same ones I use for FW? Unless you have used copper and other meds in those buckets, they FW stuff should be fine. A quick rinse with vinegar and water at the most should alleviate any concerns.

3. A pair of clowns will be fine in a 29g right? Yep.

4. I want aragonite sand, not crushed coral? Is that correct? Is there a purpose to the aragonite beyond buffering the PH or is that alone worth having it? Yes and aragonite sand contains very little silica compared to play sand, etc. Silica = diatoms.

5. Is the live sand you find in the bags at Petsmart/Petco worth it or is most of it dead sand by the time you get it home? The only benefit of live sand is that you don't have to wash it first. Truthfully, I will pay a couple extra buck in order to avoid rinsing but that's just me. If you want "live sand", get a ziploc bags worth from a trusted tank that is up and running.

6. I'm ok with just cycling with live rock right?[/QUOTE] Yep, add some live rock to dry rock and cycle away.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

1.5 lbs a gallon sounds like a lot. The math I'm doing on my fingers is close to 450 lbs of rock. Plus sand, plus sand, plus water. This 29g tank is sounding heavier than my 55g tank is.

Wouldn't uncured live rock be enough to kick off the cycling?

Should I consider an over sized HOB filter for the tank so it would generate more flow?

Lousy photo but this is a 29g with about 30ish lbs of rock, its enough but a little more wouldn't hurt. 1.5lbs per g would be about 45lbs.


If you're going to stock the tank with mostly live uncured or cured yes that'll be enough to start the cycle.

Circulation pump should be main source of flow but extra flow from a HOB won't hurt.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Another question. What is the advantage of RO/DI water in a FO or FOWLR tank? I understand that in a reef tank it's advantageous to be able to add just the nutrients you want/need for your tank, but is that something that's really useful for a FO or FOWLR tank?

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Its good to get rid of the excess nutrients that maybe in tap to help prevent algae, SW can be a little more prevalent to outbreaks then FW, hair algae and cyano outbreaks are pretty common to people using tap. I'm pretty sure Petco uses tap water in the SW tanks there, you might notice a red algae on the substrate and decor in those tanks thats cyano.

I even started using RODI in my FW planted tanks, with Seachem Equilibrium, plants seem to grow better and shrimp breed even more, and my tap waters pretty good under 50tds.

 

[greech]

Using RO/DI (from an actual function RO/DI unit) eliminates any possibility of nutrients entering your system from you water source. Therefore, you can eliminate that variable when you have an alage outbreak or worse. Otherwise, you won't know if you are fighting a loosing battle because every water change just fuels the fire.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Hitting a wall here on the LR thing. Cost. I'm looking at the math. It runs here around $10 a lb I'm finding. For 20-30 lbs, that's $200-300 which is a pretty steep cost for me. I went out and got the salt, aragonite and hydrometer to start out with and I'll get that all mixed up and running tonight. Do I need a powerhead on a 29g? Sounds like overkill to me. In the FW world if I'm running a powerhead my fish act like they're on a treadmill in most cases.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

http://www.marcorocks.com/25poundbo...owprecuredfreeshippinginthecontientialus.aspx
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-dry-live-rock-live-sand/bulk-dry-live-rock.html

Don't know where you're at but if you got other shops you can check out live rock should cost $5-7 per pound if you can get about 5lbs+ of live rock to add to either of the above it'll help you get going with the cycle.

SW fish are use to the oceans currents so powerhead won't bother them, it can also help with the prevention cyano taking hold. DrFostersmith has 425gph korelia nano's on sale for $25. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23591 They also have caribsea dry live rock not sure what that stuff is like though http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+6635+12162+24528&pcatid=24528