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

[greech]

+1 to marco rocks and BRS dry rock. You don't even need any live rock to cycle the tank. Adding some live (even a small rock) should speed the cycle a tad and possible add some diversity. Also, keep in mind that 20 lbs of dry rock is a fair bit more (quantity) than 20 lbs of wet/live rock.

You need flow. No other way around it. A large HOB filter (AC 110, etc) alone will probably be insufficient but that coupled with a powerhead should be ok.

 

[A. Nonymous]

I've got a powerhead. No clue how powerful it is. I put it on my 75 at one point and it basically yanked all my plants out of the ground and all my fish were glued to it and not happy.

The LR on those sites is definitely cheaper. I need to dig more into it when I get home to see what shipping looks like. I'm in KS so shipping may make it more than it's worth.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

marco's price includes shipping, drfostersmith is usually free shipping over $50

I have 2 425gph heads plus the output from my aquaclear in my 29g.

 

[greech]

The LR on those sites is definitely cheaper.

BRS I believe only sells dry rock and marco's sells both live and dry. The latter being cheaper of course.

 

[A. Nonymous]

I ran by the local SW specialty shop. I've been in there maybe once or twice over the years just to look as I've never done SW before. They sell cured LR for $6.50 lb and $5 lb over 25 lbs. Dry, base rock is either $2-3 lb depending on what kind it is. I honestly can't tell the difference other than aesthetics. The dry rock prices seem comparable to MarcoRocks and BRS. The LR seems reasonably priced as well. MarcoRocks doesn't look like he's got any LR in stock at the moment, just dry stuff and it's about the same price as I can get locally.

I went out to PetSmart and bought some Instant Ocean, 30 lbs aragonite sand, and a hydrometer as it seems refractometers can only be bought online. I figure I'll wait on it. I found an API SW test for $20 on Amazon ($30 elsewhere) so I'm waiting for that to come in. I plan on getting everything going tonight. I'll get the tank up and running and once my test kit comes in and I can confirm the PH and everything else is good and get a good baseline I'll go from there.

I'm still confused about the LR. It seems I'm getting some people saying I don't need LR. I've got others who seem to be saying I don't need it. The lady at the store I went to today suggested I get 2-3 lbs of LR and the rest base rock and let it become live over time. She also suggested that I get a couple of damsels to cycle the tank once I get it up and running. I wasn't a fan of that idea obviously. My plan was to get uncured LR and let it cure in the tank. Use that as an ammonia source. It would take time of course, but I'm fine w/that.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

You can go either way live or dry, both have pro's and con's. With live rock you should cycle faster, but run the risk of introducing hitchhikers to your tank, dry rock cycle will take longer but no risk of introducing anything you didnt intend to.

I would suggest against damsels they become territorial and aggressive towards new fish and are very hard to catch if you want to get rid of them with out tearing the tank apart.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Can you define "hitchhikers"?

If I use just dry rock will the tank never cycle as there's no ammonia source? I'm basically looking for an easy way to cycle even if it is time consuming. If it takes a month and a half before I can add livestock, I'm fine w/that.

 

[greech]

There are good and bad HHs. Aptasia anemones are probably the most common form or the latter along with majano anemones. Various types of algae (bryopsis, etc.) can also be difficult once introduced. Good HHs' would be sponges, corals, worms (although some can be bad), pods, etc.

Honestly, I don't think a 100% dry rock cycle will take all that much longer than a tank with some or all live rock. The only way to speed things up is to buy 100% cured rock and keep it wet until you get it in your tank. The concern with some dry rock is that it is not clean. BRS pukani rock for example is beautiful rock but it is loaded with dead sponges and other organics which are burrowed deep into the rock. This can lead to an extended PO4/nitrate issue. A bleach + muratic acid bath will take care of that. The BRS reef saver rock, Marco's and Reef Cleaners dry rock is pretty clean. If you are looking for ease, buy the cleanest dry rock you can find and simply add an ammonia source.

Much of the dry/base rock i see locally is very clean but it is also very dense. There appear to be pores in the rock but they are only surficial. Basically the rock is heavier than it looks. If that is the case with your LFS rock, you may still want to buy online. If it looks like the stuff on marco's/BRS website, then go for it.

No damsels or any fish for cycle. A table shrimp or pure ammonia will do the same thing.

 

[A. Nonymous]

Ok. So I got the tank all set up sort of. My HOB filter I was going to use (350 gph rated) doesn't work. No clue why. Worked flawlessly up until I took it off my FW tank a month or so ago. Need to get this worked out. Is that filter too much flow for my proposed tank? I pulled the power head out of storage and looked at it. The clamp that holds it on the tank has gone missing. I know I had it at one point, but I have too many fish gadgets and God only knows where it might be now. A little duct tape will fix that. In any case I found a model number and googled it up. It's rated at 300 GPH. Is this too much flow for the tank?

If this was your tank and you were setting up from scratch what would you recommend? All LR? All base rock? Combo of both? If a combo, how much of each?

 

[TL1000RSquid]

With SW its hard for a tank to have to much flow. Like I said earlier I'm pushing close 1000gph between my powerheads and filter. SW fish are acustomed to strong natural currents of the ocean.

If I were setting up another 29g I'd do about 25lbs dry and 10lbs live. To help kick the cycle off