First Marine Aquarium...

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Nov 12, 2003
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I decided to convert my 10 gallon freshwater to salt yesterday. This will be a fish only tank with artificial corals. I purchased all the equipment which I was told that I would need by the LFS (crushed coral substrate, salt, hydrometer, artificial corals and barnacle pieces, etc.). I have a couple questions however...

1. I have an AquaClear Mini filter, will this be enough filtration and should I remove the carbon?

2. What fish could I stock the tank with? I was thinking damsels but I would like to know my other options as well.

That's all for now... Thanks for your help! Peace!
 
You're probably better off using a sand bed instead of the crushed coral. The sand will be able to house the bacteria needed to sustain life in your tank, where as the coral will not do anywhere near as good a job. As for the minifilter, find out how many gph it does, make sure it's at least 100-150gph. If not you are going to need more water movement. And run it without the filter. You may want to consider a few lbs. of LR, especially if you are broke like me, just a few lbs of cured LR after you cycle your tank will help alot. As for livestock, I like going to liveaquaria.com and they have ideas on what size fish to put where, but other people will surely have opinions on what to keep. Plan on getting some crabs and snails too, to keep your tank clean.
 
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Thanks Sregnar, I think I am going to stick to the crushed coral however as I just mixed up saltwater and filled the tank before I posted this. I really don't want to drain the tank again and start over once more. The mini filters 100 gph I believe so that's within the range you suggested. I appreciate your help. Peace!
 
No prob, you could consider adding some sand on top of the coral, live sand will help you speed up your cycle, but plain old playsand would be fine too.
 
A couple of important points. Crushed coral will trap debris and this can cause nitrate spikes. Frequent cleaning will help, but not eliminate the problem. CC will never provide you with the bacteria that consume nitrates, sand will. A combination of the 2 will not be adequate--the large grain size of crushed coral prevents the conditions needed by these bacteria. Live rock will help, but not completely compensate. So--you will need to do frequent water changes.

Do not use any media in the filter--same problems as the crushed coral.

What are you planning on stocking with?
 
I had planned on stocking with 2 or 3 damsels... The guy at the LFS said if I buy 3 damsels 2 will probably survive and that would be adequate for a tank this size.
 
Please do not use damsels to cycle the tank. A chunk of shrimp for the deli will work stunningly well, and not kill anything. If you want damsels, adding them after the cycle will be much better for them, and you will be able to pick the animals you have, instead of being stuck with the ones that are 'lucky' enough to survive have their gills burned.
 
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