Just Bought A 46G Bowfront Starter Kit

T

the3kgt2

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Sep 26, 2005
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Hey guys. I started off with a 10G saltwater tank and after 3 months I realized it was way too small. So I picked up a 46 gallon bow front tank with all kinds of goodies in it from Petco. I was wondering if the setup it came with will suffice as far as filtering and such for saltwater fish-only. Any recommendations?

46 Gallon Oceanic bow front tank
Emperor 280 Filter (big enough?)
Berlin air-lift protein skimmer (what size air pump should I use?)
Heater (300 watts or something)
Hood with 2 fluorescent lights (don't remember wattage)
20 pieces of Fake coral and rocks (anybody seen the petco white rocks that kinda break easily? Are they saltwater safe?)
Digital thermometer
Crushed coral substrate

Here's what I have from the old 10G tank:
Aquaclear 30 filter
Tetra Whisper 10G Air Pump
Live Sand
Heater (50 watts i think)

Should I buy a fluidized bed filter? I had a HUGE problem keeping nitrites down in my 10G. What else should I buy besides a bigger air pump and possibly a canister filter? Thanks in advance for any and all help.
 
So the Emperor 280 alone will be enough filtration? I thought the recommended GPH was 100GPH per 10 gallons.

btw, Freddy the Fish was an awesome game.
 
Id run the emperor 280 and the aquaclear at the same time. More flow never hurts.
Do a rena air pump for the berlin skimmer. Rena's are quiet, which is important unless you are hiding it in a cabinet where it cant be heard.
 
What kind of substrate would be the easiest to maintain in this tank? I'm planning on having aggressive carnivores like puffers and lions so cleaners and sand sifters are probably out of the question. Crushed coral or live sand?
 
since you already have cc, just buy some live sand and mix em together to activate the cc..should be fine. make sure you have the finely crushed coral tho..the coarse stuff is no good. and be sure to get about 50 lbs. of live rock!! or at least 20 lbs. so it can "seed" the other rock.
 
I actually threw out the crushed coral (it was dry, not live) that came with the 46g because it was a store model and there were dead flys in it and stuff. I still have the "live sand" (that bio-activated sand in bag) that's in my 10g. I'll transfer that over and maybe pick some more up at my LFS.

*edit* I'll probably pick up 20lbs of DFS nano rock. I found out the name of the petco rock I was trying to think of that came with my tank...Tufa. It came with a few pieces of Tufa rock so if I put 20lbs of live rock in, it should activate with the Tufa.

*edit 2* I just looked at my heater manual and it says it's a freshwater heater. What's the difference? It's a Penn Plax The Guardian Freshwater 300W 17" Fully Submersible Heater. Can I use this in saltwater?
 
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[QUOTE=the3kgt2]I actually threw out the crushed coral (it was dry, not live) that came with the 46g because it was a store model and there were dead flys in it and stuff. I still have the "live sand" (that bio-activated sand in bag) that's in my 10g. I'll transfer that over and maybe pick some more up at my LFS.

Good move chucking the CC. Don't know about the true effectiveness of "live sand in a bag" though. But the sand itself is nice.

*edit* I'll probably pick up 20lbs of DFS nano rock. I found out the name of the petco rock I was trying to think of that came with my tank...Tufa. It came with a few pieces of Tufa rock so if I put 20lbs of live rock in, it should activate with the Tufa.

Tufa is a good base rock. However, it will take time to "activate" even with LR present. It won't be instantaneous, more like over a period of months.

*edit 2* I just looked at my heater manual and it says it's a freshwater heater. What's the difference? It's a Penn Plax The Guardian Freshwater 300W 17" Fully Submersible Heater. Can I use this in saltwater?[/QUOTE]

Uh-oh, red flag. Penn Plax products scream cheap. Don't get me wrong, I've used their airstones and other non-essential items before, but get a quality heater for your (very expensive and very fragile) marine inhabitants. Ebo-Jager is one to consider.
 
Sweet. That's pretty much all what I figured. I have a small heater for 30g tanks, I'll use that until I get a bigger and better heater. It's warm here and never gets below 75 degrees so I should be good. Thanks for all the help
 
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