Thinking about first saltwater tank

S

SnowHeart

AC Members
Aug 27, 2005
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Washington, DC
I got back into the hobby about a year ago and am thinking of switching from fw to sw. Before I do that, I was hoping folks could offer me some advice about whether what I'm thinking is feasible or if I should wait. Your patience and thoughts are appreciated in advance! :)

First, for now the main tank would have to be my 29g -- I don't have room for anything bigger. I would setup a 10 gallon sump, however, for filtration and extra water volume. I was going to buy a DIY kit from ebay like this. I was thinking of putting a Prizm protein skimmer in the sump, along with some filter media (foam or bioballs) and a small refugium (live sand, maybe some microalgae or something?). (Would there be room for all that in a 10g sump? Maybe nix the refugium idea and just put the skimmer and filter there?)

Second, I was hoping to be able to put a lionfish in the 29g, but I don't want to commit the cardinal sin of putting a fish in a tank that's going to be too small for it and I've seen mixed thoughts on whether the minimum size for these guys is 30 gallons or 50 gallons. If this isn't enough tank, let me know -- if so, I'm not sure whether I'll just put this off until later or try to pick different fish.

Thanks,
~Snowy
 
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First off, welcome to the forums..

The refugium on ebay looks good to me..How-ever, stay away from Prizm skimmers, they are a real pain..Am sure the people here will point you towards a good skimmer as i am in the UK so my choices on equipment are different..

For filter media in the sump, you should go with a deep sand bed and live rock rubble and macro algae..the only real need for sponge in the fuge ( refugium ) will be if you are getting bubble problems really..Depends alot on how the baffles are, cant really make it out from the ebay pictures..

A medium sized adult lion fish can grow to about 10 - 15 inches and i would not concider a tank less that 75 gallons am afraid...That is just my opinion though, am sure others will give their own comments..

Hope that answers some of your questions...

Niko
 
Thanks. This is helpful. I figured the lionfish would be too big. Disappointing, but not suprising. I'm not sure where I saw that 30 gallon reference, but maybe it meant 30 gallons of water for its bio functions but not in reference to the volume of space it needs. (Or it was just a bad reference.)

As for the sump/fuge... would that be "enough" filtration? Would there be much point in using the powerfilter from my fw setup (cleaned, santized and with new media)? I've never used a sump or fuge so I'm a little unclear.
 
Snowheart .... if you have enough LR and a good sand bed in your tank, you should not need any other forms of filtration :) The critters in the LR and sand will take care of those functions for you. You can grow some macroalgae int he sump/fuge to help in eliminating nitrATES.

Cheers!
Yash
 
Hi there..A point well made there by yash...

Dwarf lionfish grow to an average of up to about 8 inches, so your going to be looking at about 30 - 40 gals i would suggest..

Niko
 
Thanks for the input folks. I have a couple more questions if you don't mind.

I have no idea what's a good or a bad skimmer. The Conscientious Marine Aquarist book seems to recommend a counter-current venturi skimmer. I found this one and was wondering if that might be sufficient. If not, some recommendations would be greatly appreciated (I tried searching but couldn't find a thread on skimmer recommendations). :confused: However, that leads to my next question, which has two parts...

My end goal is to upgrade to a 75g aquarium. Would a 10g sump/fuge be sufficient for that, and would the protein skimmer linked above (and placed in the sump/fuge) be sufficient (it's only rated for "70g")?

Again, many thanks. This board has always been a great resource of knowledge. :clap:

~Snowy
 
I live in the UK, so my choice of skimmers is different to yours in the US, so i cant comment on what is good or bad for you..However, the one you mentioned is not good enough for your tank..you want to go at least half the size again for your tank...So, example, if you have a 50 gal tank, you wnt to be buying a skimmer rated at least 75 Gals...

On sump size, i suppose any sump for a tank is better, however, i think the general rule of thumb for sumps is the same as tanks...Get the biggest you can..

Have pm'd Max to get him to post a recomendation for you on the skimmer..

Thanks

Niko
 
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