Freshwater tank to Salt

[polenslager]

I have a 30 gal freshwater tank that I am interested in changing to salt water. Now it has no fish, just plants..
Moved everyone to the 135 in my office recently.

While I have had freshwater for many years I have no salt water experiance! I have several books on it, and have been researching it a bit.. so lots of questions!

anyways.. I would like to use the heater, the filter it has (marinelanad pequin 300, and power head.
I want to go slow, and would like to start with something easy and eventually have a clown fish and Anemone once I get the hang of it.

so.. sand? coral?
The undergravel filter it has isnt used in salt correct?

Do I need a skimmer? I have heard yes, and no.
Can I use the current hood, and add better bulbs?

I guess that is enough questions to start with!

 

[Scooterman]

Hi welcome to RF!
If this tank was use in FW & If you ever used Coper in it you need to be cautious & be certain to clean it throughly, copper is not good in a salty tank.
For starters I'd stay way clear of the anemone for a good while these aren't for someone just starting out, the clown on the other hand is a great fish to begin with once you get your tank up & running & cycled with the proper equipment, Live Rock Etc.
Usually people use a sump, where they locate the skimmer, & heaters & all other equipment for mechanical filtration. the penguin is something that basically not useful in a salt water tank, same with most of your equipment, UG & lighting included. Yes you probably could get by with the light for a while but really it isn't powerful enough, there is lots to learn to properly get your system running right & be successful. I'd be careful with your local fish store some will probably sell you anything you want but that doesn't always make it right, Learn to research what anyone tells you to get at least other opinions, some LFS are getting much better these days though, find a good one.
Basically, You could start out with a cleaned tank, some sand, some live rocks, a hang on skimmer & heater Buy a decent T5 lighting fixture to fit your tank & actually use your power filter but clean it weekly, this would be important because th smalls amount of detritus will keep your Nitrates, Nitrites & ammonia up to an unsafe level.
So you will need to buy some decent test kits, like API, Sea Chem, Saliflert or the any of the better ones, stay away from the fast test, dip sticks & cheapies, not going to help you get good readings. I would buy a Nitrate/Nitrite kit, Ammonia & PH to start out. Once you get that, you will also need salt mix, & a Hydrometer to get the correct salinity level, most reefers keeps the salinity at 35ppt or 1.0265sg.
From there you get all this running you have to go through a biological cycle, as a beginner I'd wait at least 4 to 6 weeks, don't rush this part, take your time & learn, READ, READ READ in the meantime, you can do it much quicker these days but you must understand what is going on throughly before stepping up that pace & be successful at it.
Then you can get you that clown & a few other smaller species fish, stay away from larger species, no tangs, make life easy for you to start out & you will kill less fish & save more money, this isn't cheap. Also you can get hermits, & snails, shrimps etc. just add slowly & don't over stock your tank, 30g is small.
Hope all that helps & I'm sure it will just bring up a ton more questions, & that is fine, your at the right place to get great help!

 

[ReefferMan]

Welcome to the world of salt water! Scoot hit the nail on the head! i would clean the tank out with vinigar real well, think of your long term goals and plan accordingly. Dont hesitate to ask questions there are loads of real smart fella's here that are more then helpfull.... perhaps even help with locating equipt n such.

1. Good Filtration... Live rock.... 15-30 lbs
2. Good skimmer... hang on the back skimmer?
3. Good water quality to start (RODI) Most fish stores have some available or buy a system
4. Good flow, i would say about 4 maxyjet 1200's would do or somthing comperable.
5. Lights are going to depend on what you plan on growning. 4-6 t-5's would definatly Do for

happy reeffing
6. Keep a smile and lot's of patience

 

[eliterecon14]

Welcome to the Reef. I would highly recommend T-5's, they bring out the beauty of the tank and are best for photosynthetic corals, etc. After the tank is cycled and rock is in I would start of with mushrooms to kenya tree, star polyps, zooanthids, then an anemone. I might be able to hook you up with some Bullet proof corals depending how far you are away.

 

[polenslager]

As expected, I have more questions!

So to start out, I will empty and clean out the tank this weekend.
Its never had copper in it, so that should be fine.

Any recomedations on the skimmer?

I'll go slow.. since money is an object and there is alot to it and being so new at salt.

Reefferman, your in my area.. if you dont mind my asking, where do you get your salt mix?

For my freshwater supplies I have always bought online, thatpetplace, fosterandsmith.. any other online places
you guys might recomend?

 

[ReefferMan]

In spokane? sweet! use instant ocean for salt mix. As for a skimmer, i would say a recirculating style skimmer, the skimmer will be the most expencive piece of equipment you will get, dont short change yourself on the skimmer. I might know of decent skimmer for cheep! also do get rodi water to start with. Kevin @ aquatic dreams has RODI for cheep, just bring out buckets. Let me know what you might need, i will help ya out. Hell i change out 40G's of water once every month or so. Bring some buckets over! lol the water might be good to cycle rock with.

Also! Think of Rock, nice show pieces! There are other things to tackle..... call me anytime for questions.

Mike 509-954-2574

 

[polenslager]

Thanks for the welcome and suggestions...
Actually Im in northern Idaho.. but still "in the area" sort of!! I was in Spokane this week to get my car from the shop and stopped by Aquatic dreams on the way home.
I talked to Kevin for a long time. What a nice man, easy to talk to. I learned a few things and left feeling better about salt and maintance ect..
He gave me some ideas on what I would need to buy using my 30 gallon tank and costs.. Im at the point of
needing to save up some $$ then get a few things.

Thanks for the contact info Mike. I'll probably bug
you when I get started.

Are there any good mail order places you guys use?

 

[eliterecon14]

Petsolutions.com is pretty good and have a 2 week security blanket on some items!

 

[dj tryrd]

I did the same thing with my 30 long. i started with fresh, and moved on to salt. what i did was i bought a protien skimmer, 150 watt metal halide lighting, 2 power heads, 20 pounds of sand, alot of rock,( some i later found out was illegaly collected, needless to say i am never EVER going back to crystal reef, until they close so i can get free aquarium proucts 8) ) revenge is sweet. ) a hang on refugium, and some hand collected , nasarius snails, curiolid worms, tirrubelid worms, scuds, and other stuff. now about a yr later i have a reef tank

 

[Velamondry]

I do all of my salt shopping at petsolutions, usually you can get a bucket of reef crystals (instant ocean salt) for 32 for 160 gallons and 8 bucks shipping, and if you order alot of salt at once it only goes to 15 bucks max shipping. For equipment I shop alot at Aquacave.com for metal hallide kits ro kits and most things over 200 bucks. If your looking for some cheaper used equipment or other things you could talk with Vincent at Advanced Aquarium and Terrarium in spokane just off sprauge and fancher. If you need a good skimmer for that size of tank ill be getting rid of my Remora Aqua C hang on skimmer after a bit due to upgrading tanks. If you got any questions just shoot me an instant message or an email.

 

[vwmoneypit]

Well Welcome aboard...Yep there is plenty here to help.I started with a 55 gal ,wich is now my sump!But just remember,buy smart,slow,ask alot of stupid ?'s(there is no such)!And look on here there is about 3 complete setups coming down in spokane area for yeah.I have recieved 90% of my stuff on here .i have saved at leaste 3K on products..let me know when u want some frags(corals)So i have plenty kenia,shrooms,frillys,leathers,xenia,zoo's,and grasses!happy debt to all and to all Goodnight!I am shure returnofsid will chime in soon .Thanks for sticking with REEFFRONTIERS!

 

[polenslager]

I looked at petsolutions a bit ago, thanks.
I had been looking at Drfostersandsmith too. They have salt on sale it looks like and shipping seems by amount not weight also. I've never ordered from them before.
I'll go check out Aquacave in a few mins..

There are a few skimmers on sale at both. I was looking at the ones for tanks 65 and up to 100 gals a Prizm Skimmer, also a Coralife Super Skimmer. I hear the Seaclone called Seaclown... it must not be any good??

Tell me about refugiums. I saw one at a local store. You could get a light for it. Are they a "must have"?
I think I would get a small one I think since my tank is only 30 gal.

Where is a good place to get live rock??

As you can tell, Im still in the research and check costs and info stage! :|

 

[Velamondry]

Damn double post.

 

[Velamondry]

There are a few skimmers on sale at both. I was looking at the ones for tanks 65 and up to 100 gals a Prizm Skimmer, also a Coralife Super Skimmer. I hear the Seaclone called Seaclown... it must not be any good??

Ya neither of these are much good, either to fickle on adjustments or they just are a pain to clean.

Tell me about refugiums. I saw one at a local store. You could get a light for it. Are they a "must have"?
I think I would get a small one I think since my tank is only 30 gal.

Its just an extra body of water where small animals that come with 'live rock' get to reproduce without any kind of predators eating them, which can be important depending on what kind of live stock you keep.

Where is a good place to get live rock??

You could get it at a LFS or only, Personally I would order a box online for about 150 bucks or so that Is not already cured, and cure it in your tank, which would help with cycling your tank and you would also get some cheaper rock. The LFS sell their's for about 5 bucks a pound and online you can find it sometimes for 2 bucks.

 

[vwmoneypit]

It all up to you he has some good notes but if at all possible what we do with close friends is we plan when they are going to start a tank frag some corals and the i do a water change and gather live rock chunks ..then when they set it up boom live rock and some live sand and 50% est. Water ..instant tank!when i make nano combos to sell this is the key...one will be available in mid aug!unless some one i know starts a tank l.o.l.so what i am saying is find someone with extra rock and sand!cut time in half!

 

[dj tryrd]

as you read above , I have a refugium, its at the shop, but i do have one. i highly recomend it . it's not needed, persay, but it is welcome by all the inhabitants of your encoled ecocystem. in the wild the ocean is full of plankton ,plastic ,zooplankton, plastic ,copepods, plastic, isopds, plastic, things i dont know and cant remember, and plastic. did i forget plastic. you dont want the plastic, but everything else i said you do
with a refugium you can help duplicate a natural environment, making fish easier to take care of.

When selacting your refugium i recomend you buy everything else first, to see if you have room for a hangon refugium. if not you can do an above tank refugium(that ones fun) or a sump refugium. the hang on is the simplest , in my oppinion. the above tank refugium is hard. they break alot if not done right , and most local fish stores ( are we realy to lazy to type three words out) dont know how to use them. or even what they are. you can make one pretty cheap if your a good do it yourselfer.

my refugium dosent have any sand or mud but was full of copepods, misid shrimp, any animals that i find clutching eggs, and know are safe. omong other things like verious filter feeders.

 

[dj tryrd]

when i said stuff about plastic, thats not a joke. in the saragaso sea their are recorded findings , that the disolved plastic is twice the size of the amount of plankton.scientist are still exploring the long term affects of high dissolved plastic levels. but it may lead to........... the end of the world.......not joking. already 70% of commercial fish have been overfished to the point of no return.

i'll stop ranting because this is probably not the forum for the subject.

 

[polenslager]

Well it sounds like I can wait a bit on the refugium for at least a little while, get started without it..
back to looking at skimmers...

any suggestions for something budget friendly for a small tank like mine that is still decent? (30 gal)

 

[Velamondry]

This is a great IMO skimmer for smaller end tanks that is cheap


http://www.aquacave.com/aquac-remora-protein-skimmerbr-with-maxi-jet-1200-pump-908.html


Kevin at Aquatic dreams sell's new ones for 150 ( I think) and you can usually find used ones.

 

[polenslager]

Live Rock

Any suggestions on where to order live rock online? It seems cheaper than the lfs..

I have my tank finally cleaned out, stand spruced up,
and Im getting ready to order some salt and things I need to get started.

How much rock per gallon do you need. My tank is 30 gals.