Converting from Freshwater to Saltwater
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- Winston
- jcmendez51
- Saigo
- riff77
- rabagley
- rabagley
- GoodGuy
- calboy8686
- iratefish
- iratefish
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» Winston - Tank size
Actually there is no problem with smaller aquariums. In fact, I have a friend that has a reef aquarium in a 20 gallon aquarium that is beautiful. You are correct though that smaller aquariums can be a bit less stable since water evaporation can have a greater effect on the salinity of the system, etc.... I recommend to most to start with at least a 30 gallon aquarium.Thanks for the comment....I am always glad to have comments to help point out things I have overlooked.
Winston
-- posted by Winston
» jcmendez51 - SW setup help
Hi, my name is Juan Carlos, I am mantaining a 20gal FW tank with 4 Discus and 2 clown loaches since May, and they are doing pretty well. Before, this tank had several other FW species from guppies to Monodactyles for almost 1 year and a half, until I went to the top with Discus. I am about to get another 20 gal tank from dad, since he hasnt got any time to mantain it anymore because of work, so I guess I'll get it.Here's the deal. I am pretending to set it up to be a SW tank, but I dont want it to be expensive and complicated, so I decided to have only fish in it, no coral reef or that sort of stuff. Maybe Damsels and other "easy 'n' cheap" (advice me please on species and number for this size of tank) species will go.
Can u give me a "quick recipe" to get it work ?, Or correct the next one :
1.- Elite 802 2-way pump.
2.- 1 Power Head, or a Liberty 100 Power Filter
3.- Platform Filter (undergravel) and an Air stone.
4.- Instant Ocean salt for 20 gal mix and a Hydrometer to get 1.020 specific gravity.
5.- A heater that does 75o F at all times.
6.- A skimmer is planned in the near future.
Mix the salt with dechlorinated water and make measurements until it gets 1.020, then set up the pump and filter equipment. Let it work for about an hour to make sure its working OK. Introduce 10 gupppies or inexpensive FW & SW species as Xiphos or Molly and keep them for 2 weeks to develop useful bacterial and set up Bio environment. Then remove "tool fishes" and buy beautiful electric blue damsels (dont know how many for this size of tank) and introduce them little by little as they aclimate to new tank.
Presto ! Feed them and ENJOY.
Will this work or what am i missing ?
-- posted by jcmendez51
» riff77 - converting 44gallon fresh water tank to saltwater
I HAVE A 44 GALLON TANK I PURCHASED A EHIEM 2213 CANISTER FILTER, CORAL FOR MY SUBSTRATE I HAVE HEATER AS WELL. WHAT OTHER THINGS DO I NEED TO PURCHASE TO COMPLETE MY SET UP.THE SET UP WOULD BE A FISH ONLY TANK. I ALSO HAVE A WISPER FILTER WHICH I DONT KNOW CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EHIEM.-- posted by riff77
» rabagley - Re: converting 44gallon fresh water tank to saltwater
In response to message posted by riff77:Buy "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" and read it from cover to cover. Nothing will help you more than a great book that covers the whole thing.
After that, get on USENET (Internet Newsgroups) and start reading rec.aquaria.marine.misc and rec.aquaria.marine.reef. www.reefcentral.org is another massive conglomeration of marine aqarium hobbiests and experts.
Regards,
Ross
-- posted by rabagley
» rabagley - Needs an update
Aquarium science has moved substantially since this article was written. It might be time for an update.Live rock with a "live" fine sand bed has become the dominant biological filter system. This has made reef or fish + live rock tanks substantially simpler to operate and maintain. Most modern reef tanks have only pumps and a protein skimmer for mechanical parts. The rest is in and on the rock, in and on the sand. Wet/dry, undergravel, floss, etc. are to a reef aquarium as leeches and bloodletting are to modern medicine.
Also, the size issue was definitely underemphasized. While small tanks (<50gal) can be successfully maintained, they are enormously more difficult to keep than a larger tank, simply because the smaller water volume exaggerates the effects of any change, whether due to evaporation, death, a light burning out, etc. Beginners should start with 55gal or larger and go smaller if they don't feel challenged enough.
Finally, though more expensive, reef tanks with a few small fish are substantially easier to keep and maintain than salt water fish only tanks. Further, properly selected fish in a well maintained reef tank are actually likely to live out most of their natural lifespan and/or reproduce, something which only rarely be said of fish in a salt water fish only tank.
Regards,
Ross
-- posted by rabagley
» calboy8686 - Re: Newbie
In response to message posted by GoodGuy:If you're still starting out the best advise is READ READ READ and talk with some people. A good book to buy is "The Conscientious MarinAquaristst" by Robert MFennerer. However, saltwater isn't really the best way to start, it's better to start with freshwater until you get used to doing some of the maintenance, but if you have your heart set on saltwater, then the best setup I've found to be the most pleasing to the eye is the Berlin Setup and it also requires the leasamountnt of maintenance (no expensive filters i.e. wet/dry) but it's aexpencece to start. You need as many pounds of live rock and live sand and the size of your tank.
Best of luck to you and I hope you found thelpfullfull as I'm also starting a saltwater aquarium and this is the knowledge I've found from my resercherch.
-- posted by calboy8686
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