Wanting to get into saltwater

[Martini2108]

Hi,

First off hello everyone . Now I am wanting to start to transition to saltwater tanks. I have 20G, 25G, and 36G all freshwater (36G is a cichlid) I know very little about the saltwater side of the hobby so any help would be great. I'm think I want to turn my 20G into a nanoreef with a clownfish or 2. How would I go about this?

[gutterguy]

Hi,

First off hello everyone . Now I am wanting to start to transition to saltwater tanks. I have 20G, 25G, and 36G all freshwater (36G is a cichlid) I know very little about the saltwater side of the hobby so any help would be great. I'm think I want to turn my 20G into a nanoreef with a clownfish or 2. How would I go about this?

 

Welcome, now read everything you can here. Check out the beginners forum, theres alot of good stuff in there.

 

Good Luck

gg

[RRC]

You will want a supply of clean water, many people use RO/DI water. You can either use a filter to get this water or buy it from a LFS. Then you will want a type of salt, this is very opinionated so I would suggest reading what others have to say about their experience. 20-35lbs of live rock along with a few bags of sand. After you give it a couple months to mature you can begin to add livestock and such. If you are looking to have a reef you will need to look into lights also, for such a small tank I would suggest either T-5s or LEDs. I have never used T-5s so I cannot give you any advice on these but I use LEDs and have no complaints so far. As far as hardware goes a powerhead and heater are going to be needed. I do not use any form of filtration other than weekly water changes of 10-20%.

 

Hope this helps, but I am sure I am forgetting some things. Time and patience are the most valuable things and to be honest these are things many of us are in short supply of.

[rolltide21]

 

Hope this helps, but I am sure I am forgetting some things. Time and patience are the most valuable things and to be honest these are things many of us are in short supply of.

 

+1. First off, look around and decide what you want. If you want corals (which you will eventually, don't try to tell yourself you won't haha) then you'll need a good light as previously mentioned. For a 20g you have a lot of options with T5, LED, or halide if you wanna. Figure out the corals that you like and then find out what light they need. For that size tank, you might want a protein skimmer...that's debated but I don't think it's necessary. And if you can find yourself an MP10 for a powerhead, then you're in good shape.

 

Check out the library here on NR, it's where I started. Good luck!

[Martini2108]

Thanks all. Have read the NR article's and think I've got a decent idea on what I need. I kinda wanna try just corals/shrimp for starting. Still need help lol. Gonna head to LFS today and get a refractometer (or order online) and see about lighting. I'm thinking about Colony polyps (Protopalythoa sp.) and some green star polyps, would also like some frogspawn and/or torch coral if I could. First off will these corals work together and in my tank? Using the 20G for NR tank. What kind of lighting am I going to need for the corals?

[d9hp]

Thanks all. Have read the NR article's and think I've got a decent idea on what I need. I kinda wanna try just corals/shrimp for starting. Still need help lol. Gonna head to LFS today and get a refractometer (or order online) and see about lighting. I'm thinking about Colony polyps (Protopalythoa sp.) and some green star polyps, would also like some frogspawn and/or torch coral if I could. First off will these corals work together and in my tank? Using the 20G for NR tank. What kind of lighting am I going to need for the corals?

 

My advice would be to continue reading. Make sure you really understand the nitrogen cycle and be patient until you have a tank that's ready for livestock or you'll find yourself in a downward spiral of money and frustration.

 

Those corals sound like good choices and I would suggest adding them in the order you listed them. The torch and frogspawn will require the most light of the group and I would suggest using T5 fluorescent lighting. Look at marinedepot.com to get an idea of some of the lighting options available.

 

Those corals would work together just give them space so they don't get angry!

 

Best of luck.

[Kweli]

Good choices of corals, all fairly easy and not too demanding.

 

I would suggest reading the hitchhiker thread and get a good understanding of the good vs. the bad.

You will want to remove the bad as soon as possible, because 1 bad can turn into overwelming odds unchecked. You also want to know what some of the bad things look like so you can avoid corals that have these on them (aipista, bubble algae, etc...)

 

It will take about 2-8 weeks to cycle, I would suggest you read up on this. There are different rock options (cured/uncured, etc...) and each have their pros/cons.

 

When I started I spent alot of time reading the disaster threads, I learnt alot from other peoples mistakes (ie, dont top off the evaporated water with saltwater, only fresh)

 

My last suggestion would be to get a "long" or "Breeder" tank, as they have the best aquascaping/coral placement options

[doppelganger]

+1 on what everyone else said. Research is key and if you have a big wallet, get some better equipment upfront so if u choose to upgrade in the future, it'll cost less in the long run. MP10 FTW!

 

I'd also suggest reading up on clownfish as well if that's what you've decided to keep and if you want 2. After your tank cycles, there a few different options in types of clownfish as well as if you want both clownfish to pair up successfully. You'll love them though. They have so much personality and are quite amusing to watch. IMO, although they can be kept alone, they're much more active and social when there are 2.

 

Good luck!

[Martini2108]

Ok so I'm gonna get lighting at least but before I order I'm wondering something. I saw a Nova Extreme T5HO on this site Nove Extreme T5HO for $54 (that's the 18") and $71 (the 24" rounded up a bit). For my 20G should I get the 18" or 24" or will it really matter? Thank

[jbannick18]

The 18 inch nova with the mounting legs will not fit the 20 gallon, you would need the 24inch model. Buy a four bulb fixture as it will be ample light for just about anything from what I've read and you will have a much better option as far as bulb colors and choices as far as ati, geissman etc. I made the mistake of starting with a 2 bulb and instantly regretted it. Like everyone says save up for the best equipment instead of just trying to make do because you will just think about constantly upgrading.

[Coastie]

Just a thought but the metal halide pendant from aquatraders is working well on my 25g. For only $99 shipped, why not start off with one of the better lighting options? You can keep a ton of different types of coralunder it and are not breaking the bank. My .02.

[MilkWeed18]

Make sure your FW tank was never treated with copper medicine. Also go with the best lighting you can afford. +1 for the halides or a 4 bulb t-5 fixture.

[clownfish14]

+1 to the coper its no good in a saltwater tank

[Martini2108]

Thanks for all the help everyone! So my options are MH or 4 bulb T-5 I have made the mistake getting what I want with freshwater to cut costs and have already paid for it lol. Anyway the tank currently has 3 dojo loach's in it (small still going to the 36G soon) but so havent used copper at all for fear of harming my dojo's

[jbannick18]

Again just from the reading I've done, the reason I went with T5 is because the MH produces alot more heat and evaporation, sometimes requiring a chiller which is more $$$. I got a wavepoint 24 4x24watt T5 for 160 shipped online, might want to check that one out.

[Martini2108]

Yeah I was wanting to do 4 bulb T5 but where did you find that for $160 (a bit tight on cash kids take most of it ) can spend more if need be but that's a good deal from what I've seen.

[nlm2889]

If I were you, I would look on the classifieds for a 24" Sunpod or perhaps a 6 bulb Nova Extreme Pro. From what I've seen, both of those can run ~$150-$180. The Sunpod could easily be the last fixture you buy, especially if you buy quality bulbs (like Ushio). The NEP would be a great buy too because you'll have loads of color options. If you buy bulbs like nanotuners/UVL T5-Rs and upgrade the ballast so they have Very High Output, it could be the last fixture you buy as well.

 

I would definitely recommend researching EVERYTHING. If you find a fixture you want, scour the forums to see if/why/when people upgrade. Same with a protein skimmer.

 

HTH!

 

Edit: You could also go with some PAR38s, they produce great PAR numbers and last for several, several years. Nanotuner's sells them for just under $120.

[jbannick18]

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/248262/product.web

 

Couple more bucks then 160, I think I did it when it was $25 off around thanksgiving so it was closer to 160 then. Only thing I'm doing to mine is adding a fan to blow out air, don't know the exact temperature of the light but its not to hot when I touch it, just a piece of mind type of thing, plus I own a lawncare buisness and its the slow season so I'm bored out of my mind XD.