First time experiment

So I've gotten kinda bored with my 10 gal freshwater setup and I'm going to convert it to saltwater. I'm going to start by simply replacing the gravel with sand (not sure if it has to be live or not) and running my current hanging filter (w/ existing bio life) for bio and mechanical filtration. I am also in the process of designing and building my own simple air powered protein skimmer. Since I've never dealt with saltwater before, my expectations aren't too high. If anyone could give me some direction as to how make this work and any any suggestions for how powerful of a power head I would need for the skimmer return would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

i wouldnt use a bio wheel.

 

and i'd also suggest you go bigger than a 10 gallon...atleast a 20g would do....more room

 

Hey ! Try to maximize water/air contact time. You can achieve this by pumping more air in (at least 100 lph air-pump) + plunging your DIY skimmer to slow/moderate flow pump: something between 20-40 gph. The slower the water flow, the better skimming!

 

don't bother skimming a 10 gallon tank.i tried that before and it was a hastle.just do water changes.it will be much more stable.skim bigger tanks.the biowheel is fine unless you decide to use live rock,then you can toss the wheel cause the rock will do it better.you could probably just add salt and run it.if i did it,i would toss the wheel,add about 5lbs tuffa or base rock and 5lbs live rock,and aragonite sand.wait 2 or 3 weeks and if the water tests fine then add a damsel or small clown.by then the aragonite sand will be live,it will have bristle worms and copods and all kinds of life by then.pick up a bag of live sand in a store and see if it has any of that in it.it will just have some bacteria in it,bacteria that the live rock already has.oh and you should change your bulb to one better suited for sw tanks to promote good coraline growth and run it on a timer so it gets regular light about 8 hours a day.my 1st sw tank was a 5gallon with blue sand and 5lbs liverock and a screw in pc daylight bulb that held a peppermint shrimp and 2 damsels for 2 yrs before i went bigger

 

Glad to see you come over to the dark side....you will love saltwater.

 

Welcome to the club! and the hobby....

I agree with what ziggy222 said, no skimmer, water changes. I don't have skimmers on any of my
Nano tanks, I just change 10% of the water weekly.

I think the Bio wheel is a matter of preference, it works for me on my 10. Main reason is if I don't
have it the water comes out of the filter to fast and stirs up the sand. But I haven't had any problems
using it.

Bypass that expensive ass live sand, get dead sand and ask LFS for a cup or 2 of sand from their already
established tanks and add that to your tank. I have yet to find one that said no. This will get you started.

I used mostly base rock and just a few pieces of live rock to seed the base rock. cost allot less and
now you can't tell the difference, took a little while for the Copepods and worms to build up but now
all three of my tanks have bunches.

Last but most important, take it slow! Do not rush this, if you do you will be sorry later, trust me on this!
Its going to take 6 to 8 weeks maybe longer to completely cycle that tank. Do what i did, STAY OUT of
the stores till it is cycled, that way you wont be tempted to buy something to early and end up loosing it.
Also Don't use a live fish to cycle it either, use a piece of raw shrimp, and after a couple of weeks add
a few snails and crabs till its cycled.

Have fun, and enjoy. I betting it wont take you but a couple of months and you be posting about your
2nd tank!

 

You know in that tank you have it would be fun to set it up as a Plenum system. As you could do lots of corals and a fish or two anyways But you'd have a very stable system in need of little attention and not have a skimmer Do some reading on the plenum's and if you decide that you'd want to try one ? P/M and I'll tell you a few better ways to set them up then you'll find on the net. But you'll get the idea as to whats involved .

 

yes the plenum works great in my daughters 10 gallon.she had fish die and then i added the plenum and all was well.the live rock alone should cycle your tank.small tanks cycle faster than large ones so just start testing it after like 3 weeks.wait a month between adding each fish or shrimp.don't put alot of hermits in such a small tank i learned this the hard way in my daughters tank,it was a slaughter.little legs and empty shells all over.coralife makes a small 28watt light perfect for your tank if you decide to add corals.