From Fresh to Salt?

thanks for the help guys.. but you're stilling not telling me like how many bulbs, or how big of a skimmer I need. That's my main thing.

Do I need a skimmer for fish only right now?

I'm thinking I was gonna cycle, start with fish, a couple months down the road comes skimmer, lights, and coral.

how often for water changes? how much % change?

whats the ratio of salt/RO water?

what about that "miracle mud?" can I use that instead of a skimmer?

Right now I have an overflow box hanging off the back, I'm thinking about sectioning off a corner and making a durso standpipe. does anyone have any experience with this?

This tank is going through a MAJOR overhaul starting in less then a month.

 

I'm doin the same thing your doin goin from fresh to salt but I have a 125 best of luck

 

the salt will have instructions on the package... IIRC it's a around 1# per 5 gallons.

Skimmer... you can get one now, or get one later. A skimmer will keep the water cleaner, allow you to keep slightly more fish, etc...you don;t need it to cycle, but you'll want it soon after.

That mud... eh... I haven't used it, but i hear good things. It does not replace a skimmer.

As for lighting... there is a whole section of this forum devoted to lighting. I would say for $300 you wouldn't be able to "over light' your tank. For fish only you need much less light, just enough to make things look good. For corals all I have experience with is metal halides, I spent about $450 on my lighting for 2 150W 15,000K HQI pendents. Well worth the cost, but even with them I'm looking at adding some VHOs.

I would think VHO is the way to go on a lower start-up budget, Get as much light as you can afford. And remember you'll have to replace bulbs every so often. Probably more often than you think you'd need to.

-Doug

 

I found this on craiglist. saltwater lighting and protein skimmer The guy says he has 2 berlin skimmers, ones HOB the others regular in sump. One includes pump, the other doesnt. He says he only wants $40 for the two of them. Is this a deal?

he says on the skimmer it says it can handle 25-110gallon tanks. will this work with my 55 gallon with soft corals?

Where do I go for a replacement pump?

He used it on a 30 gallon tank.

 

I wrote to reefcleaners.org to get a quote on what I should get for a 55 gallon w/ soft corals and 4 midsize fish. This is what I got back:

50 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners

23 Nassarius for when the4 fish are in the medium range, more later.

25 Florida Ceriths - sand and some rock

10 Blue Legs - rock, effective when not killing snails

11 Large Nerite - gladd and rocks

1 five pack of mangroves

1 chaeto or ulva or gracilairaW

Is this correct? I mean that's 119 critters in my tank. Seems pretty wild.

By the way I appreciate all the help you guys have given me so far. This is an extremely helpful forun.

 

Bump

 

I would not add that clean-up crew right from the start, personally. Given that you have basically an empty tank (or perhaps one or two fish right after your cycle), a CUC so large would basically starve. I think that the recommendation was for a fully-stocked tank, full of fish. You might consider a few nassarius snails and/or hermit crabs to start, and add the rest as you add more livestock (and feed your tank more).

Regarding your previous questions about a protein skimmer, you won't want to use it until your cycle is done. But after that, you will want the absolute best skimmer your budget can afford. This is one area you won't want to skimp, trust me. Clean water = happy tank. Whatever skimmer you get, be sure that the recommendation is about double the volume of your tank. For example, if your tank is 55 gallon, make sure that the skimmer says it is good for at least 110 gallons (rather than the one you were looking at, which says 25-110 gallons, with 110 the absolute maximum).

 

John will do ya right on whatever crew you get. I ordered like 50 dwarfs and wound up with about 200

(and a naked hermit crab and a bumblebee snail?)

 

Oh I'm not doubting that he was steering me right. I just think that's a massive amount of critters to have as a clean up crew. I guess I was really just asking if you guys all had that many lil creatures in your tank.

 

ok this tank is really the reason why I want saltwater. It's the tank thats at my girlfriends work.

I really wanna know: what kind of coral this is? and how much they range in price? because its definately my favorite coral. I know they come in different colors too.