Call me indecisive - new 29g

[jttt3]

So I have my first tank all setup and cycled with 6 happy Danios that look to me as a god since, well, I have all the food lol. :luxlove:

*cough* anyways....

I have this bad habit of not leaving things as they are, so I went out and bought a 29 gallon tank with a sturdy plywood stand. That Pefecto that I was talking about on one of my posts. I was thinking the 55 gallon, but decided against it as I don't want my apartment complex hitting me with any pet fees.

Actually when I was bringing it upstairs and it started to sprinkle. The first rains in the past 3 months, so everything was really slippery. I slipped and almost dropped the tank on the stairs and went down with it! Talk about suck lol. I caught myself but landed hard. Still nursing wounds.

The tank made it to my apartment, and on its stand. I went through and cleaned it, checked for cracks, cleaned and put gravel in, filled it with water, and now it's fish-less cycling with substrate and plants from the already cycled tank. I fed the new tank with some fish food to let it rot and build ammonia so the bacteria can start building up. I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens. Haven't tried this way before, but wanted to anyways.

So, now I have a decision. My current cycled tank is an Aquapod, designed for Marine use. I am thinking, once I have my other bigger tank cycled, I will move all my fresh water stuff, including the fish, over to the new tank, then use the Aquapod for Saltwater.

My question, after several paragraphs of fluff info and pretext, is, what do I need to do to convert it over to saltwater other than clean it up extremely well using NO cleaners?

I will be going through all the marine cycling, etc, but I wanted to know if there are any steps or things I need to consider before starting that process. :confused:

Any helps or suggestions are appreciated.

[Drumachine09]

Decide EXACTLY what you want your SW to be BEFORE you start anything. It will save you equimpment costs, and it will help people help you.


So what are you looking for in a marine tank Mr.Indecisive?

[jttt3]

As far as what will go in the SW, I got that figured out, sorta lol. I know I will be stuck with what I choose as it is very expensive.

Live Rock with Damsel fish. Simple, but colorful. I'm doing research on the fish, but that is the general route I think I will go since it is my first marine tank. Smaller species if I can manage it. Not sure if I will include a coral at all. The tank has the lighting for it when I enable both bulbs, I will do more research on that though before I give it real thought.

I'm going to avoid Anenomes as I am deathly allergic to most poisions and I'm sure a set of stings could probably hospitalize me.

I've got everything for the saltwater setup except for the protien skimmer, live sand, live rock, and fish. A few companies make a skimmer for my exact tank, but pricey at $145. I'm trying to get more tech specs on the devices to see how they work and how the maintenance on them would be preformed.

I'm going for the colorful squabbling neighbor feel.

[cocoa_pleco]

damsels are territorial.

If you cant be stung much, dont have your hand by LR. Bristle worms are common and they will sting you. It isnt life threatening, but it HURTS.

[Drumachine09]

Bristle worms dont utilize a poision. They do have spines though. Soak the "sting" in vinegar, and it disolves the spine that is more than likely stuck inside you.

[Rue]

As far as cleaning the tank goes...not much to do...just clean well and rinse well - using hot water, some vinegar if you feel you must...and you're good to go...

If you're really worried you can bleach everything...but then make sure you let it fully 'dry' before starting it up...ie. don't put any live fish in it if you can smell any chlorine at all...

[jttt3]

Bristle worms dont utilize a poision. They do have spines though. Soak the "sting" in vinegar, and it disolves the spine that is more than likely stuck inside you.

As long as there is no poison, its all good. Yeah, learned the vinegar trick from my mother a long time ago. Works good on sunburns too when mixed with luke warm water and applied via soaked paper towels for about 45min-1hr changing once.

damsels are territorial.

Arent a majority of the pretty color fish out there territorial or aggressive? Everything I see that looks cool is aggressive or semi-aggressive, I don't think I will be able to get around that with marine.

LOL even my danios attack each other and I've got a school. I think I will add 3 more to try and cut down on the chaos.

So as long as I clean out everything pretty well, I don't have to worry about wierd kinds of bacteria that might hurt the ecosystem, etc? I guess I am more worried about what is in the spone filter and bioballs, etc than anything else.

[Drumachine09]

So what is your lighting like?

[cocoa_pleco]

as long as you clean stuff well youre fine.



there are LOTS of peaceful SW fish that are colorful. Firefish, clowns, and gobys are just a few examples

[jttt3]

So what is your lighting like?

1x 32w SunPaq Dual Daylight 6700°K/10000°K
and
1x32w SunPaq Dual Actinic 420/460nm

It also has 2 blue LEDs to do a moonlight-like feeling at night.

It's adequate for a 24 gallon cube?

[jttt3]

I'm thinking Clowns as those are my fav,always have been. I was looking at the super small ones that get about 1.5 inches big.

Can clowns and Firefish get along well?

[Drumachine09]

With fire fish, you will need a tight fitting lid, as they are notorious jumpers.

[jttt3]

With fire fish, you will need a tight fitting lid, as they are notorious jumpers.

Check! I'd be worried about them getting into the back zone of the tank though, and into the filter area. Not that they would really get hurt, but it would be a pain to have to fish them out of there all the time.

[cocoa_pleco]

you have good lighting for a 24G

[Drumachine09]

you have good lighting for a 24G



Wrong. You only have 64 watts. How deep is your tank?

[jttt3]

Wrong. You only have 64 watts. How deep is your tank?

The castle I have is sitting on the bottom and it's an inch from the top of the water and the castle is 15 inches tall, so I would say 16 inches.

Though, like I said, I'm probably going to avoid corals as if I increase the lighting anymore in the hood it will more than likely damage the circuitry, and though I know a lot about computers, circuits and soldering is not my specialty by any means.

[Drumachine09]

The castle I have is sitting on the bottom and it's an inch from the top of the water and the castle is 15 inches tall, so I would say 16 inches.

Though, like I said, I'm probably going to avoid corals as if I increase the lighting anymore in the hood it will more than likely damage the circuitry, and though I know a lot about computers, circuits and soldering is not my specialty by any means.


Hmm, well its not as deep as i thougt. If you could piggy back in another light, you might be able to do coral. You wont be able to do SPS (small polyp stony) by anymeans, but you could do shrooms.

[jttt3]

They had an HQI model for salewhich boosted it to coral bearing standards, but the light hung above the tank and that would have thrown light all over my living room, which is not what I wanted.

The tank is more square than rectangle, so as long as I stick the basics, I should be cool on lighting. Those blue LEDs are night are great, though I never use the 2nd bulb (designed more for corals) since it is just freshwater. Well, unless I want my fish and tank to glow.

[cocoa_pleco]

with your wattage you could get a hammerhead coral. I have one and the guy at the store said theyre 60W min. Theyre bright green with purple tips, the only kinda drawback is the 50$ price

[Drumachine09]

You cant just say a 60 watt minimum. If you had one in a 100 gallon tank with 60 watts, he would waste away. He needs at lest one more bulb before he can even do shrooms.

[cocoa_pleco]

yeah, 60W for a hammerhead in a 15-20G tank.

I kinda dont like my shrooms. They dont sway or anything like the hammerhead. They just sit there. lol


JTTT3, too bad i cant give you one of my monster 75W fluorescent fixtures. Then you would almost be set

[jttt3]

I'm not much of a shroomish person. I'm more of a giant glowing purple tree type of person.

I think I will stick to the live rock and fish once I get the courage to do the purchases and then go from there.