Thinking of converting to Salt

[TehTANK]

Hello,

I have had freshwater fish forever! I have a basic 90 gallon set up with one 2217 Classic Eheim Filter and a AquaClear 110 HOB filter running in my Malawi Cichlid tank right now. I have really been thinking about switching it to Saltwater. I know it is way more expensive but I am curious to how hard they are to keep. Can someone explain to me the difficulties and let me know all the stuff I would need to do or get to change over. I have sand in it right now....Could I use the same sand I have in there with my freshwater? What other stuff would I need to get? How much are we talking here? What does it take to set it up?

Thanks so much! I feel like such a noob again because I know NOTHING about salt water tanks but LOTS about fresh.....

Thanks!

[mariusz621]

Follow this link. It's a similar question:ezpi_wink1:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=8293

[cocoa_pleco]

the main difficulty is research. thats what you most need to do. in the beginning its hard work since you have to get the LR set up, salt measured, and everything established. after that its pretty much simple. in the start my 33g salt was a bit of hard work but now even with all the corals and the damsel its just a few water changes and feeding. its only filtered by a whisper for 10g, the rest is all biological. i always have excellent levels and clear water.

just do alot of research and youll be fine. the beginning is a pain but then it gets smoother

[TehTANK]

Basically I was looking for someone to take me under their wing and help explain what all the componets are for a saltwater tank and what they do. Great brands so that I can research them and learn more about each brand. I would like to just have someone I can talk to who has gone through the whole conversion and find out what it is that they use and what they think of it. What fish they like and why? How easy is it to keep it up once it is going. Stuff like that. If there is anyone out there that would like to be come a mentor or a teacher in regards to the fun and knowledge of a saltwater aquarium, please let me know.

Thanks,

Frank

[crackatinny]

What happened with your latest cichlid tank?, it was looking great.

[TehTANK]

It is still up. I am loving the cichlid tank but I have ALWAYS wanted to do saltwater but never knew much about them. I have done hours and hours of research online and I can never understand any of it. I just don't have the vocabulary or the product knowledge to know what they are talking about

[cocoa_pleco]

the basic salt components are different for large and small tanks. a large salt tank would basically need the tank itself, sea salt, a hydrometer, hard or soft substrate depending on corals and bottom feeders, lighting (if you just want fish and LR in it you can use a regular light, if you want corals you need stronger lighting and usually a blue actinic bulb comboed into it), and on large tanks a protein skimmer.


try these websites for more info

http://njivy.org/node/starting-a-marine-aquarium-planning
http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterAquariumSetup.htm

and info on skimmers

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/proteinfiltersetups/Protein_Skimmers_Skimming_Information.htm

and lighting

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/greco_lighting.html


with filtration, its all up to you. my 33g salt has 33lbs LR, about 5 corals, a few shrimp, and a one stripe damsel and its only filtered by a crappy old whisper for 10g. i have a few spare canister filters but i just use bio filtration by the LR. i have good water quality and it does have a skimmer and 3 lights, one blue actinic. my 10g salt with 3g sump is different. it has only 5 lbs LR and a clown and few small corals so i rely on a filter more than the bio. it has a 65W light too.


i never really bothered with a sump for my tanks, but for a large tank its recommended. thats another thing to research heavily, http://www.melevsreef.com/55g/55sump.html

you would probably be looking at a 55g sump for your tank.

if you have more questions, you can pm me. though im in europe for 6 more days im often on the internet here twice a day since i have nothing better to do

one more thing, last, i like a few community fish, like in some cases tangs and clowns. what you want is up to you, theres thousands of salt fish. you could go with a single lionfish even!

[Lady Hobbs]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/startinganaquarium/ss/aqsetup.htm

Here's a 10 step method that sounds rather easy if you don't want coral. I see no reason you can't use your sand. The ocean has sand.

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, your sand should be alright. gobys would love to frolick through the sand

[TehTANK]

Thanks so much for the replies. I am for sure going to do more research and look at the links everyone posted. I am for sure going to go with live rock....a lot of live rock if I can. I want to have star fish and shrimp and snails if possible. I want to have anemonies in there. I love the way they look. Any other suggestions of fish for those conditions. Now my sand is silica sand. There isn't any coral in it. Is there anything I should add to it or do to it to make it Saltwater ready?

[*Sarah*]

I could be wrong, but I think you need to use crushed coral or coral sand..? I think it buffers the water or something, but i'm no expert, just been doing a bit of research myself.

[cocoa_pleco]

the added buffering of crushed coral helps some corals. i used crushed shell in my 33g and sand in my 10g salt