want to try saltwater and got ?

First topic message reminder :

got some questions... trying to work with a budget.. would a canister filter work for a saltwater tank, and if so what size would I need on a 25g (24x12x20) I need to turn the tank over 8-12 times right?

or would a sump be better?

protein skimmer would a hob one work, or should I get one that sits in the sump?

do I need a refugium?

lighting, what type of lighting would I need? would 2 t5 ho bulbs work or should I do 4 bulbs. I plan for some soft corals... or maybe just an anemone.

live sand - is just live sand right is any brand better then the other, and how many pounds do I need?

live rock, how many pounds do I need and what type is the best. what should I get? tonya,fiji,vanuatu,etc.

salt/water will more or likely just buy local and make a couple of trips.

power head, will more or likely get a hydor k-nano, or should I get a k 1 ?

fish --- I like the pajami cardinals, banggai cardinals, and royal dotty back. are this fish reef safe, is my tank big enough?

I'm going to try to answer all of these....

plantedtankdude wrote:

Thanks, I will slow down, and research some more... what would be light on the bio load?
I was feeding frozen baby brine shrimp 2 times a day. would flakes be better....
Feed whichever you like but I only feed once every other day. If feeding frozen foods they should be rinsed in RO to eliminate phosphates (they cause algae).

lighting is 10am to 8-am. t5 ho 24w x 2. I cut my lighting back to 7-8 hrs a day and it helped greatly with the algae
would just a pair of mated clowns be to much of a bio load in there, or a small school of say 5-6 green chromis, or 5-6 pink chromis work?Clowns would be perfect along with one or maybe two other small fish (firefish you mentioned below would be good) Actually exactly what is in my 29 gallon


I think I need to just start slow and with cheap fish.. also what will my corals eat?
that depends on the coral. I have all zoas, shrooms, green star & yellow polyps. They filter feed and grab bits of fish food on it's way by. Some people do food them so I can't completely answer this one.


does dosing food for the corals do anything on the bio-load, or any thing to the live rock?
Any food into the water adds to the bio-load. Food in / waste out


some one also told me to take the piece of live rock I added out, and I did. that helped.
I also scrubbed some of the rocks with a never used tooth brush and that helped.
maybe the LR you have is contaminated with something, mine acts as complete natural filtration in my tank (I don't even have filter material in my HOB right now)


I don't want to get a head of my self, I would like to see a school in my tank.. so what would work if I wanted to do a school?

I plan to get my water tested again once a one of the LFS open what would be a good but not expensive test kit to get. would the api ones at petsmart or petco work?

what about the hydrometer get any of them? How do you know your salinity without this? It is the very basic and important part of testing your water.



okay here is a list of what I really like

Firefish Goby,all different types of clowns, Green Chromis,pink/peach damsel..

Like I said earlier just take your time and read and find out what you want to do before rushing into it. You will enjoy your tank a lot more when you aren't trying to fix what's wrong all the time.

cool, I might upgrade my to a 55g. how would I go about doing that? looks like I would just need more r/o water, a bag of salt, and a bag of sand?

Yeah since it isn't plumbed for a sump that should be about all that you would need and of course lighting to cover a 55 gallon. Is this the 55 that you had copper sulfate in though?

yep, is it bad to have copper sulfate in a tank bad for inverts maybe I will hold off... a couple of weeks. my birthday is march 5th maybe I can ask for a bigger tank.

Yes copper will kill inverts and corals. Havent we tried this before Joey?

Copper is very bad in a SW tank. Why not work with what you already have setup? I love the look of the FW & SW side by side like you have it.

well I got me a 29 gallon.

going to work with the 29 it was a saltwater aquarium, got it from a saltwater store.
just going to let it do it's thing. pick up a new hydrometer, got a test kit, and I also picked up a marine aquariums book. I'm just going to read read read, and test test test the water.... and research fish and corals...

the API tests work for freshwater and saltwater, but have different color cards for each. Make sure you're reading from the saltwater cards when testing. I have one (1) fish in a 29 and if I could catch it I would have no (0) fish in the 29 for time until I could find something I really liked. I literally watched a pile of rocks in my 29 for the first 2 months I had it, and then I added some hermit crabs and watched hermit crabs and a pile of rocks for another 2 months before I even tried to add anything else.

so now what are you doing with the 25 gallon you had? I thought you had fish and everything in it?

don't laugh at me, I'm turning it in to toy box storage unit... just didn't still going to use it. everything got transfered to the 29g... I got my water tested, i had if I remember right .25 to .50 ammonia, so I took them to a LFS and got store credit and told them what was going on... now I have a 29 gallon.(it was only $40.00 with the stand.).. I drained the water in to water holding jugs, put the live rock in a container with aquarium water, with a power head. then set the 29g up just like I did the 25g.

the 25g, HA will be turned in to what I do best. "plantedtankdude" a planted tank.. I can mess with that aqua scaping and growing plants, and by the time that is finished and filled in, the 29g should be finished cycling/recycling.. trying to keep me busy with some so I keep my hands out of the saltwater tank and just read read read and ask questions, and read read read, and ask questions...


now a question of saltwater... would a hydor nano 425 be enough flow, or should I stick my second nano in the 29g...

The amount of flow you want is going to depend entirely on what you plan to keep in there. Here's an opportunity to read read read and plan plan plan before you start to spend spend spend. Different coral has different requirements in regards to flow.

thanks, also what about lighting? would to 24 inch 24w x 2 bulbs work?

plantedtankdude wrote:

thanks, also what about lighting? would to 24 inch 24w x 2 bulbs work?

REALLY IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU PAN ON KEEPING BUT YOU SHOULD BE GOOD WOITH JUST A SINGLE 24" 2 BULB T5

cool, thanks... now to build a simple canopy. or do some amano style lighting. (google how he sets up his lighting).

if u want a set up like that, yea go for it. your the one that has to manage it so i say make it look how you want to. my 55 has half a glass lid.(Why you ask? lol) im trying this theory i have out, which has probably been done before. We all know the probs with an open tank, mainly evaporation and salt creep on the lighting, canopies and lids tend to hold in heat. now I have a couple clams which need really strong lighting but i dont want super strong lighting all over my tank,( i have mainly fleshy LPS brains) so i have my 48 inch t5 10000k and pure actinic on the tank. This kept my tank at 74.2 degree's early am and 75.3 peaked fairly consistently. I got a 24 in t5 10000k and blue actinic and put it in front of the 48 centered so it shines in the very middle of the tank(right over the clams) but a 24 inch light wont sit in the middle of a 48 inch tank so i got a glass lid for a 48 and it covered both top sections of the tank but adding the smaller light and the lids took the temp up to 79.8- 80.7. Thats where the single lid comes in. I cut the lid in half down that ugly, light blocking black hinge/strip and made a glass platform for the 24inch light. That thin trip of glass keeps alot of of the splash down, especially when my water is low, and being that the tanks isnt completely covered, it makes like a cracked window and circulates air, keeping the tank cooler with the addition and the extra light. now my temp regulates at about 76.4- 77.3- 77.7 but i think that has to do my heater on really cold days.

sounds cool, I'd love to see a photo, Thanks. joey.

these are the two lights and you can see the lid positioning.[img][/img]

here is the 24
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this just the 48 inch
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here are both lights
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Nice setup!