Coverting A 20gallon Trop To Nano?

[Katchan]

Hi all, my son is at me to convert his 20gallon bowfront all in one to a nano reef, so I thought I'd stop in here and get some opinions and advice and questions answered.

First up its currently a cycled tropical with mollies in it, a friend gave them to me as we had heard its possible to cycle a marine tank with them , so first question(s) is it possible to convert a FW to marine by adding a bit more salt every week or is it best to fully strip it down and start again?

The tank currently uses playsand for substrate, I figure this needs to be changed whats the ideal substrate for a nano? crushed shell, calcium carbonate, and I recently read live sand? what others?

The tank currently runs a overhead trickle filter anything extra I need to add to it? how much live rock will I be needing to add?

I can pick up a small skimmer for a good price and fit hopefully with out to many hassels, do I really need it to start with or at all? or will weekly water changes suffice?

I'm not planning live corals etc just the fake stuff (god knows I dont need that much work ) so whats the minimum lighting I should be thinking

Anything else to consider that I forgot to mention?

Andrew

 

[Clownfish11790]

It would be best to stip the tank and start all over, it will be easier.

I would prefer sand as a substrate either arag-alive or live sand. You will also need live rock which
will be pretty expensive.

I would recommend two flourescent light bulbs maybe a acntic and a 10,000 K. That will allow the macroalgae to grow.

You may also have to buy power powerheads two increase the waterflow.

No offense but it seems as if you were like me when I first started. My recommendation would be to researh
research and research. I did not researh a lot and I am paying the price today will algae algae algae



Well good luck

-CF

 

[Katchan]

Thanks for your input, yeah I knew the LR was going to be a killer but were prepared for that, any ideas on how much though for a 20 gallon.

The filter throughput/output is quite good and strong but I have a spare small powerfilter that I can use as a powerhead if needed

I'll admit while I've done some reading, all the reading I have is in reference to large tanks and a bit of searching on the net I know I havnt done enough, but I've come accross that some of the "rules" are different for nano reefs so since I noticed this section I though I'd use it

 

[Fish Fingers]

Hey Andrew, nice to see a fellow brisbanite converting to SW. Have you heard about MASQ (Marine Aquarium Society of Queensland)? If not I'll give you the website, I recommend STRONGLY that you join, you'll get lots of good deals from fellow members plus discounts from online stores, and if you come to the meetings its a great place to pick up some info!

To answer your questions:
-It will be easy to strip the tank down and start again. As it's only about a a short drive to the gold coast it should be pretty easy for you to pick up some jerry cans and go down and collect water NSW from there (thats what I do and my tanks are doing great!). NSW is a great option for people like us who live close to the ocean!
-For a 20 gallon tank you are looking for about 10-15 kilos of LR and around 15-20 turnover from powerheads.
-You don't need a skimmer for a tank that size, weekly water changes will be fine.
-If your keep a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) then you only need a single fluro. I've got this one my nano at the moment with no problems at all.
-Any calcium carbonate based substrate (coral sand/crushed coral, crushed marble, etc) will be fine to buffer your PH and keep the levels stable.

I'm sure you've heard of pet city, it's the best fish store in brisbane. If you want to talk to someone face to face it would be a good place to go. I buy all my stock from there and I'm very happy with everything!

See you around.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi Katchan...welcome aboard. I agree that you should strip down the tank and start it from scratch. Keep in mind that a 20G marine tank will require much more work than a 20G FW. You didn't mention how old your son was, so, depending on his age, much of this work may come under your supervision.

A nano reef is a wonderful tank once it is up and running. Really gorgeous and a wonder to stare at. Check out bunjiweb's tank thread, mr miaggi's tank pix and also check out Parker313's thread. Start by perusing both of them and feel free to check out my startup thread as well. Two really quick and easy manuals to read would be Paletta's book and Kurtz's book (see realm of knowledge pin for links).

Quick basic thoughts:
1) cleanse the tank with white vinegar or Clorox solution 1:10...cleanse THOROUGHLY

2) Filtration is live rock, live sand, power heads for circulation and many will add a HOB filter, eg AquaClear to hold media or use as a small refugium

3) You'll need equipment to mix sea water unless you are going to buy it

4) Most importantly, you'll need a source of pure water, RO/DI water, purchased or a filter

5) Substrate should be a thin sand bed, aragonite sand or you could be daring and go barebottom. I prefer the sand look. Avoid crushed coral..traps detritus

6) Live rock....for a 20G...23-25lbs...more is better

7) for now, skip on the skimmer....water changes should be fine, 10% weekly, consistent....you could always get one later if you stay with a nano

8) if you are going FOWLR (fish only with LR), lighting is not that important, you could always upgrade...you could stick with your strip light and replace the bulb with a marine glo....

SH

 

[Katchan]

Thanks for the help guys, I'm sure I can make the right decisions from here
As for the age of my son, his nearly 5 so I guess I'll be doing all the work, well I do anyways already, he just does stuff like help release new fish, hold the syphon in the bucket and kill my fish (not his LOL) by terrorizing them if I forget to put the net away after use.

Fish fingers, please post or PM the details for MASQ, also in regards to Pet City - short version - Personally I cant stand pet city will NEVER go there again, its a long story

thanks again guys
Andrew

 

[xanthianacid]

I can't wait I have been waiting to have a different kind of tank in the house for a while and this is going to be great.

 

[steelhealr]

Wow..you guys should start a Brisbane nano thread in this section. LOL. Welcome all ?Brisbanians? Brisbanites? Brisbaners? SH

 

[Katchan]

With the resetting of the tank is it best to totally reset/kill all bacteria in the media from the trickle filter? or keep it alive?

Andrew

PS if it makes any difference the media is a fine sponge with porus rings and rocks ontop

 

[steelhealr]

Filtration is your live rock, live sand and powerheads. Would not use a trickle filter, sponge, rings, etc. SH

 

[Fish Fingers]

Yeah I agree! I'm strongly against mechanical filtration for saltwater tanks, maybe you could turn your trickle filter into a sump?

 

[Katchan]

I had been reading bunjiweb's diary and he stated that he used

The filter contains ceramic tubes, ehfi substrat (sintered glass) and carbon with a small sponge for water polishing

so this would be a personal choice for overfiltration then I assume. Because let see if I have this straight - normally just LR and substrate or whatever for filtration, this is because the LR etc doesnt produce nitrates which arnt a good idea in a marine system?

maybe you could turn your trickle filter into a sump?

I dont understand, its a bit small for that and/or for what? (I know next to nix about sumps )

 

[Clownfish11790]

Live Rock and Live sand do not produce nitrates.
Nitrates are bad.
You would turn your trickle filter into a sump to get more water turn over.
Trickle filters produce some nitrates.

 

[Fish Fingers]

A sump is basically something you stick all your gear in so its not in your display tank. Where is the trickle filter you have? Is it below the tank or built inside of it? Nitrates, like freshwater, are bad in saltwater. The live rcok will produce nitartes when cycling (due to die off) but once the cycle is over it should start getting rid of them. With live rock you don't need things liek a trickle filter because the live rock does all the filtering and trickle filters can become nitrate factories.

 

[Katchan]

The trickle filter is an overhead style (normal for most all in one's that I've seen) I'll probably just do either of 2 things - keep it and run it bare as in a powerhead or if I can remove it (dont think I can) run it as a filter on a breeding tank

Andrew