I Kind Of Want To Start A Saltwater Tank.

[donny7]

..But I'm not entirely sure! I have a TON OF QUESTIONS, so bare with me as I ramble a lot.


I have a 20 gallon tank with 3 jack dempseys and 2 goldfish that they never ate. I'm planning on donating them to LFS soon as the JDS are getting quite large. My original plan was just to redecorate the tank and keep up with a tropical setup but I have a bit of spare money and saltwater tanks are just lovely...

First question, what kind of filtration is required for a 20 gallon saltwater tank? I have two 10 gallon HOB filters right now, they're crappy though, so I want to get a new one.

Do I need to recycle the tank, or generally speaking, will I be able to stock fish in the same fashion as I can now?

I live in arizona. It gets hot, like, REALLY hot here. Upwards to 120 DGz. The house is usually between 78 to 88 degrees, depending on when the air conditioner is ran. I'm sure I'm not the only person in Arizona to have a saltwater tank and can't afford my AC on all day, so.. what steps would I take to ensure a steady temperature (While I'm here, I need to do the same for my tropical tank! )

What all, disregarding lifestock, would I need to ensure the tank runs smoothly? What kind of lighting, etc, for coral? I don't want super sensitive coral, probably just some hardy, lowlight coral.



Any info, or good articles will greatly help me out. Thanks

 

[jaylam]

First question, what kind of filtration is required for a 20 gallon saltwater tank? I have two 10 gallon HOB filters right now, they're crappy though, so I want to get a new one.

You dont need a filter, the live rock in the tank will be your filter. You can use the calculator at the top of the forum to work out how much you need.

Do I need to recycle the tank, or generally speaking, will I be able to stock fish in the same fashion as I can now?

Not sure on this as I have never converted a tropical tank to marine, at a guess I would say you will have to recycle it using the live rock but I cannot see any reason why you couldnt just add salt to your current water let it mix then add lr. Im sure someone will be along soon who will give you a defo answer on this.

I live in arizona. It gets hot, like, REALLY hot here. Upwards to 120 DGz. The house is usually between 78 to 88 degrees, depending on when the air conditioner is ran. I'm sure I'm not the only person in Arizona to have a saltwater tank and can't afford my AC on all day, so.. what steps would I take to ensure a steady temperature (While I'm here, I need to do the same for my tropical tank! )

You can buy a chiller which you connect to your tank via tubing, when the water gets to hot it kicks in and cools the water however these are normally very expensive. Other options are aquarium fans, you can fit fans to the top of the aquarium which help to cool it, cheaper but not as efficient.

What all, disregarding lifestock, would I need to ensure the tank runs smoothly? What kind of lighting, etc, for coral? I don't want super sensitive coral, probably just some hardy, lowlight coral.

It all depends what corals you keep and your tank dimensions but I would say 2 T5's as a minimum (one blue and one white).

You will need a protein skimmer, good water test kit and powerheads to create flow around the tank.

HTH

Jay

 

[seffieuk]

..But I'm not entirely sure! I have a TON OF QUESTIONS, so bare with me as I ramble a lot.

to the salty side of the forum, you should feel at home as we all like a good ramble

First question, what kind of filtration is required for a 20 gallon saltwater tank? I have two 10 gallon HOB filters right now, they're crappy though, so I want to get a new one.

As Jay has said, live rock is the main source of filtration

Do I need to recycle the tank, or generally speaking, will I be able to stock fish in the same fashion as I can now?

Yes, it is different bacteria - also, have you ever dosed your tank with cooper?

I live in arizona. It gets hot, like, REALLY hot here.
Secondhand chiller is probably the way to go

What all, disregarding lifestock, would I need to ensure the tank runs smoothly?
Refractometer
Powerhead
test kits
aragonite sand
weekly water changes, so a water container


What kind of lighting, etc, for coral?

For things like mushrooms and some softies you could get away with a couple of t8s, but t5s would be better

Any info, or good articles will greatly help me out. Thanks
The best thing is to start a journel, we can then help you along the way right from the start

There is lots of good info in the pinned sections, but why not start with reading journels of the same size tank as yours, remember to take notes of important facts

Seffie x




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[woody88]

Hi mate, and welcome, like mentioned above you won't need internal external filters as the live rock is your biological filter (the heart and lungs of a marine tank). I usually go by the rule of 1kg of LR for every 2g of water.

So as long as you've got a decent amount of LR, a decent amount of flow (20x turnover) then your good.

A protein skimmer will take care of your mechanical filtration and some phosphate remover, activated carbon etc will be your chemical filtration.

I agree with seffie (so does everyone else so take note of what the queen of marine says lol) regarding the chiller.

Or you could move to sunny Birmingham, England where it's only SLIGHTLY cooler. By about 20 degrees! Lol


Ps read through the journals and resource section ad they're packed with all the vital info needed to successfully look after a marine tank.