Journey To The Salty Side

[clay]

i have kept freshwater fish for 3 years and i decided to go salt water. i have a 55 gallon aquarium with a marineland 400 biowheel filter (i trashed the wheels)and a aquatech 40-60 filter. i have already put in the sand, water,and salt. i used two bags of caribean live sand and one bag of marine life crushed coral. my salt is instant ocean. i will be adding fish in 8 day. any suggestions?

 

[seffieuk]

Hi Clay to the salty side of the forum I take it you are not having live rock? What are you going to use for your filter and for fish and cuc hiding places?

Seffie x

 

[simonas]

good sized tank

any pics of your set up so far

as a newbie to marines myself just over a year for me and I still know very little I would suggest waiting a little longer on the fish and make sure the water is spot on and as Seffie has said are you not using live rock? I;d certainly recomend it

 

[clay]

i am buying live rock today approximately 30 pounds. and i will most likely buy an external filter such as a eheim or a fluval. any suggestions?

 

[seffieuk]

i am buying live rock today approximately 30 pounds. and i will most likely buy an external filter such as a eheim or a fluval. any suggestions?

Ah ha, good, the heart and lungs of a reef tank

I dont run an external, never had, so i'm not the best to give you any ideas. Are you going to skim?

Seffie x

 

[clay]

i am buying live rock today approximately 30 pounds. and i will most likely buy an external filter such as a eheim or a fluval. any suggestions?

Ah ha, good, the heart and lungs of a reef tank

I dont run an external, never had, so i'm not the best to give you any ideas. Are you going to skim?

Seffie x

by skim i assume you mean a protean skimmer then yes. what is a good brand?

 

[seffieuk]

by skim i assume you mean a protean skimmer then yes. what is a good brand?

We tend to favour the deltec on this site, second hand bargains are a plenty look out for a mce 300, but not from aquarists classified, we have had two people scammed re: skimmers on there

Seffie x

 

[jameshughes1989]

Hi there, good to see you take the plunge into the salty world of marines. I would think more about when you plan to add your fish. Dont think of how long, just concentrate on the tank finishing its cycle, otherwise it could cost you a new fish. Like Seffie, I dont run an external but what do you plan to run in it?

How about some more plans/specs on your project? What tank is it? Also are you planning for this to be a reef or fish-only setup?

Deltec are good skimmers but Bubble Magus are just about to come strong on the british market. I got one the other day and have been more than impressed on what it has managed to pull out already. I have a deltec mce300 and a Bubble Magus Nac 3.5 cone skimmer running together on the same setup and the bubble magus is being far more effecient Please note, the mce300 is an amazing skimmer though.

 

[seffieuk]

Good call James, the new Bubble is getting some good reviews really depends what sort of money you have

Seffie x

 

[jameshughes1989]

Yeah they are really good. Money is a good point but the Nac 3.5 I picked up was £70 posted 2nd hand, not bad IMO.

 

[clay]

my tank is a 55 gallon it is 48 inches long. i hope to someday have a reef set up but i going just fish and live rock for now. i am buying a coral growth light from a good friend who works at my local lfs.i will most likely just get the same skimmer my lfs manager has on his tank. is their any info i can get on what i need to do to keep corals?

 

[seffieuk]

i am buying a coral growth light from a good friend who works at my local lfs.i will most likely just get the same skimmer my lfs manager has on his tank.

Doomed, doomed Never buy from your lfs without first putting in the research yourself to ensure that great deal really is GREAT!

What is a 'coral growth light'?

Softies are do-able with t8 lighting and if you can be tempted to the dark side there are some pretty amazing corals - however, i wouldnt suggest a 'dark side' tank just yet.

Seffie x

 

[clay]

he says that a coral growth light just has a little different color than a regular light. and i have a little bit of a problem. my mother being one of the nicest women in the world has bought me 2 damsel fish . 1 blue one and a kind of black and white one. i cant take them back because it will hurt her feelings. what do i dooooo?

 

[seffieuk]

Tell your mum that the nice lady on the forum says, 'you cant keep those two nasty boys with two sweet little clowns', would she mind if you took them back and swoped them...........(with a quick, oh you are the best mum, thrown in for luck )

Seffie x


MMMM and re the coral growth light, can we check what lighting unit you have, then we can help you.

the tubes most of use are marine white and actinic, can you spot the difference

 

[clay]

well my tank hasnt been running for very long and she bought them over 200 miles away. i will see if my lfs will swap them out. what should i swap for?