Looking Into Turning To The Salty Side

[bullit]

Hi. Just recently i have had the urge to turn to the salty side. At the moment i keep Tanganikan Cichlids in my 55g but it looks like im going to make the change. To start with id like to keep things on a budget and not have to buy things i dont really need. I have quite a few questions though obviously if anyone can help. I am reading up aswell but need clarifying on a few things.

Im looking at keeping soft corals. I understand my T5s will be ok with this. How long does my lighting have to be on a day?

Filters. I have 2 externals running which i want to utilize. What would you put in these? Live rock, floss, carbon. etc?

Skimmer. What would be recommended for this size tank. Ive noticed that you can get internal ones but dont know if these are any good? As im not going with a sump, i take it would look ugly.

Water changes. How often and much water would i need to change? Whether i buy mixed water or mix it myself i dont know. Not sure what cost would be better.

Test kit. I need a salt water test kit? Refractometer?

Think thats it for now. Bit tired. Thanks in advance.

 

[bullit]

Ill stay with FW lol

 

[GGtank]

Welcome to the salty side!

DOn't let our inactivity scare ya, the marine section has fewer members hehe

Defo go to the salty side of things, you won't look back!

55g is a very decent size! There are a few posts here from people trying to start a marine tank from scratch, have a look at those, they detail almost everything you will need.

In short, T5s are fine for loads of softies (out of curiosity, how many do you have?). LIghting cycles vary form member to member, some start with actinics/blues on for 2-3hrs then the whites for 8-10hrs, then blues/actinics again then off, others have shorter light cycles. Really depends on your stock. But that's a rough guide (get two timers).

Filters, not great for marine tanks, the LR does all the filtering! anywhere you can get food particles stuck etc ends up being a large nitrate factory (not good for the tank). Without knowing what ur externals look like, you could fill them with LR rubble, but if there is no access from your clean up crew, it could end up just holding lots of left over food and polluting your water.

Skimmer, always nice to have. For your tank size, try the deltec mce 300, its a hang over the top skimmer (I assume you don't have a sump)

Water changes: very personal choice here. I know some mature tanks that only do a 20% water change once every 2 months, other people do small water changes weekly and many do a medium water change every 2 weeks or every month. SW tends to be very cheap from the LFS so I wouldn't worry about mixing your own. But if you want to, you can use either a RO unit (involves installation etc etc) or use tap water (involves mixing in large containers, with heater and flow and accurate measurements and purification). The easiest solution is just to buy SW from the LFS.

You defo need SW test kits. At least ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Then you can get the other ones based on what you keep (Ca, KH, pH etc)

Refractometer- yes

Don't give up on the SW side of things. You'd be better off starting a marine journal, lots of us read those fairly regularly and we will promise to be quicker at giving you advice there

 

[Lady J]

Hi bullit, if you change your mind and do decide to try saltwater, here are a few things that might help as well as what the others said.

The most important piece of equipment you can purchase is a high quality skimmer. Buy the best you can afford--and if possible, if the skimmer is rated for say, 40-75 gallons, buy one that is rated for 75-150 gallons. You would need to buy a HOB skimmer as you don't have a sump; GGtank's suggestion of a Deltec is great as they are very good. And again, don't buy a cheap piece of junk as it will basically do nothing except aerate your water and throw your money down the fish drain. Don't use filters like a Marineland with a biowheel. Saltwater tanks should have much better filtration. Live rock is excellent for filtration but generally it isn't enough. Many people use a quality skimmer, the rock, and a DSB (deep sand bed). The deep sand bed needs to be at least 4" and 5" would be even better. Another thing that is extremely helpful is macroalgae. Since you have no sump, you could put some in a filter sock, or a nylon and hide it behind some rock. The rock, skimmer, dsb, and macroalgae are excellent and effective ways of controlling nitrates and keeping them at zero. If you have a fish only tank some nitrates in the water aren't too harmful. If you have corals your goal should be zero nitrates.

The most affective way to do water changes is a small amount everyday but geez, that gets tiring real fast! Good, solid
water-change maintenance is roughly 10% weekly although many people choose to do 20% biweekly, 40% 1 x month, etc. One of the reasons a weekly water change is good is because it replenishes the compounds found in the ocean, and which deplete a bit everyday in your aquarium. For example, your calcium level may be at 420 the day after a water change but 7 days later it has dropped quite a bit. Your tank has also used magnesium, iodide, etc. You will notice a healthier, happier tank with a weekly water change (and you still may need to add supplements to keep calcium, KH, etc. stable everyday). One of the reasons you might ever need to do a huge water change (say, 50%) is if your nitrates are very high (say, 60). But remember, doing a 50% water change isn't going to eliminate the nitrates, it will simply reduce them by 50% which would put them at 30----still need to try to get them to zero.

I beg to differ on the water you use. Tap water ALMOST ALWAYS has stuff in it that will prove extremely harmful to saltwater animals. The very best water is RO/DI because it is pure and the RO/DI process has stripped and eliminated all harmful additives that are put in water to keep it healthy for humans. For a while I had to use distilled water which is quite clean, but still not as good as RO/DI. The thing that's tough with using reverse osmosis/distilled is that you can only use ~ 1/3 of the water---the rest is no good. I used to filter by putting the good water in a bucket and putting the rest in my washing machine so as not to waste water.

You need test kits. Your tests should include ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, pH, and KH. Hopefully there will never be a need for ammonia or nitrite after your tank is cycled.

Sorry, forgot lighting. Quality t5s are awesome and much less expensive than LEDs (but LEDs are probably the best!). Metal halides are extremely good if you have corals that demand high, intense light (hard on the electric bill though). Actually, a combination of t5s and halides are premium but they are very expensive. If you choose to do t5s, make sure that each lamp has its own reflector vs. one big reflector as that definitely impacts the quality of light output. GGtank gave a great explanation regarding the photo period. Usually for the first 2-3 hours you only use some of the light; then you use all of it to mimic daytime; later in the day you revert to using only some of it so as to mimic the sun moving away and getting ready for night time. However, this will only work if your light as 2 switches, each switch lighting half of the lamps. I usually kept my lights on for 10 hours and put the moonlights on before I went to bed and immediately turned them off when I got up in the morning.

Again, I just wrote this for you in case you get the "saltwater itch"

Hope this helps!