Setting Up A Tank

[deliverance]

i have a 29 gallon tank that i would like to convert from fw to sw. i know it is small but i would like to only have a couple fish. i was thinking clown fish and a couple gobies. i use a RO for my other tanks and i know that this will help out with the metals and other crap.

-first question is i have a emperor 400 HOB and a Marineland 150 HOb filter is this enough(already cycled)?

-i know i need powerheads but i think i read somewhere that i need to have the powerheads produce 5 times the amount of water in my tank. so it would be around 150 gallon per hour is that correct?

-What salt is good? how is oceanic?

-also one last thing are the HOB skimmers any good? for example red sea prizm pro?

 

[SkiFletch]

to the salty side of life

Generally, HOB or canister filters are only used in the marine world if they're filled with crushed LR or carbon filtration. In the saltwater world where nitrates are a larger concern for longterm health, any man-made bio media (which promote nitrate production) are removed from the filter. Also, just as a point of note, the nitrifying bacteria in the saltwater environment (responsible for the cycle) while closely related to their freshwater counterparts are not compatible with each other's environment. Different species of bacteria unfortunately.

Filtration in the saltwater world is best achieved through Live Rock (LR). Usually 1lb per gallon is the reccomended amount. Then flowrate is applied to the tank. If you're going fish only you can get away with 10x turnover. If you're going for softies and LPS, 20x turnover is good. And if you want to go SPS, think 30x+ turnover. So, 300gph for FOWLR, 600gph for a mixed reef, and 900+gph for an sps tank.

Oceanic salt is very good from what I've heard.

Skimming is not always necessary on a 30g. SOME people do it, most do not. I would only skim if you were trying to keep sensetive corals in the tank.

Some great questions there . If I were you, I'd find myself visiting the stickies atop this section and the nano section for some tips and answers to common questions about starting tanks