Thinking Of Going Salty For The First Time

[baker360360]

Just shut down my tank that's been running with cichlids for a year now, it's a trigon 190 corner tank (50 gallon ) internal jewel filter with an external filter also. I have a wave maker too so flow rate and filter media capacities in this tank Should be good (Will add specifics at the end). I have crushed coral already but will probably toss it as opposed to try and clean and add it to the salt water. Will also remove all plants rocks ect from tank and replace with live rock, crushed coral or live sand. Live got 2x t5 fitting. I already got a marine bulb aside, and some 50:50 bulbs I think I need the marine (as got) and get a blue right? Toss the 50:50. I also have water test kit for hardness nitrates nitrites ammonia ect will this be ok for salt tanks? Also external comes with uv steriliser didn't bother using it in fresh water will it benefit a salt tank? Can I but the protein skimmer in the external filter ?

Ok so thinking a few fish and corals going in here which I will research and plan / ask about sometime down the line.

Adding to what I've said already what do I need to make this work well. ( looking to make a check list)
Salt checker thingy
Water test kit
Live rock ( any types better than others) how much do I need
Live sand or crushed coral
Filter media type?
Protein skimmer ( what one for this tank? )
Light reflector
Salt
Light reflector Will I need it for the corals


Any thing else ?

External filter 1200l/h
Internal bio flo 3.0 (appox 600l/hour)
Wave maker 2500l/h
1x White marine 14,000k need another bulb what one?



Thanks guys

 

[Chad]

For checking salt I recommend a refractometer. 
 
You will need about 1 pound per gallon of live rock. Here's an article on how to pick quality live rock. 
 
I highly recommend sand over crushed coral. The main reason is that crushed coral tends to hold detritus which leads to higher phosphates in the tank and thus more algae. 
 
The live rock IS your filter. This is called the Berlin Method.
 
You can add a nice protein skimmer to round off the filtration. I highly recommend one but in smaller tanks they aren't a must.
 
I recommend LED lighting. This will work best for good PAR and penetration into the water. I switched several years ago now and am so glad I did. There are many reasons for this and less heat is just one of them. If you plan on growing corals lighting is important. Not only for growth but for best aesthetics a mix of blue and white is recommended. 
 
Good flow in a reef tank is a must! Either via a wave maker or good quality pumps. I use the Vortech pumps by EchoTech, but they are costly. There are more affordable (lower quality) alternatives. 
 
For some side reading here are a couple of more articles:
 
How to pick a clean up crew for a marine tank
Good beginner corals. 

 

[baker360360]

For checking salt I recommend a refractometer. 
 
You will need about 1 pound per gallon of live rock. Here's an article on how to pick quality live rock. 
 
I highly recommend sand over crushed coral. The main reason is that crushed coral tends to hold detritus which leads to higher phosphates in the tank and thus more algae. 
 
The live rock IS your filter. This is called the Berlin Method.
 
You can add a nice protein skimmer to round off the filtration. I highly recommend one but in smaller tanks they aren't a must.
 
I recommend LED lighting. This will work best for good PAR and penetration into the water. I switched several years ago now and am so glad I did. There are many reasons for this and less heat is just one of them. If you plan on growing corals lighting is important. Not only for growth but for best aesthetics a mix of blue and white is recommended. 
 
Good flow in a reef tank is a must! Either via a wave maker or good quality pumps. I use the Vortech pumps by EchoTech, but they are costly. There are more affordable (lower quality) alternatives. 
 
For some side reading here are a couple of more articles:
 
How to pick a clean up crew for a marine tank
Good beginner corals. 

Thanks for the reply. I will be checking out all the links you added.
Should I not use the filters then ? Would their flow rates and extra filtration be benefitial? Particularly the external

 

[Brilly91]

Not really got much that i can add to what tcamos has said.
 
Theres a few things i wish id have done/got straight away when starting up 18months ago that might help though -
 
A decent set of lights - Evergrow IT or Razors are a good range of leds that wont cost you the earth
A decent skimmer - Bubble magus skimmers are brilliant for a cheapish skimmer or Deltec if your feeling rich
Circulation - Jebao wp range or the newer rw range again cheap but great!
 
Also something to think about is starting off with dead live rock or a man made rock is something worth considering as you can get alot of nasties in liverock. Ive been fighting an 18month battle with flatworm, a eunice worm and more majanos and aips then i care to think about. Im now in the process of drying all my liverock to either reuse or sell and replace with a man made rock such as aquaroche or realreef rock.

 

[Chad]

 

For checking salt I recommend a refractometer. 
 
You will need about 1 pound per gallon of live rock. Here's an article on how to pick quality live rock. 
 
I highly recommend sand over crushed coral. The main reason is that crushed coral tends to hold detritus which leads to higher phosphates in the tank and thus more algae. 
 
The live rock IS your filter. This is called the Berlin Method.
 
You can add a nice protein skimmer to round off the filtration. I highly recommend one but in smaller tanks they aren't a must.
 
I recommend LED lighting. This will work best for good PAR and penetration into the water. I switched several years ago now and am so glad I did. There are many reasons for this and less heat is just one of them. If you plan on growing corals lighting is important. Not only for growth but for best aesthetics a mix of blue and white is recommended. 
 
Good flow in a reef tank is a must! Either via a wave maker or good quality pumps. I use the Vortech pumps by EchoTech, but they are costly. There are more affordable (lower quality) alternatives. 
 
For some side reading here are a couple of more articles:
 
How to pick a clean up crew for a marine tank
Good beginner corals. 

Thanks for the reply. I will be checking out all the links you added.
Should I not use the filters then ? Would their flow rates and extra filtration be benefitial? Particularly the external
 

There is no need for external filtration. That said, most of them produce nitrates which are bad for corals. It is actually the job of a filter to do that, convert ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. But nitrate is bad for corals so the Berlin Method uses the live rock to house bacteria which are able to actually convert nitrate into gas form which simply leaves the tank so a good reef tank will register zero nitrates on a hobby level test strip. Adding a mechanical filter is fine for a fish only marine tank but defeats the purpose on a reef tank. 

 

[baker360360]

For checking salt I recommend a refractometer. 
 
You will need about 1 pound per gallon of live rock. Here's an article on how to pick quality live rock. 
 
I highly recommend sand over crushed coral. The main reason is that crushed coral tends to hold detritus which leads to higher phosphates in the tank and thus more algae. 
 
The live rock IS your filter. This is called the Berlin Method.
 
You can add a nice protein skimmer to round off the filtration. I highly recommend one but in smaller tanks they aren't a must.
 
I recommend LED lighting. This will work best for good PAR and penetration into the water. I switched several years ago now and am so glad I did. There are many reasons for this and less heat is just one of them. If you plan on growing corals lighting is important. Not only for growth but for best aesthetics a mix of blue and white is recommended. 
 
Good flow in a reef tank is a must! Either via a wave maker or good quality pumps. I use the Vortech pumps by EchoTech, but they are costly. There are more affordable (lower quality) alternatives. 
 
For some side reading here are a couple of more articles:
 How to pick a clean up crew for a marine tankGood beginner corals. 

Thanks for the reply. I will be checking out all the links you added.
Should I not use the filters then ? Would their flow rates and extra filtration be benefitial? Particularly the external

There is no need for external filtration. That said, most of them produce nitrates which are bad for corals. It is actually the job of a filter to do that, convert ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. But nitrate is bad for corals so the Berlin Method uses the live rock to house bacteria which are able to actually convert nitrate into gas form which simply leaves the tank so a good reef tank will register zero nitrates on a hobby level test strip. Adding a mechanical filter is fine for a fish only marine tank but defeats the purpose on a reef tank.

Thanks for clearing that up...

Not really got much that i can add to what tcamos has said.
 
Theres a few things i wish id have done/got straight away when starting up 18months ago that might help though -
 
A decent set of lights - Evergrow IT or Razors are a good range of leds that wont cost you the earth
A decent skimmer - Bubble magus skimmers are brilliant for a cheapish skimmer or Deltec if your feeling rich
Circulation - Jebao wp range or the newer rw range again cheap but great!
 
Also something to think about is starting off with dead live rock or a man made rock is something worth considering as you can get alot of nasties in liverock. Ive been fighting an 18month battle with flatworm, a eunice worm and more majanos and aips then i care to think about. Im now in the process of drying all my liverock to either reuse or sell and replace with a man made rock such as aquaroche or realreef rock.

do Led lights fit jewel tanks?

 

[Brilly91]

You can get all different types of brackets for hanging lights.
 
The new evergrow it lights come with an extendable set of legs that go over the glass, ive got mine attached to my pelmet and some people hang them from their ceilings. 

 

[baker360360]

You can get all different types of brackets for hanging lights.
 
The new evergrow it lights come with an extendable set of legs that go over the glass, ive got mine attached to my pelmet and some people hang them from their ceilings.

Cool, I've been searching about and yes there are plenty of types lol. If spotted these aquaray aqua beam 600 that look easy to fit my tank can get a set 1 white reef 1 blue reef for about £150 or around £80 each. As my tanks a corner tank I will arrange the rocks and coral in the back corner so do you think I could use a single led strip (8leds) unit at the back and keep marine t5 at front ?
http/www.urmstonaquatics.com/tmc-aquaray-aquabeam-600-ultima-led-strip-reef-white-single.html?gclid=CKej_LyIusMCFScXwwoddSIAcA

For this sort of money do you recommend a similar unit

 

[Brilly91]

 

You can get all different types of brackets for hanging lights.
 
The new evergrow it lights come with an extendable set of legs that go over the glass, ive got mine attached to my pelmet and some people hang them from their ceilings.

Cool, I've been searching about and yes there are plenty of types lol. If spotted these aquaray aqua beam 600 that look easy to fit my tank can get a set 1 white reef 1 blue reef for about £150 or around £80 each. As my tanks a corner tank I will arrange the rocks and coral in the back corner so do you think I could use a single led strip (8leds) unit at the back and keep marine t5 at front ?
http/www.urmstonaquatics.com/tmc-aquaray-aquabeam-600-ultima-led-strip-reef-white-single.html?gclid=CKej_LyIusMCFScXwwoddSIAcA

For this sort of money do you recommend a similar unit
 

I dont really know much about them but often see them for sale with people upgrading to better lights so assume they arent the best, my assumption could be wrong though.
 
Id honestly look at an evergrow it unit either new or you can get them at a good price second hand just make sure theyve not been ran at 100% for their entire life.

 

[dumpsta]

im just getting into saltwater and I got an ro/di filter for the water.