Thinking Of Turning My Brackish Tank To Full Marine

[Lyle]

ok, i have a 55 gallon brackish with a snowflake eel (gymnothorax tile) and a green spotted puffer and i want to move to full marine over the next several months......

first off, live rock is real expensive and i'm a big fan of DIY. at my lfs they had some dried 'live' rock that was cheaper than the regular live rock, simply because it didn't have all the benificial bacteria on it. it looked like nothing more than crushed shells and cement, so heres my question...... could i just make my own with crush shells and cement?? i was thinking of using crushed coral substrate and sea shells, maybe some lava rock and just mix it all with some cement. i don't need it to be live right now because my tank is well esptablished, i just need it for the looks, a base for corals, hiding places.. ect. would this work? would it be safe?

second...... do i really need a sump tank? i have a protien skimmer and a regular Aquaclear filter, both good for almost twice the size of my tank, and the water quality is just fine with the brackish set up right now. is there somthing about saltwater that makes this not sufficient enough? because its doing great right now

third....... my lighting right now are simply grow lights from lowes (NOT flourescent lights) givin me 300 watts total. even though this was perfect for my freshwater plants, i've already been informed that this would not work for corals, but i'm not getting corals for a while. i just want to know if this would be good to make enough of the beneficial bacteria grow on the rock.

thanks alot to anyone willing to answer these questions for me!!!
-lyle


PS - my eel is eating freshwater ghost shrimp right now, if i move to full salt or even more brackish, what other live feeders are there? or would the shrimp be able to acclimate? i don't want them dying before he eats them because he wont eat it if its not moving. thanks again!

 

[ikon]

to answer your second question...i started out sumpless and the equipment just kept piling on the back of my tank and it was very unsightly. a sump is good for three things: to hide all of the equipment out of sight, it aids in water circulation, and it adds volume (gallons) to your system. if you have a 55g display and a 20g sump, you can stock it to 75g standards in most cases.

 

[rhysiboy]

well you cant really stock to 75gallon standards because its more to do with room in the tank above

 

[boshank23]

hey,

nice to see someone else joining the (full strength) salty side. you should be fine without a sump, if you use the external for carbon and phos remover, maybe a bit of filter floss. i would invest in at least some live rock, it acts as the tanks natural filter, then after about 6 months or so the base rock you have will become live.

with regards making your own rock i have a link i will send you when i find it again.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes the theory behind making your own LR is fine, i'm not sure on the finer details but i know you can do it

no you don't definately need a sump, you may find in the future you want to add one but if the tanks mature and water quality is fine you should be fine as you are

the only thing you need extra lighting for is corals, you don't need metal halides or anything for FOWLR set up's so you'd be fine for now, although as you seem to be aware, if you want corals at a later date your gonna need to upgrade

good luck adn enjoy the salty side of life!

 

[boshank23]

here is that link for home made rock. it looks pretty damn sweet!

 

[ikon]

well you cant really stock to 75gallon standards because its more to do with room in the tank above

yes, thats why i said "in most cases"...

 

[Lyle]

thanks alot guys. i'm tryin my hand at makin the live rock myself. i'm using cement and crushed coral to mold it, and alittle bit of red and brown cement coloring, i'll let you guys know how it goes!