Upgrading From Brackish To Marine

[timmystood]

OK, so I have a Ceylon Puffer and, after advice from other members have just brought him a 25 Gallon tank (approx.) It's a Fluval Duo Deep 800, here I know that Ceylon Puffer's need 30 Gallons but 25 was all I could afford besides he looks lost in there as it is (he's only 2inches)! Anyway, his currently in Brackish at 1.014SG (approx.) Over the next few months he will need full marine so I slowly want to convert this 25ish Gallon tank into a reef tank. So, i've got the time and money to make this a good tank.
The tank currently has 2 T8 light tubes and I have the following equipment:

- T8 Lighting
- Heater
- Test Kits (NitrIte, NitrAte and Ammonia)
- Hydrometer
- Seachem Reef Salt (will be switching brands shortly)
- Tank (25 UK Gallons)
- Thermometer (Digital)
- Fluval Plus 3 Internal Filter
- Fluval Plus 1 Internal Filter
- Silver Sand

Just wandering the best way to apporach the reef tank? The biggest question I have is will the Ceylon be able to live on a reef tank or will it need to be FOWLR? Also, is the lighting I have OK? I know I will need a Protein Skimmer and will be getting that within a few months. I will use RO water but will have to buy it off a friend. Really i'm just after any advice on how to convert this 25Gallon brackish tank into a reef?

Cheers
timmystood

 

[Chac]

If I am right there aint an awful lot of info on these puffers, but IMO most Puffers aint reef safe & I see no reason for this one to be any different

To acclimitis, I would suggest a very very slow change over, I wouldnt change the salinty more than 0.1 per day

Your lighting will be fine in a FOWLR

What about Liverock ??

 

[timmystood]

OK, say I was to move the puffer into another tank giving me an empty 25 gallon that would allow me to go into a reef tank. What more equipment would I need? Would the lighting be OK for a reef tank?

Thanks for your help by the way

 

[Chac]

Personally I would upgrad the lighting to a minimum of T5's but it really depends on what you want to keep coral Wise, looking back now on the amount of money I spend on Lighting I wish I just bite the bullet & got Halides years ago & saved myself a fortune

Are you using Liverock as you Bio Filter

 

[timmystood]

OK, should I replace both T8 bulbs with T5's?

I definatley think I am going to go with the reef option now. I have another tank I can put the Ceylon Puffer in so that's no problem. I might just try him in the reef tank for a little while.

OK, so this has finalised my plans but it's given me a few questions, i'm a real newbie with Marine's so bear with me!

- What is the difference between Live Rock and Coral?
- Can I use silver sand in the reef tank?

 

[Chac]

- What is the difference between Live Rock and Coral?

Corals are living organizims that grow onto calcerous skeleton

Live rock on the other hand is simply rock that has been colonised with both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria which reduces nitrites and nitrate (respectively). Liverock is now the 1st choice in Bio Filtration in todays reefs

- Can I use silver sand in the reef tank?

Not sure what Silver Sand is

 

[timmystood]

Silver sand.. here is just a sand that can be used in aqariums. I've heard people mention 'live sand' what is live sand? Is it a must for a reef tank? The next question I have is really hard to explain. Whenever you see reef tanks the coral and live rock is really high but whenever I look at coral/LR to buy it's really quite small and I just wandered how you get height on a reef? Is there something you should place the corals on?

 

[Chac]

I would ditch the Silver sand & replace it with aragonite sand - which is perfect for sustaning biological life - your Liverock will colonise the sand & it will becaome 'live' in no time

Most people either stack there Liverock on top of each other or use Reefracking

 

[timmystood]

Brilliant. Thanks for your help Chac. I'm gonna do some more research into a reef setup over the next few weeks and i'm sure some more questions will follow.
What would be the next step? Buying the protein skimmer? Obviously, I am raising the salinty at the moment but that will take time.

 

[Chac]

Brilliant. Thanks for your help Chac. I'm gonna do some more research into a reef setup over the next few weeks and i'm sure some more questions will follow.
What would be the next step? Buying the protein skimmer? Obviously, I am raising the salinty at the moment but that will take time.

If you are moving the Puffer into another tank, I would move all the water Filters etc with him & start the Marine tank afresh

You havent used any copperbased treatements in this tank have you ?

Some would say you wouldnt need aSkimmer on a 25g - me personally I would get one that I could use in an upgarde when/if you do

Keep an eye on ebay for hardware & feel free to pm me any questions you have

 

[timmystood]

Copperbased medicines? The tank is only 2 days old and has only had Interpet Fresh Start Water Conditioner and Nutrafin Cycle added to it. Are thes copper based?

I'm personally thinking of trying the Ceylon in the reef tank. Like you say not much info. is avaliable on them so he might be happy. If he becomes unhappy then I will move him. I am going to get a protein skimmer anyway because with a protien skimmer, a canister filter and LR it should be fairly easy to maintain hopefully.

 

[Chac]

I have no doubt he will be happy in a reef, maybe to happy as I would be certain that he will munch on any corals you add

IMO I would get your SG level up & then add you Liverock then gradually do away with you Filter media (Liverock will take care of your Bio-Filtration), then add you skimmer

You will also need to increase you flow rate to around 20 x tank volume

 

[timmystood]

Flow Rate to around 20X tank volume??

What does that mean? I've never heard of flow rate before? How do I work that out? Why is it important??

Cheers

 

[Lynden]

You need a lot of flow in a marine tank. You need to have enough filters and powerheads to cycle the tank's volume 20 times per hour.

-Lynden

 

[timmystood]

OK, I have a spare power head and the fluval plus 3 internal filter that is in there also has an adjustable flow rate so I work out the flow rate I have avaliable to me. Chac you say it needs to be 20x the tanks volume, that means the flow rate needs to be 520Gph? Assuming the volume is about 26 Gallons.

Also, I have two more questions that have come up.

- Is it ok for the internal filter to stay in the reef tank? The clerk at my LFS said that i'm better off getting an external filter, problem is... I hate externals!
- What sort of temperature is a reef tank set at?

Thanks again for your help