1st saltwater tank.

F

fenrizwolf

New member
Greetings, after keeping mbuna cichlids for 10+ years. I'm ready to do my first saltwater tank.

I have a 75 gallon, an xp3 and xp4 filter(I understand I may or may not need these) powerheads, and I ordered a seaclone 100 skimmer.
Looking to keep fish and live rock. I have about 100 lbs of lace rock I understand can be sprinkled in with live rock. My kids of course want a "nemo" fish. Looking for advice and good info that can be pointed in my direction.
Thanks!

I currently have tahitian moon sand mixed with cichlid sand in the tank. I have a lot of pool filter sand from other tanks. What kind of sand do I use for my goal tank? I really like pool filter sand (crushed quartz) but I understand if I need another saltwater tank specific sand.
 
Welcome. For substrate, aragonite type sand works well. The fine stuff and the coarser reef grade are both good. IMO, I would steer away from a canister filter and maybe do a Hang on filter w/ a Hang on skimmer if you don't do a sump. Clownfish are fairly easy to care for so that is a great starter fish. Just stay away from "Dory" as they need a large tank. Cheers.
 
GimpyFin said:
Welcome. For substrate, aragonite type sand works well. The fine stuff and the coarser reef grade are both good. IMO, I would steer away from a canister filter and maybe do a Hang on filter w/ a Hang on skimmer if you don't do a sump. Clownfish are fairly easy to care for so that is a great starter fish. Just stay away from "Dory" as they need a large tank. Cheers.
Click to expand...

I hate the noise from hob filters. Thanks for commenting.
 
I would go without mechanical filtration before I would use a canister filter on a saltwater system. When you use any type of mechanical filtration on a saltwater tank the filter media needs to be cleaned every 3 or 4 days or it will lead to higher nitrates. Canister filters are so time consuming to change media with that I would just use live rock and water changes rather than hasle the canister.
 
Do you want to do reef or fish only? This will affect what type of lighting you get.

I believe that you can do a pair of clownfish in that size tank, but not really any more.

If you live near a few marine fish stores, go in and see what you might want (and take the kids if this is going to be a family build). By going to multiple stores, you will get a feel for who wants to teach you versus who wants to help you have an awesome tank. You can also start getting a feel for what you could put in your tank.

I used lace rock and live rock in my tank. I'm running an eheim pro canister filter on my 55gal. It's definitely more filter than I need for my tank, but I'm also using it for water movement. You'd still need a powerhead in a 75. Canister has it's downfall, but if you don't want HOB or sump, that's pretty much all that's left.
 
MuShu, a filter isn't needed in a saltwater tank without a sump as long as it's got a decent amount of live rock (1- 1.5 lbs per gal) and sand (2"-3")to house the bacteria. I would add a HOB skimmer to remove the organics from the water, it's not necessary but once you see what it takes out of the water you'll will be glad you got one. Also enough powerheads are needed to have sufficient flow in the tank. This amount will depend on the size of the tank and what you keep in there for inhabitants. If you have SPS corals they need a considerable amount more flow than a fish only tank.

A pair of clowns should be standard max number of them for pretty much any tank 40-100 gals with some exceptions once you get to the very large tanks.

I'm also wondering if you implied that the OP's tank could house on the pair of clowns and no other fish? Just something in the way you worded it. I keep 7 fish in my 40 breeder and could probably put in two more fish due to the amount of nutrient export I have with the addition of having a sump. The amount of nutrients that are put in the tank also depend on the type of fish you have. Fish that are grazers will produce much more ammonia and deitrius (sp) fish waste, than say a clown will because the grazers are eating all the time.

A sump will greatly increase your ability to house more bacteria that consumes the ammonia that your critters will put in the water due to the extra volume of water. This means you can keep more critters in your system if you wanted as long as your tank has the ability to export the extra nitrates etc.
 
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Thanks for the comments people! The whole water chemistry is a bit daunting since I'm new to this, and not overfiltering seems crazy after keeping cichlids so long but I understand why I don't need a canister.
 
I already have several powerheads, and we got the skimmer yesterday. I hope to have several fish including 1 or 2 clowns in this 75. I want lots of bang for my buck so lots of fish if possible. I will not do a sump because I am not drilling my tank and I don't trust an overflow system. I do want live rock and hope to use it to seed my lace rock. I want sand and I want to seed it with live sand. We do have 1 lfs with saltwater fish, and I live an hour from Columbus with huge lfs's.
 
If you buy live rock it will also seed your sand no need to waste money on live sand


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But I'd just drill it. Don't know what risks you think there are with overflows? I tried the no sump thing with the tunze skimmer, but now that I have a sump it's just much easier.
 
I must say I am beyond amazed at the astronomical costs associated with a marine tank. It's starting to stress me out. I appreciate all the help and comments.
So i have heater, tank, powerheads filters, my next steps are to get aragonite sand, salt, skimmer, and a hydrometer. I think I need about 80 lbs of sand.
Next phase would be live rock, led lights, fish.
 
Skip the hydrometer and get a refractometer.

I felt the same way about the costs coming out of freshwater (I have two planted tanks going right now as well as my reef that I am setting up.)
 
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