If You Are New to Reef Central, Introduce Yourself Here!
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scarymonster
New member
fresh to salt conversion
fresh to salt conversion
Hi, I'm relatively new to the hobby and am glad to be here. I have two tanks, one 20 gal. and a 29 gal that I'm converting. I guess these are considered "nano" tanks.
The 20 gallon is old, well over 7 years running, was given to me by a neighbor who was moving. Had T5 lighting, actinic burnt out, coral went to hell. Had a small clown, a yellow tail damsel and a big eye. All dies one by one after the actinic went. Now has HO LED (Zoo Med). Live rock was infested with bristleworms so I dumped the live rock when I moved in December. All that is in it is the sand, a serpent star, and 3 shrimp from the bait shop all doing well. I have a small power filter running off the back. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrates are up so I'm due for a water change. Should I introduce some dry rock and let the tank do it's thing or get some live rock to shorten the reconditioning? I just don't want to deal with the worms again.
The 29 used to be fresh water, got $35 in store credit for my critters today @ LPS. It's also old and was a gift also. I want to convert it to salt water too. But this will be my first ground up build so I don't want to mess up. Also, I don't make much money so thrift and DIY I excel at. I've been doing lots of research. Is this the right one for asking advice and bouncing ideas?
THANKS!:wavehand:
fresh to salt conversion
Hi, I'm relatively new to the hobby and am glad to be here. I have two tanks, one 20 gal. and a 29 gal that I'm converting. I guess these are considered "nano" tanks.
The 20 gallon is old, well over 7 years running, was given to me by a neighbor who was moving. Had T5 lighting, actinic burnt out, coral went to hell. Had a small clown, a yellow tail damsel and a big eye. All dies one by one after the actinic went. Now has HO LED (Zoo Med). Live rock was infested with bristleworms so I dumped the live rock when I moved in December. All that is in it is the sand, a serpent star, and 3 shrimp from the bait shop all doing well. I have a small power filter running off the back. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrates are up so I'm due for a water change. Should I introduce some dry rock and let the tank do it's thing or get some live rock to shorten the reconditioning? I just don't want to deal with the worms again.
The 29 used to be fresh water, got $35 in store credit for my critters today @ LPS. It's also old and was a gift also. I want to convert it to salt water too. But this will be my first ground up build so I don't want to mess up. Also, I don't make much money so thrift and DIY I excel at. I've been doing lots of research. Is this the right one for asking advice and bouncing ideas?
THANKS!:wavehand:
Glasswalker
New member
Hey!
Completely new user here, owned a freshwater tank a LONG time ago, and always had fish when I was a kid. Always wanted to get a reef tank.
With a close friend just finishing his latest like 250gal+ build, my wife and I are finally considering getting started with our own setup.
So hoping we can get some advice on here about how to get started, and looking forward to an interesting journey!
Completely new user here, owned a freshwater tank a LONG time ago, and always had fish when I was a kid. Always wanted to get a reef tank.
With a close friend just finishing his latest like 250gal+ build, my wife and I are finally considering getting started with our own setup.
So hoping we can get some advice on here about how to get started, and looking forward to an interesting journey!
Hello everyone, I started keeping a freshwater tank about 7 years ago when my daughter was in kindergarten. Last October we decided to add a 75 gallon saltwater FOWLR because she's really into sea creatures now. Despite many hours of research I made lots of noob mistakes which resulted in the loss of all fish in November. Surprisingly all of the snails, hermit crabs and shrimp survived the carnage. We let the tank go fallow while deciding whether to persevere with saltwater. In January we decided to stick with it and I built a bigger sump so a skimmer could be added. Once it was running the water parameters straightened out and life began to spring out of the live rock again. I decided to improve the lighting so I can have a few corals in the tank too. We're in the process of slowly stocking the tank now. A starry blenny was the first inhabitant, followed by a Tomini tang. We have a Talbot's damsel in QT as well.
I have a few questions I'll try to post in the correct forums and look forward to talking to all of you.
I have a few questions I'll try to post in the correct forums and look forward to talking to all of you.
I started with a Coralife 48" standard output dual T5 that came with my tank setup. I looked around a lot for an LED solution that would work under my canopy and ended up with a Current Marine Pro 48" light. I'm pretty happy with it so far. It was easy to fit on my setup and the tank seems to like it. I also still run the T5 a few hours a day because I like the look of the two lights together.
The crash was very hard to take. I thought I was doing everything right. It turned out I was doing the nitrate test wrong and getting false low readings. I didn't ask the LFS to test my water for me until it was too late. By the time they discovered the problem I'd already lost a couple fish. The rest were gone in a day or two despite our efforts to quarantine, medicate and improve the water quality.
I spent the time the tank was fallow reading some books, studying the forums and talking to the LFS staff. I feel like I'm much better prepared now and the tank seems much healthier than it was before.
The crash was very hard to take. I thought I was doing everything right. It turned out I was doing the nitrate test wrong and getting false low readings. I didn't ask the LFS to test my water for me until it was too late. By the time they discovered the problem I'd already lost a couple fish. The rest were gone in a day or two despite our efforts to quarantine, medicate and improve the water quality.
I spent the time the tank was fallow reading some books, studying the forums and talking to the LFS staff. I feel like I'm much better prepared now and the tank seems much healthier than it was before.
ChitownBrickie
New member
111
ChitownBrickie
New member
hi new here, just wanted to introduce myself. me and my fience have been building our reef up for about a year. its a 55 bow canister filter t5 lighting, hang on skimmer and all the other good stuff. we are not going too crazy right know beacause we are house hunting, and i want to do a custom 150g or mabye a 180g, anyway here is a pic of my scroll the center scroll is about 8 inchs tall with another scroll in the center. ill post some full tank pics
welcome to RC. I'm new to RC too. what media are you running in your canister filter?
Kbel1969
New member
Sometimes it unfortunately takes a bad experience to learn from, but it sounds like you're on the right path now. I've been researching lights, and am quickly coming to the conclusion that t-5 lights are still the way to go. I think in the next 5 years led lights should be much improved, and more cost friendly. I'm going with a geisemann dimmable 8 bulb fixture. A little pricey, but the quality is second to none. If I feel the need for some visual pop, I can add and led strip which won't cost too much. I would rather buy separate units, so I'm not financially committed to a hybrid unit that might be outdated in a couple years.
Also, what powerheads have you been using? I have a 5/8 thick glass aquarium, and would need something that the magnets can hold through that, along with good flow, and pattern control.
Also, what powerheads have you been using? I have a 5/8 thick glass aquarium, and would need something that the magnets can hold through that, along with good flow, and pattern control.
Kbel1969, I have two Koralia Nano 425 GPH powerheads in the tank. The return pump from the sump is a Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0. Together they seem to provide plenty of flow for the LPS I have in the tank. There's nothing fancy about the Koralias but they're quiet and reliable so far. The glass on my tank is only about 1/4" thick, I don't know how well they will do on thicker glass.
Greetings to all. I'm located in El (Hell) Paso Tx. My current tanks are a 20gal with internal sump. It was fabricated by Jimmy at sea creatures. My other tank is a 100gal Sea clear with internal sump. I'm looking to downsize due to the sea clear weak filtration. My plan is to have a 65gal modified with an internal sump similar to the 20gal. I look forward to sharing the build with the RC community. Not sure when this will happen but I'm aiming for the summer.
Kbel1969
New member
DeepBrew, thanks for the info, I'm probably going to have to check on specs from all manufacturers. Most of the pumps I've seen are rated for 1/2" glass, except of course the Vortech mp40 which is ridiculously expensive, especially since I want one on each side for nice alternating motion, and precise control.
I have a Lifereef sump which came with a Mag12 return, and a Mag9.5 for the skimmer. Also I have 3 media cylinders coming, along with a Mag7 to run those. I should get excellent flow from the sump.
I have a Lifereef sump which came with a Mag12 return, and a Mag9.5 for the skimmer. Also I have 3 media cylinders coming, along with a Mag7 to run those. I should get excellent flow from the sump.
CButkos
Member
New to Saltwater
New to Saltwater
Hello everyone, My names Chris. I just set up a 90 gal for my first saltwater tank. Its been set up for about 4 months. All my fish are in quarantine/Hypo-salinity after an ich outbreak from not quarantining. So until may 10th ive got a big bare tank to look at lol, here's a picture.
New to Saltwater
Hello everyone, My names Chris. I just set up a 90 gal for my first saltwater tank. Its been set up for about 4 months. All my fish are in quarantine/Hypo-salinity after an ich outbreak from not quarantining. So until may 10th ive got a big bare tank to look at lol, here's a picture.
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Kbel1969
New member
Nice looking tank! The rockscape looks really nice, and starting to get some nice color on them. Hopefully it won't be too much work getting the ick out. Isn't harder to get rid of it especially with rock in the tank? I thought I read somewhere that it is much harder with the rock still in because it has more hard to get at places to attach to. Let me know if you heard otherwise
CButkos
Member
Yes the ich do attach themselves to hard substrates when they fall off the fish, but without fish in the tank the ich will eventually die. The generally accepted fallow period is 72 days which is why I'll be without vertebrates till mid may : (
CButkos
Member
a pair of 165 watt Chinese fixtures, im not looking for super high light demand corals right now so they should suffice for a while. Also, i believe there are upgrades to change from the Chinese diodes to higher quality American diodes and get rid of the couple of red and green colored ones. Here's a pic of the lights with some brackets i welded up so i didn't have to move the fixtures every time i wanted to get in the tank.
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