brand new to this

[kebtiz]

hello all. well im am looking to take the jump into a salt water tank. right now i have a 55 or so gallon tank ( cant remember off hand) right now it is houseing a Red devil and i would like to get rid of him and start over with a salt water tank. i am totally lost in what i should replace and what i can reuse. what im looking for is someone who wouldnt mind chatting with me. going over some products and just helping me out best they can. ihave tried talking to a few people at my LFS but man they are dumb as rocks. all they know is that the fish goes in a net then a bag and you go pay for it. id love to get this under way soon so i can see what i need to spend and what i can start to do now.

 

[cprdnick]

I'd be willing to help out a new additon to the SW family. I'm cprdnick on AOL and Yahoo messengers if ya ever catch me on.
As far as what you can re-use, it depends on what you are talking about. You need some form of filtration and depending on your application, different lighting.
What kind of equipment are you currently running.
You'll have to have Aragonite based substrate preferably, and after that it's debatable.

 

[mudplayerx]

All you will be able to reuse really is the tank, the stand, the heater and any filters/powerheads you may have. The substrate will have to be changed to aragonite sand. You will need to replace air pumps with powerheads.
It is very important tht you don't use any water supplements, medications or any dry goods from your freshwater tank in your new saltwater unless is specifically says "for fresh or salt water."

 

[1journeyman]

Also be sure not to use ANYTHING that could have come into contact with copper based medications.
Welcome to the boards, feel free to ask questions. This is a great community!

 

[monalisa]

Welcome to the obsession... :cheer:
Lisa :happyfish

 

[kebtiz]

thanks guys. cprdnick im gonna add you to my buddylist so i can chat somtime about this. right now im thinking i may just start all over with everything but the tank and stand. will probally be easy since im not 100% what everything is in my tank. i have had most of it for years when i first started with my tropical tanks. i will be sure to post more questions as i get them