converting freshwater tank to salt

[2quills]

Everything in the hobby has its own pro's and con's. There is no right or wrong way of setting up a system. Just better or worse. I've seen plenty of beautiful systems that have been maintained in a variety of different ways. Its all relative to the hobbyist passion, dedication and experience IMO.

 

[mauler]

So does it matter if I use sand or how deep it is

 

[2quills]

So does it matter if I use sand or how deep it is
Depends. Certain livestock needs fine sand or deeper beds to live in and be at home. Others do just as well with coarse aragonite or crushed coral. Personally I like the extra buffering capacity I get from aragonite. However, I'm it a fan of deep sand beds.
Deep sand beds also accumulate a lot of organic material over time. And if they get stirred up to much at any given time they can release toxic gases and nasty stuff that has been known to crash people's systems. Like after rearranging some of the rocks around in the tank for instance or stiring up a bunch of it durring a major cleaning.
I prefer a shallow sand bed with an ample amount of live rock in the system.
I'd figure out what you want to keep and set up the system around that.

 

[mauler]

I plan on keeping a snowflake eel, lieutenant tang and a Picasso trigger or antenna lion fish so I would probably want a finer sand for eel right or would he be fine with aragonite

 

[2quills]

I plan on keeping a snowflake eel, lieutenant tang and a Picasso trigger or antenna lion fish so I would probably want a finer sand for eel right or would he be fine with aragonite
Sounds like a rowdy bunch. Perhaps a fine aragonite sand base would be up your alley.

 

[mauler]

Alright and does it matter how deep it is

 

[acrylic51]

A SSB 3/4" to an 1" is plenty for a SSB......

 

[silverado61]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/397664/converting-freshwater-tank-to-salt/180#post_3546595
Quote:
SSB = Shallow Sand Bed.......Not trying to confuse but the topic is a no no IMHO until you've mastered the basics......
That would have been my next guess.

 

[mauler]

How do you make sure that the live rock you bought doesn't come with any bad parasites?

 

[deton8it]

There is really only one to guarantee that and it is to buy dry rock. Unfortunately that defeats the purpose. Your best bet is to carefully chose individual pieces and look at them thoroughly. That wont guarantee anything but you can spot a lot of problems by carefully choosing what you buy.


John

 

[mauler]

What do you look for what are some signs that it's a good rock or bad rock

 

[pegasus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mauler http:///t/397664/converting-freshwater-tank-to-salt/200#post_3547500
How do you make sure that the live rock you bought doesn't come with any bad parasites?
The easiest way is to soak the rock in hyper-salinized water... a saltwater mix of at least 1.030SG (Specific Gravity) or 39.8PPT (Parts Per Thousand). This will flush out the hitchhikers and you can choose the ones you want to keep and discard the rest. If there is suspicious growth on the rock(s), you'll have to search for a match, or post pictures so some of the pros can identify it/them as friend or foe. Look for rocks that are covered in red coralline algae, but don't have tufts of green hair algae. Without knowing what to look for, I recommend you get the darkest, reddest, cleanest rocks you can find. If you want to save some cash, and aren't in any hurry, you can buy fairly inexpensive dry base rock and cure it yourself.

In this hobby, you'll need an instrument to measure salt levels in the water, so do yourself a favor and purchase a decent refractometer with temp compensation. You can pick one up for less than $50, and they're worth their weight in gold. Some people use hydrometers, but I advise against them. They are notoriously innacurate, and little things like micro bubbles on the swing arm or water temp can cause different readings. I used one when I first started, and I thought my water was 1.023SG, but after I got a refractometer, I realized it was actually 1.031! Fortunately, I hadn't put any fish in the tank before finding this out, and I was able to dilute it to my target range without any problems.

 

[mauler]

Ill definitely be getting a refractormeter and how do you cure your own live rock?

 

[pegasus]

Curing, or "cooking" rocks is as simple as rinsing dry Reef Saver rock with a garden hose to remove powdery residue, air drying completely, and placing the rocks in the tank with saltwater, a power head, heater, and lights. A small piece (or pieces) of live rock, or coralline scrapings will help seed the new rock and speed up the process. With good water parameters and lighting, you should see coralline algae spreading over the rocks within a month.

 

[geridoc]

In 40 years of keeping saltwater fish I have never "sanitized" live rock - after all, the operative word to describe the rock is "live", referring to all of the diverse organisms that are in it. When I buy rock I only examine it for aptasia and mojano. Anything else is fine with me, I can use biological controls (butterfly fish, wrasse, etc) to get rid of most other pests, but if I overclean the rock I'll lose the diversity. I am right now breaking down a 40 gallon reef that has been in operation for 8 years in my office, and I have found an amazing variety of animals that I never knowingly added, and it is really fun. I found a large serpent starfish that scared the h--l out of me when it came out of a rock. I didn't know it was in the tank!

 

[pegasus]

I personally don't sanitize my rocks, either. Peppermint shrimp and wrasses will normally take care of aiptasia and bristle worms (respectively), but it's not guaranteed. I have two six lines, but lots of bristle worms. PM shrimp cleaned my fuge of aiptasia, but have left one large on in the DT. I only mentioned hyper salinating because some people don't care for bristle worms, or the rare fire worms. Pyramid snails are not good, nor the pill bug with big eyes (name escapes me at the moment). Most everything else is a welcome addition to the tank. I've gotten a lot of cool stuff with live rock and corals. Heck, I've even gotten live rocks with corals! LOL! I did suggest getting the" cleanest" rocks. This should help eliminate nuisance growth... and not eliminate beneficial critters.

 

[beaslbob]

IMHO it you have a refugium with macro algaes all the "benefits" of live rock are irrelevant. The macros do the same exact things.
my .02

 

[pegasus]

IMHO it you have a refugium with macro algaes all the "benefits" of live rock are irrelevant. The macros do the same exact things.
my .02I agree, but unless it's a really large refugium, it won't be able to handle a heavy bioload. A 30 gallon sump may have a fuge section of 10 gallons (total) capacity. You'd have a hard time packing enough macros in that space to filter a 125 gallon tank without assistance from live rock and live sand... unless you rely heavily on mechanical filtration. I prefer my system to be as natural as possible. Live rocks, live sand, macros, cuc... and a skimmer.

 

[mauler]

I'm planning to have live rock and macroalgae but so basically I just have to take my chances and hope there's nothing bad on it? Cause pepperment shrimp and wrasses would just get eaten by the fish I plan to keep

 

[pegasus]

You don't have to take any more chances than you feel comfortable with. If you're concerned there might be boogers in the rock, hyper salinize it. If you find brittle sea stars, amphipods, and other goodies, scoop them up and drop them in your tank. If a 3' fireworm crawls out... RUN!!! LOL... just kidding. You'll want to remove things like mantis shrimp, and bristleworms, unless you don't mind britstleworms. Most people consider them beneficial to the ecosystem. I don't worry about them in my tank, unless I pick up a rock. They carry a nasty sting, or so I'm told. You'll have to physically inspect the rock for evidence of aiptasia or mojano. These anemones are invasive, and can be hard to control unless caught early. Small cases can be blasted off the rock with hot water and a turkey baster. There are commercial types of eliminators that have to be fed directly into the mouths, but as previously mentioned, they can easily be eradicated if caught early. A lot of it will depend on where you buy the rocks. The only LFS within 100 miles of me is "where the pets go", and I'd have to boil the rocks that they sell. They're horrible! The rocks that aren't covered in aiptasia are covered in hair algae. If you have a good selection to choose from, just look for the cleanest ones possible. You can add growth (ie: corals) later...