I Want Saltwater!

[fishfanny79]

Just a few questions/statements:
I have 3 tanks... a 29 gallon, 55 gallon and a 125 gallon and they are all freshwater. Which would be easiest to break down and setup for saltwater? I am thinking the 55 gallon because that's what I've always heard, at LEAST 55 gallon for your first SW tank because you have more 'room for error'. But at my LFS, they have a tiny bow fronted tank that can't be more than 5 gallons with a clown in it. On the front of the tank is a sticky note saying "WE FOUND NEMO". Everybody in the place wants to buy these little tanks for saltwater fish...so I asked if that was smart, or if 55 gallons was the rule. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, no no no, that's all a myth, you can do great with saltwater in any gallon tank on your first try. I don't trust him...must have been his first day!
My other concern is that the 125 gallon will be too expensive for the stuff I need right off the bat. What I have planned is for some fish, some corals etc and LR. Last time I looked, LR at the LFS was almost 9$ a pound...and don't I need a pound per gallon of water? That's almost a grand right there! Maybe it's cheaper on the net, but still that's a good chunk of change. The only other thing I was thinking of doing is going salt with the 125 and making it fish only and doing the 55 gallon with the LR, corals etc. Now if I do that, can I add LR to the 125 slowly, as I can afford it? For starters I'd need all my equipment and LS etc and after it's ready for fish, add them and then put in a pound or 2 or LR a week...is this going to hurt anything? Jeez as I'm thinking that over in my head, even the 55 gallon will be expensive...lol 55 X 9.....
I will probably leave the 29 gallon tank fresh water to be safe...but I think I'm going to break it down, cycle it and start over with only freshwater puffers. They are so damn cute! I was at the pet store yesterday getting catfood/toys and 'had to' walk through the fish area and I saw these little freshwater 'midget' puffers. Neatest thing I've ever seen. I didn't know there was a species of puffer that was FW. Does anyone know how big they get? Are they as animated as the SW cousins? They are cheap too...only 2$ per fish.
One last question I promise... If I do the 55 gallon with LR, corals etc and do the 125 with fishies only, does anyone have any suggestions? What would look REALLY nice as far as combinations of fish in a FO?
ANY suggestions, comments or otherwise are much appreciated.

 

[bdhough]

Well i kinda concur with the starting at any size thing. I started with a 12 and have had no problems. BUT and its a big BUT i was constantly learning new things and going as slow as possible. Fish here. Coral there. Piece of rock there. Take your time and ask questions constantly and you will learn its not that hard.
I personally would sell your 55 and get a 40 breeder or a 75.
You need to figure out if you want just fish or corals too. Just fish are alot less intensive and quite a bit cheaper. Corals require many more factors. The tank will take 4 weeks to set up anyways so you could set it up and figure out which way you want to go with it.
Whatever you do i personally would right off the bat get as much lbs of live rock as the tank size is to cycle the tank with. You can get it fairly cheap here at saltwaterfish.com. Just look around.

 

[fishfanny79]

You say... "I personally would sell your 55 and get a 40 breeder or a 75." Why is this? Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is a breeder tank and why do I need one? If it is what I think it is, I don't plan on breeding my own fish. The 75 gallon idea might work...the 55 is pretty old and maybe I owe myself a new tank. Only problem is, I could use the money I waste on the new tank for LR etc.
Would 100lbs of LR be sufficient for a 125 gallon tank?

 

[sammystingray]

Got patience? You don't need it all to be "liverock".....baserock for much less, which is basically just rocks, will become alive after time in the tank with liverock. Use baserock for the bottom of the pile, and put good liverock on top.....you won't be able to tell the difference eventually. Lighting and filtering a 125 is going to cost quite a bit more IMO over a 55 or 75. The thing about a 75 is that generally the common ones are the same height and length, so the 55 and 75 really require about the same lighting, but the 75 has more space front to back....this way in a reef tank the rocks don't have to go straight up like a brick wall.......can't set too may corals on a brick wall, but a rockwall that sloaps gives many spots to places corals. Figure out what corals and fish you like......then you will know what lights and filters you need.

 

[dreeves]

I think you should stick with your 55...it is smaller, but you will be able to get your feet wet into this side of the hobby on a far less expensive scale versus your 120. To go from a 55 to a 75 I do not think would be too beneficial...work with your 55, get into the hobby, figure the expenses, maintenance, etc, and then take it from there...make all your errors on the smaller scale...work those out...remember the solutions...
Once all comfy and set...then move up to your bigger tank...
With the smaller size tanks...the issue is...the larger the volume of water (not tank size), the easier it is to maintain a steady chemistry...there are no absolute rules in this hobby. Some people are able to keep a 5.5 micro-reef...I couldn't...I can keep a 45 perfect...my 90 continuously kicks my butt...
Enjoy the change over..and per personal experience...do not be so eager to leave freshwater all together...my next tank will be at least 125...and it wont be salt...

 

[beaslbob]

It can cost a little as $50.00 to stock the 125g with sand and rocks. If you additionally stock if with macro algaes from the start the reult would be an extremely low maintenance, stable and balanced system.

 

[cb]

I started with a 20g and within 6months I tore down my 40g fw and turned it into sw. But I did not buy all the live rock at one time I am still adding a piece every now and then. So start as big as you want and take it slow saltwater takes patience and alot of learning I learn something new almost everyday. The best advice I think I can give you is to think about what you want and research the livestock and corals before you buy to make sure they can exist in the same tank and that you can provide the enviroment that they need (lighting etc.)this board is a very good place to start.

 

[chuckularone]

One question... Have you ever treated your fish with copper in these tanks?
I have a 75g that I'm currently not using for several reasons, including that I believe I did treat my Oscars with copper when it was a fresh water tank.

 

[lobaeux]

Following this thread because it looks pretty close to what I want to do.
I've got a 55 FW tank, going to be moving and saving to purchase all the saltwater equipment I need. I've read things, especially in another fish company catalog, about the timeline before introducing fish to a reef aquarium. It said about 12 weeks from first introduction of live rock, to final placements of corals to intro of fish. Does this sound about right? Can you wait too long?
Just curious
Thanks,

 

[jarvis]

I would say use the 125 for a reef. use the 55 gal for a sump or fuge.

 

[dreeves]

Lobeaux...
There is no such thing as waiting too long to introduce livestock into your marine systems...There is however, too soon. Too soon usually leads to problems down the road...
Take your time...the lack of the frustration by itself is worth the time.

 

[fishfanny79]

So is it the general consensus amongst you people smarter than me at this that I want to buy UNCURED liverock to start off? Or do I at least need a little cured LR?
Also, do you need a DSB for a FO tank? How about for a FOWLR? And I don't need to buy LS right? I can buy a small amount of LS and it will turn the rest 'live' right? If so, where do I get 'unlive sand'? If I do my 125 gallon tank as FO, how will it cycle to begin without the LR and what will I need for filtration in the absense of the LR? Just a skimmer?
What exactly is a sump/fuge and why do I need to use my 55 gallon tank as one?
If I start off with FO and then decide to add LR, will I start a cycling process every time I add LR to the tank?
Last but not least, since I'm smart enough to know that you dont fill a tank with tap water and then add some Mortons salt to it, you'd think I'd be all set. But I'm not. Where do I get 125 gallons of usable water? I know I can buy the sand on this site (200$ for 45 pounds) but what about the H2O? Can I use the tap water and then treat it chemically until it's fit for fish consumption?

 

[fishfanny79]

I posted the wrong price in that last bit...it was actually 45 pounds of LR for 200$, not sand. Sorry about that. Either way, the questions remain the same...

 

[lesleybird]

Hi,
You are very smart. The 55 would be best for corals, and the larger tank for fish only. The corals do not create as much bioload and you can fit a lot of them in a 55. The fish on the other hand create a large bioload and the larger tank would be ideal as with saltwater fish because the amount of fish per gallon is about one third the amount that you can place in fresh water. About one inch of fish for 4 gallons of wter. If you are worried about cost you could buy the large honeycomb limestone rock for a base and then place live rock on top and over time the other rock will grow all the same stuff from being seeded with all the good stuff from the more expensive live rock. I did it this way and it worked just fine. I would start the 55 gallon with fish for the first year until you learn all the ins and outs of this great hobby and then later move them into the larger tank in a year or two. Then do corals in the smaller 55. Make sure you read up and properly cycle the tank and add fish slowly. You could cycle the tank with dead base rock over sand and a few live rocks and feed it some fish food every day for a month or so to feed the bacteria. Next add a clean up crew of snails, micro-hermits etc. I am limited by space so I am keeping reef safe fish and inverts and some coral in the same tank. Make sure if you do this that you stock lightly on the reef-safe fish.....the ones that do not nip at corals and inverts. Or, you may want to just start with the larger tank as the mixed reef and skip the small one. I guess the only problem with the mixed reef is their are a lot of neat fish that are not safe with corals or inverts.....but there are a lot of little pretty ones that are. Be sure to reasearch any fish before purchase to make sure that it is compatable with the other fish, and that the adult fish does not get too large for the tank or bioload.
Good luck, Lesley