New Hobby, Newbie on the forum...

[jay knows]

Hi everyone. I am new to this hobby. I have had a 55 gal freshwater tank I would like to convert to a salt water tank.
I need some advise and want to make sure all things required to set up the tank are correct and if I am missing anything, please let me know.
My goal is to have a healthy saltwater tank with fish and some live coral pieces... more fish based...
I ordered,
60 lbs of Crushed Coral
1 Fluval 404 filter system
Hydrometer
5 in 1 testing kit
Salt base for the tap water conversion
I have a digital therameter, and 2 whipser 60 fliters.. the therameter can be re used but I guess I do not need the whisper filters anymore.
Is there any thing I am missing?
Any advise that I can use to be successful?
Much appreciated and I am sure I will be using this forum as a tool in the future.
Thanks
Jay J.

 

[evaray3]

:jumping: Hi and welcome. I wanted to let you know that there cant be enough said about the benifits of live rock in your tank. PLease comsider getting some, at least 1 pound per gallon of water. It is not cheap (although you can find good deals) but it will save you tons in the long run.

 

[teresaq]

Hi, im new to with a 55 gal, and i was told not to use crushed coral. to only use sand, Good luck

 

[ophiura]

Welcome to the board!
I agree on the crushed coral. Wish you had checked sooner (before purchase) because we probably would have talked you out of at least the filter and the crushed coral!
Crushed coral is worth a search...may not be a good choice for you so you may not want to put it in to start, and you may wish to spend your money (if you can return the filter) on a good protein skimmer and powerheads...or a DIY sump/refugium....these will be better, IMO, than a Fluval for this application (don't get me wrong, a Fluval is a very nice filter for freshwater applications).
First you need to know that this hobby is really nothing like keeping a freshwater tank. Very different. Freshwater is much more forgiving...you can keep more fish, and do less work with freshwater.
You will keep FAR fewer fish in a saltwater tank....at most 1" per 5g versus your standard 1" per gallon in freshwater...if you want corals, this may be even less. That means you could be looking at something like 5 small fish - yes - 5 small fish - in your 55 g. If you want larger fish like a lion or trigger? Maybe one or two. Water changes are really absolutely critical, IMO. Freshwater can slide, but not saltwater. Needs a lot of constant attention, and a lot of water testing (so get some test kits - at least good quality ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH to start).
Keeping corals is a major decision that will impact a lot of things. Lighting is a big one. I suggest checking out the advice for new hobbyists posting at the top of this forum. Your standard lighting will not be sufficient for a coral tank.
Additionally, cycling is a process that can not be rushed...do not run out and buy fish. I would do a lot of reseach on cycling. I agree that Live Rock is also a requirement in a reef (and really good for the fish too).
So that is a start. Again, do some searches and look at the advice sticky at the top of this forum, then ask away!

 

[jay knows]

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread and post some input. I definately appreciate it.
Wanted to ask alittle more about the CC and the Fluval advise... Why is the CC and the Fluval 404 a bad selction? I was told the Fluval 404 is the best filter for the most reasonable price. I also was told the CC was a good way to go because it keeps the PH high etc... Help me...
Also wanted to get some more info on a Protein Skimmer, and what they do and why some use or some do not.
Thanks again for taking the time to post and guide me in this new process.

 

[thomas712]

You will find this in the sticky posted at the top of this forum.
Most of us will not use crushed coral because it is a large substrate that traps the fish waste and uneaten food that has to be vacuumed before it creates nitrates, which it will anyway. Crushed coral does not provide a very good biological zone, and many tanks are setup with CC from the get go through lack of knowledge or because it is the only substrate that an LFS sells and tells you that it is all you need, using a selling point of CC has buffering power. I have personally battled nitrates over 100 ppm during my days of CC and UGF doing frequent large water changes. So many of us have been there and had high nitrates, did a water change to lower them and they were back in a couple of days. CC has sharp edges, which is undesirable for inverts, like anemones walking around, pods or worms. No getting around it CC is high maintenance and can lead to poor water quality, frequent maintenance, sick livestock, algae blooms and more.
Sand on the other hand has more benefits. These include having far more surface area thereby making it able to handle a higher bio load of bacteria. It is less dangerous to your infauna and has a more natural look in the tank. If going with a DSB Deep Sand Bed you can have other benefits as well like finishing the denitrification or providing sand sifting, burrowing, or tunneling fish and critters a place to play. The denitrification process predominantly occurs in deeper substrates and in areas of stagnant flow where oxygen levels are depressed. And this is why deep sand beds are effective as a nitrogen export mechanism. As water slowly diffuses deeper, aerobic organisms strip all available oxygen for respiration. In the deep, oxygen-deprived layers, denitrifying anaerobes are given the opportunity to convert nitrogen compounds into nitrogenous gases, which escape via tiny bubble out of the aquarium. I believe this process can also work on a limited basis in shallow sand beds. My sand bed is no more than 2 inches deep in some spots.
Thomas712

[hr]
As to the fluval, well I have one too, somewhere that I don't use much at all. It can take some maintanence to keep one clean and if you don't then all the waste can collect and then lead to a nitrate problem. Also I feel they are whoafully under powered.
They are great to load up with carbon or a phosphate remover and polish the water once in a while.
Best I can say is that there are much better forms of filtration that are more natural and more effective.
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

I think at this point I would also like to recommend that you get a book as your first starting point. Don't think to much about it just do it, spend the money on a book. One that is recommended over and over is -
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert M. Fenner. From there 1000 questions will arise but it answers a few thousand as well.