Newbie Help

[speedracered]

Hi hows it going? I have a 12 gallon Eclipse tank that is currently being occupied by a fresh water fish. I am selling this fish in about 1 week. Can you guys help me out or give me some pointers on how convert my tank into a salt water tank? like what i need to get, how to mix the water, and what else there needs to be done/? thanks

 

[daniel411]

Welcome to the board!
Well, for starters, a 12 gallon saltwater aquarium is going to require extra attention. The larger the tank, the more stable the water conditions can be. First thing I'd suggest is picking up a good book such as "Conscientious Marine Aquarist" which is sold on this site in the "Dry Goods" section.
Than you can learn more about what you want to do. There are countless ways to go about setting up an aquarium. Try and figure out what you want to keep in it as a staple species or a few species. Than you can ask more specifically on how to set it up to handle those species.
Best of luck

 

[yae4volcom]

Hey!
I am also setting up a 12 gallon Eclipse tank so I could probably help you some.
After you sell your fresh water fish, empty out the water/gravel, and rinse it out some your going to need a few basic things.
A 50 watt or higher heater.
A small powerhead.
Salt Mix (Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals)
12 gallons of purified water.
I would also take out the whole filter system because if you get Live rock and/or Live sand you wont need the bio-wheel or carbon pad. After you take out the filter system you should look into upgraded lighting so you can keep some corals.
I got a 32 watt custom sea life retro fit kit. It isnt the highest possible lighting but it lets you keep some nice stuff and its easy to install. It basicly takes the place of the other one and is ment for the Eclipse 12. If you E-mail me I can tell you where to buy the lighting.
I hope that helped
YouthAgainstEstablishment@MSN.com

 

[speedracered]

yea it helps a lot , I just emailed you about it
thanks

 

[karajay]

YAE4Volcom- Why would you bother paying the extra money for an Eclipse and then remove all the filtration and retrofit the lighting?

I've got an Eclipse on my 20g. I did replace the bulbs, but that was it. And even that is unnecessary unless you intend to keep corals.
Speedracered- Patience and research are the keys to success. Get a good book on the subject (as previously recommended) and keep coming back with those questions. Then you won't have to learn the hard way.
WELCOME to the hobby and SWF.com

 

[yae4volcom]

Because the filter is cheap and so is the lighting. I bought the tank because it looks nice and it was the size i wanted. The filter also blocks the lighting from the back of the tank.

 

[speedracered]

thanks for the help guys Ill keep them questions coming. Im thinking about getting 15 lbs of live sand, and 10 lbs of live rock for a fish only tank for now, then later on ill bring some corals and reefs in. Is that setup good enough. SO should I keep the Eclipse filter running or just take it off?

 

[overanalyzer]

1. Welcome!! Enjoy and learn!
2. I don't run an eclipse but I think you need some place to run mechanical filtration. I would not rip it out just yet. If you are going with a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rocks) I'd leave it in for now.
3. Not sure on the lighting setup of the eclipse but they have some screw in PC's @ Wal-mart that are a higher lighting .... I'd look into those first to see if they fit the canopy (please some post if I am right or wrong on that).
4. Get a book - The one referenced above is good - but if you go to your library and find any book on setting up a marine aquarium it should have the basics of the cycle in the book. Thought ignore where they tell you to use damsels to cycle your tank! Your LR should cycle the tank and if it doesn't a small hunk of raw shrimp will.
5. You seem to have a good basic handle on what you want so please hang out and ask questions!
6. A lot of people advocate larger tanks - but IMO I think that if you pay attention to details and can spend the appropriate amount of time then you would be OK. Just know that any tank is going to be hard @ first - but once you get into a routine and understand your tank then you should be fine!
Good Luck!

 

[karajay]

Originally posted by Speedracered
SO should I keep the Eclipse filter running or just take it off?
IMO, leave it running. Even if you get a sand bed and LR, the extra filtration (especially in a small tank) sure can't hurt.

 

[speedracered]

I cant wait to have this setup running. I have been keeping fresh water gishes for about 2 years or so, Piranhas to be exact, and I want to do something diff. I have a bigger tank 125 gal. Which is for the Piranhas, and I want to do a small SW tank just to see how hard it is and If i will enjoy it, thats y I want to start small.
anyways how long should it take for full filteration on a new tank.
And Nitrates should be at 5, ammonia at 0, nitites at 0, and pH somewhere around 8.4?
I also heard about throwing some shrimp in to advance the process.
Anyone else have any pointers?
You guys are big help. And yea Ill be purchasing a book very soon on this

 

[karajay]

Originally posted by Speedracered
I also heard about throwing some shrimp in to advance the process.

Start with a good amount of uncured LR, that will start the cycle on it's own. The entire cycle usually takes 4-6 weeks, long enough to read that book

 

[speedracered]

How much Live sand and Live rock should i put in there?
Can i get CUred Live rock for the cycling stage? or i have to get uncured?

 

[asbury030]

hey yea4volcom how much did ur kit cost u. i have had my set up for about 1 month and two week and i have always wonder how to get a good light for corals. pl zrespond

 

[karajay]

How much sand depends on how deep you want it to be.
LR is usually about 1-1.5 lbs. per gallon. Again it depends on what you want it to look like and how dense the rock is.
For a new tank, most recommend uncured rock because it's cheaper and will start your cycle for you. If you use cured rock, then you may need to throw in a raw shrimp to get it going.
When I started my 20g, I used cured rock from my LFS (and a raw shrimp) simply because no place else sold uncured LR in small enough quantity. Depends on what you can find.

 

[yae4volcom]

Hey Asbury. My retro-fit was around 50 dollars (I think)
I highly recommend it because it is ment for the eclipse 12.
It comes with directions to take out the old lights and put in the new ones.
I can give you the website or the name if you email me
YouthAgainstEstablishment@Msn.com
P.S. Overanalyzer do you think I should run the filter? It comes with a carbon pad that you can switch out and also a bio wheel. Im only running the pad right now because theres nothing in the tank but water. You can run the carbon without the bio-wheel.

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by YAE4Volcom
P.S. Overanalyzer do you think I should run the filter? It comes with a carbon pad that you can switch out and also a bio wheel. Im only running the pad right now because theres nothing in the tank but water. You can run the carbon without the bio-wheel.
I always run carbon in my 20 nano in a HOB tetratec filter. Carbon filters need to be changed on a regular basis and helps polish the water. I would suggest just take out the carbon and run some filter floss right now or a empty pad. But Once you stokc I would suggest running it.
Do a search on carbon - some people only run it for a few days, some only run it now and again .... some never run it. I think in a small environment you need all the help you can get ...

 

[speedracered]

damn... this thread is big time help guys..
Thanks a lot.
Is there a certain brand of ocean salt that is the best? or is all the same?

 

[karajay]

Someone started a thread here a while ago and found that most people use Instant Ocean. It's probably the easiest to find, most widely recognized brand. But any synthetic sea salt should be good.

 

[overanalyzer]

personally I liked red sea but it always measured low on calcium so I dripped some pickling lime/ kalk water. That was my 5 gallon tank ..... on the 20 I've used instant ocean and been pleased but with the red sea it seemed like my mushrooms naturally thrived with ease!

 

[speedracered]

Originally posted by YAE4Volcom
Hey!
I am also setting up a 12 gallon Eclipse tank so I could probably help you some.
After you sell your fresh water fish, empty out the water/gravel, and rinse it out some your going to need a few basic things.
A 50 watt or higher heater.
A small powerhead.
Salt Mix (Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals)
12 gallons of purified water.
I would also take out the whole filter system because if you get Live rock and/or Live sand you wont need the bio-wheel or carbon pad. After you take out the filter system you should look into upgraded lighting so you can keep some corals.
I got a 32 watt custom sea life retro fit kit. It isnt the highest possible lighting but it lets you keep some nice stuff and its easy to install. It basicly takes the place of the other one and is ment for the Eclipse 12. If you E-mail me I can tell you where to buy the lighting.
I hope that helped
YouthAgainstEstablishment@MSN.com

Hi i tried emailing you about the retrofit kit. can u email me where you got it from my email is Speedracered@yahoo.com
Whats the minimun amount of lighting wattage I can have if I want to do Corals later on?