New Here . . . Need Help!!!

P

peachy

Rollin' with the Flow
Hi, I'm new here and hope to tap into all of your expertise in setting up a tank.

I have always had freshwater tanks and am now thinking about moving into the saltwater realm.

I have a 55 gal. saltwater tank in my office that I pay a service to maintain so I know virtually nothing about setting up and maintaining a saltwater tank.

I have a 110 gal. tank at home that was originally a freshwater and is now empty and I would like to see about setting it up as a saltwater tank.

I know there are some considerations involved in converting a freshwater tank to salt water, but I don't know what they are . . . something to do with medications that might have been used in the fresh water ???

Also, I do not want a sump. Is it possible to have a salt water tank without a sump. I know that most of you are going to tell me that I definitely want a sump and that is the way to go. But I just had new carpeting installed and I don't want to take any chances of any water running over on the floor. The service set up the tank in my office with a filtration system that hangs on the back (I have always used Fluval canisters with my freshwater so I don't know much about the hang-on kind) and I don't have a sump at my office.

I just really want someone to tell me what you think I need to set up the 110 gal. to be a saltwater. I think I initially want to start with live sand, live rock, fish and some invertebrates. Maybe if I can keep all that going and living, then I will venture into the corals, but that would be way down the road.

I appreciate any and all advice.:D
 
Hi and welcome! You don't need a sump. You can have an amazing looking tank without a sump.

First thing you want to do is clean out the tank using a vinegar/water solution, and be sure to rinse it well. Once you've cleaned it out, I highly doubt any medications used before will impact it.

Next step is to buy the equipment you need. You'll need a heater and a protein skimmer. The best HOB (hang on back) protein skimmers out there are the Aqua C Remora Pro, Octopus, and Coralife Super Skimmers. Stay away from the Sea Clones and Red Sea Prizms. You will also need to buy either a refractometer or hydrometer, and test kits. What about lights? If you are doing fish only for a while, you don't need any sort of expensive lights. If you are planning on adding corals, anemones, clams, etc. you will need to either go with T5 or metal halide lights.

Once you rinse it out, you'll want to add your sand, water and rock. Will you be making your own water? If so, you will need to buy an RODI unit or buy RODI water at Walmart, the grocery store, or your LFS. You can also buy premade saltwater at your LFS. Whatever you do, don't use tap water. Even if you treat it with water conditioner. When it comes to rock, you want to aim for 1 to 2 lbs per gallon, so 220 to 440 lbs of live rock will be best.

After that, time to add some shrimp from the grocery store and let the tank cycle.
 
Thank you for the welcome Bifferwine.

I am so relieved to hear that I can have the tank without a sump.

The only medications that have been used in the tank were Melafix and General Cure.

Starting out, I was planning on buying both the salt water and fresh water regularly from my local fish store. I have been reading up on the reverse osmosis units and might spring for one in the future. But I thought before I spent that much, I would see how it goes.

What type of filtration would you suggest I use? I think the thing they have on my tank in the office is called a Penguin or Emperor or something like that (not sure). It just hangs on the back and uses some type of cartridges and has a wheel of some sort. I have the heater I was using in the freshwater (it is a 300 watt and seems like it wasn't cheap) . . . do you think that would work, or would I need something else?

I have a chiller on the tank at the office, but I don't think I will need that at home (at the office they tend to turn the air conditioner temp. up at night and on the weekends so it gets rather warm in there, but at home I keep it pretty constant in the house).

And I have a protein skimmer on the tank at the office so I am familiar with what they are and, of course, I would want to get one so I will check out the ones you suggested.

Thank you for the advice.
 
If you have a sufficient amount of live rock (1 to 2 lbs per gallon, the more the better), then you won't need any other type of filtration besides a good protein skimmer. Some people run other types of filters in addition to a skimmer (like an Emperor or Penguin), but by no means do you need one.

Before you use that same heater, you will have to check what brand it is. Some heaters are for freshwater use only. Make sure it's okay for saltwater too.

You won't need a chiller on your tank unless you get really hot lights. So for now, no.
 
Nothing to add except Biff really didn't mean 440lbs of live rock.That would be too much in a 110g.

Good luck,feel free to bombard her with questions...she loves them.
 
LOL . . . Thanks . . . I would have probably questioned that when I got to that point. It will be a couple months before I can get started tho.

I actually have not had the new carpet installed yet . . . picked it out and need to schedule it and I want to have some painting done first too.

But all that time will give me some time to shop and look around. I did look online last night at the Aqua C Remora Pro skimmer and I really like the fact that it is slim and streamlined. I'm not sure what brand skimmer he has on my tank at the office, but when he installed it, I had to do a little re-engineer on the canopy top because it wouldn't open because of hitting the top of the skimmer. Hopefully I won't have that problem at home.

Bifferwine, I also looked at your photo gallery last night. You have some awsome pics of coral on there. Are they all in your tank?
 
Welcome to the reef.
You also dont have to get all the rock as live rock.You can say 75LBS of dry lace rock and seed it with 25LBS or so of the live.You'll save money that way.
 
Thank you for the warm welcomes :Cheers:

I think I have about 90 lbs of live rock in the 55 gal. in my office. I'll just have to price it when I get ready to set it up. I imagine that will be after the holidays so I have time to get everything done with the house first.

I also looked at the RO/DI units and they aren't as expensive as I had thought. Any suggestions on which kind in case I decide to spring for one?

I also need suggestions for a good thermometer. I have always used the stick-on kind for the freshwater tanks, but I don't think they are very accurate and would like to get a good one if I go saltwater. I don't have one at my office because the chiller always shows the temperature.

I have also been looking at hydrometers and saw a neat electronic one. Any thoughts on a good one?
 
Bifferwine said:
Oh, everything from my photo gallery is from my OLD tank! A lot of those died when my new tank overheated to 93 degrees and killed 99% of everything in it!

If you want to see some updated pics of my tank, go to the last couple pages of:

https://www.livingreefs.com/forums/tank-showcase/10069-biffy-finally-gets-build-thread.html

I just took new pictures of my tank a couple days ago.
Click to expand...

These are wonderful pics! I just hope I can keep fish alive! :shock:

Stupid question here: What are the little round things that look like fans stuck on the inside back wall? Powerheads??
 
Welcome to the reef, looks like biffs got ya covered... Ask all ya want, all we ask in return is pics, lots and lots of pics... :)
 
welcome to living reefs! the 5 stage ro/di units are the best. I think they all basically work the same. just the price goes up when you add on little gadgets like reverse flush kits, pressure gauges and such.
the powerheads that you mentioned in biffs tanks are a must. aim for a turnover rate of 10 times the tank volume. maybe a little more if you decide to have a reef.
 
you do not need a bunch of equipment to keep a healthy tank. I do choose to not use a skimmer on my 90 but instead I have two HOB filters that I rigged to take a phosphate remover and activated carbon. You can run a very successful tank without tons of fancy or expensive stuff. I will admit that having fancy stuff makes it easier to care for the tank and less maintanence for you to do yourself. You can check out my pics on Dr Marco's Reef Build which is in the tank showcase section of the forum (I would post a link, but I am computer stupid and struggle to just upload pics). Any HOB filter cartridge you buy will get used in within a week of installing it in a salt water tank. they are junk. Instead, get a HOB with room inside to fit a media bag that you add carbon pellets that last longer.

Welcome to the forum

-Doc
 

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