trying to get started
- Thread starter dhaze44
- Start date
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Welcome, can you tell us what is your goal? Do you want corals or a type of fish? This will help us in what direction to go because it all depends
Neno reefs
Reefing newb
Have you ever used any copper meds in the tank whe it was freshwater? If so you wont be able to keep coral and inverts.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Ok, lets get you started with the basic, it will take up to 6 weeks. Go get some live sand, for that tank i would say 40 pounds. Your going to need more live rock, 75lbs of it. Ditch the canister filter and pick up a protein skimmer.
grozier
something smells fishy
Heard live sand isn't worth the cost, stick to live rock it will seed the sand also it will come to life when your tank gets up and going. Is get around 10 to 15 pounds of live rock and the rest just use base rock, it will be seeded from the actual live rock also. 75Lbs of sand will get you a nice bed, sugar fine blows around to much trust me, go with the next grain size up imo.use the right water as well.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Please check out live aquaria. They list reef safe fish and friendly chart comparisons
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Yes base rock works, it takes up to 6 months to cure, ie less stable water. Yes there is different agragate sand, not sure what you mean by sand comes to life later?
grozier
something smells fishy
Sand will come to life after awhile of the tank going. some of the organisms on the live rock will move to the sand ie making it live. A lot of the beneficial bacteria in the live sand dies after its packaged for sale use.
ErinCahir
Sausage Wrangler
+1 grozier. Live sand isn't worth the cost.
You're going to need 1-2 pounds of rock per gallon. A mix of live and dry is the best way to go cost-wise.
You're going to need 1-2 pounds of rock per gallon. A mix of live and dry is the best way to go cost-wise.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Ok, some choose to have glass bottoms in their system, and completely on preferance. I am old fassion and believe some sort of agragate should be used in ponds and in saltwater. That said, i run it for a sand sifting gobies, manderian, open brain coral. I think it gives it a natural appearance and at night makes the corals pop! Ps, snails love it too
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Check out some power heads, typical set up on a tank this size youll need 2- 1050gph for additional flow, i run 4 power heads, but once again it is on perferance. Some corals want high flow( by the powerhead) and some want low. Please check out what corals you are looking for because it may require different lighting too. I dont believe there is a catch all for lighting......
Laz
Reefing newb
The one thing everyone will tell you before you should buy or attempt anything... do your research! Trust me, do not attempt to buy a single thing until you know what you're doing and why. Educate yourself until you know the basic fundamentals. See what a SW tank requires and so on.
I notice you're converting, so you need to make sure your tank is completely clean and sterile. There is a few Youtube video's on how to clean a tank out properly for SW conversions.
Do not buy any sand or rock until you have the necessary equipment.
For a 75G, you're going to need a Protein Skimmer (that is a MUST). A sump would be ideal as you wouldn't want a big protein skimmer hanging off your tank, unless you get a nano one which may not be ideal for a tank that size, espesh if you're keeping corals. You NEED powerheads. Again, research what sort of flow you need and the appropriate powerheads. Hydor Koralia's are good ones. You should have a heater, a good one at that. If you're wanting to keep corals, you need appropriate lighting, too. This doesn't come too cheap but if you have the fittings already, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Once you have the correct equipment in place, you should do a clean run with R/O ideally. Let the system wash itself out and empty and re-fill. Twice would be great, but once would do. Do not use regular tap water and then dechlorinate it. You can get away with that in FW tanks, but the water will still contain various chemicals and other stuff which you do not want, so unless you have it already, you'll need an RO/DI system, unless you wish to have half a dozen tips to the LFS for RO (You don't want to do this, it's too costly and a big pain). From there, it's just a matter of purchasing a good brand of salt and adding that until your salinity is between 1.023-1.025 (You'll need a refractometer for this).
It's all about just doing your homework. Really, don't go into it so fast if you're not sure of the necessary equipment and fundamentals of keeping a SW tank, because it's a completely different ball game compared to FW tanks.
I notice you're converting, so you need to make sure your tank is completely clean and sterile. There is a few Youtube video's on how to clean a tank out properly for SW conversions.
Do not buy any sand or rock until you have the necessary equipment.
For a 75G, you're going to need a Protein Skimmer (that is a MUST). A sump would be ideal as you wouldn't want a big protein skimmer hanging off your tank, unless you get a nano one which may not be ideal for a tank that size, espesh if you're keeping corals. You NEED powerheads. Again, research what sort of flow you need and the appropriate powerheads. Hydor Koralia's are good ones. You should have a heater, a good one at that. If you're wanting to keep corals, you need appropriate lighting, too. This doesn't come too cheap but if you have the fittings already, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Once you have the correct equipment in place, you should do a clean run with R/O ideally. Let the system wash itself out and empty and re-fill. Twice would be great, but once would do. Do not use regular tap water and then dechlorinate it. You can get away with that in FW tanks, but the water will still contain various chemicals and other stuff which you do not want, so unless you have it already, you'll need an RO/DI system, unless you wish to have half a dozen tips to the LFS for RO (You don't want to do this, it's too costly and a big pain). From there, it's just a matter of purchasing a good brand of salt and adding that until your salinity is between 1.023-1.025 (You'll need a refractometer for this).
It's all about just doing your homework. Really, don't go into it so fast if you're not sure of the necessary equipment and fundamentals of keeping a SW tank, because it's a completely different ball game compared to FW tanks.
Listen to Laz.
No offense but it sounds like you need to do a lot more research. You can skip this step but you're only going to end up costing yourself a lot of money on junk you don't need. Don't listen to what the LFS has to say about anything really either.
The first thing you'll want to do is make sure the tank can be used for a reef system. As mentioned above, if you ever treated your freshwater fish with any medication it was likely copper-based which means you will never be able to keep a reef in that tank. You'll need a whole new tank.
You should look into the step-by-step guides on setting up a saltwater aquarium. Research cycling the tank thoroughly. It is the most important step in having a successful tank. It cannot be skipped, it cannot be done quicker.
Don't try to rely on asking questions because if you don't do the research you won't know what questions to ask. That is why the guides and things exist. Use them as tools and references.
If you're hoping to keep a reef your biggest expense is going to be lighting the tank. You should read as much as you can about this because lighting for a 75g is NOT cheap. I recommend LEDs but there are other (and cheaper) options.
No offense but it sounds like you need to do a lot more research. You can skip this step but you're only going to end up costing yourself a lot of money on junk you don't need. Don't listen to what the LFS has to say about anything really either.
The first thing you'll want to do is make sure the tank can be used for a reef system. As mentioned above, if you ever treated your freshwater fish with any medication it was likely copper-based which means you will never be able to keep a reef in that tank. You'll need a whole new tank.
You should look into the step-by-step guides on setting up a saltwater aquarium. Research cycling the tank thoroughly. It is the most important step in having a successful tank. It cannot be skipped, it cannot be done quicker.
Don't try to rely on asking questions because if you don't do the research you won't know what questions to ask. That is why the guides and things exist. Use them as tools and references.
If you're hoping to keep a reef your biggest expense is going to be lighting the tank. You should read as much as you can about this because lighting for a 75g is NOT cheap. I recommend LEDs but there are other (and cheaper) options.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
READ THIS and save yourself a lot of money, time and heartache: https://www.livingreefs.com/marine-aquarium-disasters-and-prevent-them-t20514.html
Smitty
Reef pro
Hello and welcome aboard.
