Absolute New To SW

[+Jakedoza]

As the title suggests, I do have some questions. I do have FW tank experience, and from my understanding there is not too much difference in starting up a SW tank. Currently I have a 135g FW tank that I will keep as a FW tank for now. I do, however have a 20g tank that I would like to set up to get the hang of things, and to (hopefully) get some things growing so when I convert the 135 it will not hurt the pocket book as much.

What are the basic necessities in starting a tank? I do have an over flow filter for that tank and a working light that needs to be replaced.

What is the water/salt ratio or are there differences depending on what I want to to put in the tank?

Can I use sand from a freshwater setup if rinsed very through?

Is cycling the tank similar to FW on start up?

Thanks in advance!

[Brooks]

I can't answer all of your questions, however I do know the answer to a few of them!

- When starting up a tank, saying you add live rock that isn't cured, you will have to go through a Nitrogen cycle.

- It would be better adding new sand, as there could be bacteria in the sand from the freshwater sand. Quality sand isn't expensive, especially not for a 20g tank. I just got a 34g and only needed 1 bag of 20 lb. sand.

- It isn't normally referred to as a "ratio" for salt/water. The saltiness of the water is measured in ppt, which is the total amount of salt dissolved in the water, or SG (Specific gravity). You'll want to keep your tank at 1.028 - 1.035 in specific gravity. The average salinity (ppt) for the ocean is 34-37, so you'll want to keep your salinity the same, or close. Also, heat is another determining factor in salinity. The hotter your water is, the higher the salinity.

Hope this helped!

-Brooks-

[DaJMasta]

I'd say there's a fair amount of difference between them, because seawater conditions tend to be harder to replicate with any degree of accuracy and the animals that live in it tend to be more sensitive to changes in it (sea water varies around the world, but it's all connected and there's a huge amount so it is a fairly specific environment). I won't go in to recommending you equipment, because I'm fairly new to this myself, but take cycling as an example. In a freshwater tank you would fill the tank and add some gravel and rocks and feed the water to introduce ammonia and start the bacteria flowing. I tended to add plants and a sample of water from another tank or a local stream for a little extra kick, but it was by no means necessary (there's also the option of using a prepackaged bacterial starter). With a salt water tank, most of your filtration is done by the sand bed and live rock - especially in a tank as small as 20 gallons - that means that while you can do a similar thing to get the bacteria started (put in dead sand and rock, add a piece of shrimp for ammonia, let sit for a few days, remove remains, etc), that's a very long and fairly ineffective way to do it. To get maximum filtration and get as close to a marine environment as possible - which is required because of the sensitivity of the animals you want to keep - you need a seed source for biodiversity at the very least, and if you start with mostly dead rock and sand, it can be a matter of a month or more before the seed organisms spread enough to be able to support any normal livestock. Then having different organisms to do different things (clean up crews, corals, fish, etc) is important to be able to sustain your livestock population as they would be in the natural environment. Then to make matters more interesting, each organism needs it's own kinds of habitat - corals for example often need high flow areas of the tank and powerful overhead lighting to grow properly.

Long post short: making a marine aquarium work is much more about creating a functional biome than freshwater aquariums typically are. I'm not trying to discourage you as it can be done - even for a reasonable amount of money - but expect to take things slower in terms of stocking, to do more testing for water quality, and to keep up with your water changes. Maybe a more experienced reefer can set you off in the right direction for equipment, but there's a lot of tutorials available and a lot of forums with information about this which can help as well.

[muddybluewater]

A couple of things natural sea water is actually 1.026. Not much will it make it at 1.035.

Things you need for saltwater

1 Patience

2 Patience

3 Patience

4 ask as many questions as you can

5 Research all purchases, you can waste a lot of money in this hobby

6 Saltwater is very different than FW

7 The larger the system the more stable and easier to keep

8 reef keeping is an addiction, Welcome

[Wippit]

I'm in the same boat, Jake. I've been doing FW for a long time, but before jumping into SW I've been doing a lot of homework. You've already gotten step 1 right; find groups like this and leverage their experience. reefcentral.com is another good place to post, but it's easy to get lost in all the "noise" there. Do a lot of independent homework too, and post questions about anything that you aren't clear on.

One thing that stood out in your post was using a 20 gallon tank. One thing I've learned is that there is one rule that's upside down in fresh vs. salt: in FW smaller is easier, but in SW it's the opposite.

Welcome to the group!

[netmaster]

i dont know what kind of sand u are using in youre fw, however whether u want to use live sand or not marine sand is essental because fw sand will not be able to buffer youre water properly

[offroadodge]

so if it were me Id jump into a big tank to begin with, its fairly more difficult to keep the parameters strait in a SMALL tank. IMO BIGGER is ALOT easier. I to started with what i thought was a COOL little 26gallon corner tank and WOW was i in for a ride. Not to mention the levels being hard to keep consistant, KILLING alot of saltwater things came with it. I would (if it were me) instead of stating one tank now then going to the bigger one, just start with the bigger and buy the items once. like MUDDY said PATIENCE...PATIENCE...PATIENCE... and NO question is a DUMB question. Just ask.....Good luck and glad to have ya!!!!!

[razataz]

so if it were me Id jump into a big tank to begin with, its fairly more difficult to keep the parameters strait in a SMALL tank. IMO BIGGER is ALOT easier. I to started with what i thought was a COOL little 26gallon corner tank and WOW was i in for a ride. Not to mention the levels being hard to keep consistant, KILLING alot of saltwater things came with it. I would (if it were me) instead of stating one tank now then going to the bigger one, just start with the bigger and buy the items once. like MUDDY said PATIENCE...PATIENCE...PATIENCE... and NO question is a DUMB question. Just ask.....Good luck and glad to have ya!!!!!

I agree with offroadodge my 20 long tank took a crash I'm know setting up a 75g When things go bad on a little tank It goes bad in a hurry.

[+Jakedoza]

Thanks for the replies.

I have been doing a lot of research for the past couple of years on this. I do know that the larger tank will be easier to manage, but for me it will be more costly as of right now. The more I think about I want to wait until I get the funds to get the larger tank up and going.

There are so many choices with SW that I'm not sure what I want to do.

There are Fish only tanks, and reef tanks.. and certain types of fish will kill certain reef types and vise versa. I know I want a reef tank, but I also don't want the tank jammed full of coral either. On the other hand I have to remember that a lot of SW creatures can get pretty large and some you will never see.

I would like to have some sort of eel with mollusks, and lots of little crustaceans... and fish.. but, I don't know what will live together in a 135g habitat. I have all of this in my head, but I know it will be years before I can get it all together.