Information please

Jody · May 1, 2015

Hi. I have a 75 gallon tank in which I want to start a saltwater tank. I need to do it in a very economical way, in case it is a failure for me. What type of equipment would I need? I have two filters in my current freshwater tank, a heater, thermometer, lid, and LED lighting. What else would I need to purchase?

Thanks for the help.

Jody

Joeganja · May 1, 2015

fish only or coral reef? do you plan on keeping a tang, anemones?

Joeganja · May 1, 2015

and flow is crucial in a saltwater tank and do you have names of the filters, leds?

jman9331 · May 1, 2015

We will do our best so that you don't fail!

Clownaround · May 1, 2015

I would recommend getting more circulation pumps and depending if you are doing fish only I may recommend looking into a canister filter. If you want to do corals you may need to upgrade your lights. But for most beginners in Saltwater I would recommend starting as fish and inverts only and then move to corals.

SouL_Shaker · May 2, 2015

Clownaround said:
I would recommend getting more circulation pumps and depending if you are doing fish only I may recommend looking into a canister filter. If you want to do corals you may need to upgrade your lights. But for most beginners in Saltwater I would recommend starting as fish and inverts only and then move to corals.

I agree .

KJ · May 3, 2015

Welcome to R2R

Jody · May 9, 2015

I just want to keep fish in my. I have a canister filter, a filter on back of my tank and I just got a protein skimmer. Do you think that is enough for a saltwater tank or do I need to get anything else? Thanks for everyone's help.

Reefing Madness · May 9, 2015

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[TD]#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock.[/TD]
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[TD]#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.[/TD]
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[TD]#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.[/TD]
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[TD]#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.[/TD]
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[TD]#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.[/TD]
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[TD]#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.[/TD]
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[TD]#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one[/TD]
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[TD]#8-Rubber kitchen gloves[/TD]
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[TD]#9-Fish net[/TD]
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[TD]#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets[/TD]
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[TD]#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.[/TD]
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[TD]#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.[/TD]
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[TD]#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.[/TD]
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[TD]#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.[/TD]
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[TD]#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank[/TD]
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[TD]#16-Heater rated for your size tank.[/TD]
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[TD]#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.[/TD]
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[TD]#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.[/TD]
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[TD]#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)[/TD]
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[TD]#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 1-2" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.scaquariums.com/sc-aquariums-sca-301-65-gallon-protein-skimmer.html[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=aquarium+heater&_sacat=20754&_odkw=power+heads&_osacat=0[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=power+heads&_sacat=0&_odkw=salt+water+refractometer&_osacat=0[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-0-10-Salinity-Refractometer-Salt-Water-Aquarium-/251140605905?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a792587d1[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.marcorocks.com/[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-dry-live-rock.html[/TD]
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[TD]Live Rock: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/aquarium-substrate/ps/c/3578/9805[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html[/TD]
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[TD]http://live-plants.com/[/TD]
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[TD]http://successfulreefkeeping.com/learn/what-your-coral-needs/[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=t-5+lighting&_sacat=0[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=cree+led+aquarium&_sacat=0&_odkw=t-5+lighting&_osacat=0[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/saltwater-aquarium-salt-water-mix/ps/c/3578/4685[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15473[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4749[/TD]
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[TD]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4145[/TD]
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Humblefish · May 10, 2015

The very basics: Tank, heater, thermometer, HOB or canister filter, circulation powerhead, light, rock/substrate. It's good you got a protein skimmer; but for any other newbies reading this, a skimmer is something you can always add later.

Substrate is actually optional, but for rock I would start out with at least 40lbs for a 75 gal. You can add more later, but you will need to do it a little at a time after the tank cycles. Using dry rock will save you $$$.

For circulation powerheads, you aren't gonna get much better for cheap than Koralias. I'd suggest starting out with at least one Koralia 1150 for a 75 gal. $43 last time I checked on Amazon.