Ok so I've been doing freshwater planted tanks an Id like to make the leap to salt water. I received a free 30g from a friend an that's my starting point lol. Wondering what sort of filter an all that stuff I'm going to need. Thanks for helping the newb out
Newbie needing help
- Thread starter Aceman21
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saltyphish
Certified Sand Groomer
Ok, You want to use live rock in your tank for the big part of your filtration. I would stay away from canister filters. You can use a HOB filter for mechanical filtration. Take a bit and read the article in this link. The best thing for you to do right now is do some research and ask more questions. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ne...guide-setting-up-saltwater-reef-aquarium.html
shornik
Well-Known Member
+1 on doing research. I'd also add spend a lot of time on the forums here, there is a lot of collective knowledge on these boards.
And so I can be the first.... With saltwater patience is the key. Nothing that happens fast is ever any good :tongue:
And so I can be the first.... With saltwater patience is the key. Nothing that happens fast is ever any good :tongue:
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
One thing to consider is the marine equilivant of a FW planted setup.
With marine system you basically use macro algae instead of plants. Or an algae turf scrubber. Either way it balances out and stabilized operation just like FW planted setups.
Marine fish are generally macro eaters like some FW fish only the "problem" is more common like to the place where it is best to assume the fish will eat the macros.
So most setup some kind of refugium which can be just a simple partition to keep the livestock away from the macros.
my .02
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SeahorseKeeper
Where's the mysis?
This article has a lot of great info in it: How to set up a saltwater reef aquarium tank- REEFEDITION
printerrob
Community Member
For testing salinity get a refractometer and stay away from the cheaply made hydrometer
spllbnd2
Active Member
I've had good success with the Hagen Aquaclear HOB filters. Also a good HOB skimmer would either be a reef octopus or a CPR bak-pak. I run a CPR Aquafuge PS (protein skimmer version) and chaeto (macro algae that helps with nutrient export) grows like crazy.
And as others mentioned, read as much as you can and forums are your friend. :smile: Cheers, Alex
And as others mentioned, read as much as you can and forums are your friend. :smile: Cheers, Alex
The amount of flow really depends on the types of corals you want to keep, lower of LPS and higher for SPS. but you would need two of them to get a good flow pattern, size is up to the corals. The reef octopus bh 1000 would be on the larger side or your tank but it wont hurnt having an oversized skimmer.
I'm only going to be keeping the lower to mid level since this is my first SW tank. I don't want to jump in over my head and risk killing anything. Thanks for help an tips. Many more questions to come im sure lol
acer
Valuable Member
As far as sand- It really depends on a few factors. - you don't have room in the 30 gallon to have much of a sand bed- so you are going to have to have just enough sand to look good and yet not too thin so it blows around with the current you have set up in the tank ( so maybe a inch thick). The type of sand is personal taste (color, coarse or fine, etc.) - just make sure it is pure- no additives,etc. that are toxic. You can also get "live sand" from several marine aquarium stores both local and online. A good idea is to purchase good non-live sand and then get a small scoop of sand from a local reefer from his tank or refugium to "jump-start" the sand bed in your new tank. Remember - only bad things happen fast in this hobby- so you have to wait a bit to make sure the tank cycles before putting live coral or fish in it.
