Hey guys I'm looking to get into the hobby I've kept a 20 gallon fresh water tank for some time now and Ive recently re-homed the fish from that tank and I'm looking to convert that tank into a small reef I currently have a decent heater and a sechem tidal 55 filter in the tank and a small plant light on the tank ill probably need something significantly stronger though I'm only trying to keep easy corals nothing that is too high maintenance. The tank also has about an inch and a half of sand currently I plan on adding some live sand as the top layer to deepen the bed when I convert the tank and getting some live rock but mainly dry rock and letting time do its thing. I've gotten pretty used to doing 25% water changes weekly in the freshwater tank, I realize the changes with saltwater may be a bit more work should I expect to do more or less water changes and what additional equipment should I look into. what products might I need to dose outside of salt to maintain healthy levels be successful, are things like calcium reactors necessary? how bout a sump is it vital my setup isn't exactly conducive to a sump? what kind of maintenance schedule would you guys recommend? What advice do you guys have for someone who's new to the hobby?
Starting a new tank
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That ratio of water changes should serve you well with saltwater. A solid HOB filter (ie Seachem Tidal 55 that you have) should work great and a Hydor Koralia 3rd gen powerhead in the 1350gph range should be plenty for that tank. An RODI system is generally a must (unless you have a reliable LFS that you can purchase salt/RODI pre-mix from). As for saltwater I recommend taking your time in researching the heck out of saltwater first. There are some bad habits you picked up with freshwater that won't transfer well to saltwater. Above all DO NOT use any sand that was pre-existing in a freshwater tank as this will only cause problems for you in the long run. This video points out some of the biggies in terms of freshwater mistakes:
The equipment you will need:
20lbs of dry rock or dry rock seeded with a piece of established live rock (you will need a source of bacteria to get things going)
live sand or some kind of substrate if you want to keep a fish like a goby (go with all new sand as it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run
A Refractomemter
A powerhead/wavemaker
That tidal 55 is perfect, so you are good there, although I would not run anything but carbon during the cycling process
I assume you have 5 gallon buckets and a drain hose?
RODI system and something like Instant Ocean Salt (or get some 5 gallon water jugs with lids and buy pre-mix from your LFS)
A quality Marine Care Test kit (ie Red Sea, Salifert)
A Digital Thermometer
A 100-150 watt tank heater that is suitable for marine tanks (some of the ones that come with kits are not suited for marine environments)
A Chemipure Elite bag would be useful as a filter media after the tank has cycled
PatW
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A calcium reactor really is not necessary. Corals and mollusks like snails make their hard parts out of calcium carbonate. They take alkalinity and calcium out of the water to make their skeletons. You can measure calcium and alkalinity and add new Ca and ALK to replace losses. Most people use two part solutions, one Ca and one ALK, to do so. Even people with really active reef building corals can get by on two part.
But if you just have fish and soft corals, water changes should keep things ok.
But if you just have fish and soft corals, water changes should keep things ok.
Thanks for the responses, good to know I shouldn't use that sand will look into getting just a few pounds extra of the new stuff. also thanks for the info on calcium and alkalinity. In terms of lighting at the moment Ive got a current satellite 24 inch but I'm fairly sure ill need something stronger on there is there any options you guys would suggest that don't have to be hung over the tank I'm not looking to skimp here but I definitely don't have tons of money to spend looking to keep it under 200$ for the lights?
weird question: in a marine tank by my understanding bio filtration happens mainly in the rock and sand, is it unwise to rinse my carbon under the tap or should I only use ro/old tank water for this?
weird question: in a marine tank by my understanding bio filtration happens mainly in the rock and sand, is it unwise to rinse my carbon under the tap or should I only use ro/old tank water for this?
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