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i have a 4 foot tank and i currently have tropical fish in it. i want to go into saltwater but i am not sure on what i need to get started. i have had a look on the internet and have read up on some stuff i have even gone to a couple of pet shop for prices on stuff they reckon i need but both shops gave me different stuff and one shop was double the price of the other. i would like to start off with hardy fish and slowly move into different ones when i become more confident. i am serious in getting all the stuff i need so i can start. any help anyone could give me would be excellent

I've requested this get moved to General Marine where you will get the answers you need. Most of the SW people hang out there.

Well, first off, welcome to FishProfiles

Diane brought this thread to the right place. The folks here over on "the dark side" of fishkeeping will be glad to help you get up onto your feet and dive into the saltwater world.

So, secondly, what type of tank do you want this to be? FO? FOWLR? Reef? How many gallons is your exisiting tank, and is it predrilled?

The best set up for you would probably be FishOnlyWithLiveRock. The live rock will essentially be the biological filtration for your tank. LR is a good way to cycle your tank too; you can use fish, but the best marine fish would be the damsel, and the problem with these guys is that while they're little, they're very adorable, but as they grow up they get bigger and meaner---damsels often turn aggressive and it's a bugger to get them out of your tank. LR is the way to go IMO. For effective filtration with porous rock, like Fiji for example, you will need about one pound of rock per gallon. Depending on tank size, you may need more to make your tank look fuller. Less porous rock will require more rock per gallon to get the same effective filtration.

Normally, if I was setting up a marine tank, especially if it was going to be a reef, I'd get a predrilled tank with ReefReady overflow(s). This way, underneath your stand you can have a sump, which is great for culturing live food for your tank, and *can* add a lot to the water volume, making the parameters more stable. It's also room for more filtration/rock/beneficial bacteria/etc. The tank I'm setting up now is a 72 gallon bowfront, with a 30 gallon long underneath it as the sump. I'm planning on having an in-sump protein skimmer so that it's not exposed. Also, my heaters will be in there. Another benefit to having a sump/refugium, it hides equipment!!!

The other form of filtration you will need is a protein skimmer...and possibly a wet/dry filter, but I dont want to get into that b/c I dont know much about it. A good protein skimmer is essential; it'll take most of the contaminants (sp?) out of your water. Another helpful tool in this process is an RO/DI unit. You can also usually get RO water from your LFS for pretty cheap.

Lighting is another critical part of your tank set up, but in order to suggest lights, we need to know what kind of tank you want to have. If you want corals, you should almost def. go with MH lighting.

Substrate...sand of course! A sand bed about 3" deep will be good for helping NNR and keeping everyone happy, especially sand sifting stars and whatnot.

Heaters/Chillers...
Depends again on tank size and lighting system.
For heaters I'd go with only Ebo-Jagers or Tronics.

Hmm...lets see, what am I forgetting...

Oh! Test kits. Very important, especially during cycling. You will need to moniter several water params, which, once established, should look something like this:
Temperature- 78*F-82*F
Salinity- 34-36ppm
SG- 1.023ish
pH- 8.2-8.3
Alkalinity- 6-11dKH
Ammonia- zero
NitrIte- zero
NitrAte- <20mg/L
Phosphate- <0.05mg/L
Calcium- 375-475mg/L
Dissolved Oxygen- >6.90mg/L

As for test kit brands, right off the bat I suggest you have pH, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte and calcium. That's what I'm starting with in my soon-to-be-reef. Tetra/Red Sea are pretty good brands, but Salifert is the best. It's pricey thought, b/c it's really lab quality. Thats how accurate they are.

I guess one of the most obvious things you'll have to monitor is the salinity/specific gravity. For this you will need either a hydrometer or better yet, a refractometer.

Water circulation: Very important! Unlike *most* freshwater tanks, you will need current, and shouldn't really have any dead areas in the tank. This can be accomplished several ways...
- lots of power heads
- a Tunze system
- an Oceans Motions unit (for a 4 foot tank, I'd prolly suggest the 4 way, my tank is 4' and thats what I'm doing)
How much money you're willing to spend, what you want to keep, and tank size will determine how you set that up.

Maint...this will again depend on tank size/bio-load. I'm sure you already have and are familiar with WC's and gravel vacs from your freshwater tank. Another thing you may want to consider is heavy duty algae magnet. You should have a big rubbermaid tub for pre mixing saltwater for your water changes. Get a couple of powerheads and heaters for it.

Some important things to remember/consider...off the top of my head

1- In a marine tank, only bad things happen quickly.

2- DO...YOUR...RESEARCH! Do NOT impulse buy. It sounds like you're off to a good start. The internet is a great tool, but books are greattoo. Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenners books are great for beginners, I HIGHLY recommend Reef Invertebrates. Also, the Pocket Guide to Marine Fishes is very good, along with the Barrons book to SW Water chemistry. These references will become your Bibles in the fishkeeping world.

3- Patience. And as Marc would say...there are three rules to keeping marine fishes...patience, patience, and yep, you guessed it, patience.

4- Dont skimp out when it comes to buying things for the tank. Dont buy and tell yourself "I'll upgrade later when I have the money..." This is bad.

5- Have fun with it. It's a great (and addicting!) hobby. Enjoy it!

Some links for you to check out:

http://www.reefcentral.com

http://www.liveaquaria.com

http://www.marinedepot.com

http://www.marinedepotlive.com

http://www.oceansmotions.com

That should get you started. I bet I'll think of something else that I can add to this later. Good luck with everything, and please post again if you have more questions. Hope this helped!!!

-Ferret

EDIT: for spelling/grammar



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Last edited by Ferretfish at 28-Feb-2005 15:49

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Liana covered everything that you need to know to get started. Excellent response

We will be able to help you more if you let us know what kind of tank you want set up....then we can answer more specific questions that you may have.




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I think about you baby, and I dream about you all the time
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Thanks alot for the advises .
Here is waht ive accomplished already : got a tank bowl front 46 gal , , bought play sand from home depot ( altough i did rinse the sand 6 times , the water is marron like a pot of tea ... i have not added the salt since i am not sure if the sand is ok??? .. Please advise ) also got a dry/wet filter and protein skimmer by AMIRACLE ( is it good ? ) for up to 75 gal tanks ..... Now am i on the right track ?? please say yes lol