Converting Freshwater 25 Gallon to FOWLR...

[tankgrrl]

I'm converting my 25g fw aquarium to fish only sw. I have a Penguin 170 power filter now. I'm going to buy the RedSea Prizm protein skimmer with the upgrade kit for it, Arag-Alive sand, and live rock (I haven't decided on fish yet). I have two local fish stores and one said the Penguin+Prizm would by sufficient, while the other told me just the Prizm will do. What are your opinions? Also, I'm not sure how to go about converting. Can I leave the gravel that is there and pour sand over it? Do I start with the water and sand, and then add pieces of rock slowly, or all at once? Should I replace all the water, or just add salt? I think that's all the questions I have for now, sorry for so many of them! I just want to start out right.

 

[wayne]

You can use the penguin for water movement and somewhere to keep carbon, phosphate remover or whatever. Prizm should be ok for that size tank (I have one) but beware they are noisy and fiddly to setup. If you can get a second hand cpr bakpak off ebay that would be much queiter, a second hand remora is easier to use but equally noisy.
You can likely reuse your sand, but wash it hard beforehand to get out as much gunk as possible. Personally I would empty the tank, add all the water + kit and mix up the salt for a few days, put in the liverock, and add the sand a week later.
I have a thread on here about what I did with my last setup, and I would also strongly advise eading a good book, either Mike Palettas New MArine Aquarium or John Tullochs natural marine aquaria.

When you start thinking about fish, beware the aggression level of saltwater fish. Most everything is much tougher than fresh, so stocking isn't just about inches of fish, it's about territories. My clarks clowns are probably as aggressive as a pair of convicts, but rate up as moderately aggressive in salt terms.

Understock and go slow, and you'll be ok. And do your research

 

[Managuense]

i was going to add.....

the use of a lot of filter media (canister, wet-dry, some HOB's) can make it nearly impossible for you to keep your nitrates at the level you may want them...so i would probably just go with the best skimmer you can afford, as much live rock as possible, and something for movement.

aside from that, do what wayne said and read some credible books, magazines, internet sources, etc.

www.aqualink.com
www.aquariumadvice.com
www.reefaquariumguide.com
www.reefland.com
www.reeflounge.com
www.reefs.org
www.thereeftank.com
www.wetwebmedia.com

M

 

[aresgod]

i believe what wayne meant was to usethe penguin simply for water movement, i.e. remove filter media and floss ect...

 

[S.Reef]

I would the filter pads and floss for the first weeks of the tank...this way it removes the suspended detritus out of the tank.

 

[wayne]

Actually I'm not sure it's such a big deal with a small tank as water changes to control problems are not such a big deal. Two 2.5 gallon changes a week is hardly onerous, and will give you a 20% weekly change.
I agree nitrates are a problem, but at the start of the tank's setup (first 6 months) I'd be more scared of an ammonia spike than nitrate, so I'd likely keep them in as 'bio backup', and pull them after that.

 

[Managuense]

oh yeah, i was just meaning to add onto Wayne's post.....nothing more.

im really not much of a salty to be honest.
M