SW Nooby questions... by Eman :p

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#1
Feb 22, 2008
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0
#1
It's time for a taste of the salty side! :D
My 29g will be converted into a saltwater tank, once my 100g planted finishes cycling, and I can transfer all my fish over. I'll be selling the loads and loads of java moss I have to try to pay for a bit of the LR. :)

I have some questions I want to pass by. I want to make sure I start this off right, and don't spend loads of money upgrading like I did with FW tanks. :rolleyes:

Lighting

I have the freshwater version of this fixture

Coralife S/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light-30" at Big Al's Online

Can two of these fixtures support corals? Using 3 18watt 10,000K T5 bulbs and one actinic.

I've been looking at the following corals: zoas, mushrooms, ricordias, gsp, monti, caulastrea, torch coral. The only ones I'm set on keeping are zoas, mushrooms, ricordias and montis, maybe gsp. I want to make sure I have enough light for at least those corals.

Filtration & Circulation

I was thinking of getting between 40-50 lbs of live rock. Would that be too much? I suppose that's dependant on the porosity and sizes of the rock, right? I could play this part by ear.

I was considering using the Marineland HOT canister filter rated for a 55g that I have on the tank atm for circulation. It's pretty strong. I was also thinking of using an Aquaclear HOB filter for circulation and as a sump.

Substrate

I think I'm going to make this deep bed, 4" minimum, right?
I have between 250-300 lbs of play sand from my 100 and 20g tanks, is this OK to use, or should I not risk it and get aragonite instead?

Livestock

The corals were mentioned above, and the cleanup crew I'll worry about a bit later. I was thinking of getting a pair of clownfish and possibly a green clown goby. I'll wait and see what stock my LFS, and come back with an updated stocking list later; I've got a long while before I get to that point anyway. :rolleyes:
 

midmichman80

midmichman80

Large Fish
#2
May 30, 2008
292
0
0
Midland, MI
#2
Hi there, I too am coming over to the salty side of life and during my reading found that play sand and the like are not good in SW tanks. These sands contain silica and from my understanding you want something with a calcium carbonate base, like the argonite. I am by no means an expert, but have come across this in my research. Good luck with the transition.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#3
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#3
The preferred substrate material is aragonite or calcium carbonate based as this will minimally help buffer your water. Also it is the natural type of sand found on reefs. You can use play sand or silca based but some sources will lead you to believe that these may cause diatom blooms and other problems later down the road. I am not sure of the validity of these claims. Regardless I don't think I would reuse sand that was used in a freshwater tank unless you have some way to sterilize and clean it thoroughly and for all that work I would pick up a few 50lb bags of oolite/reef sand. Don't waste money on live sand as your rock will seed is fairly quickly.....
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#4
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
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0
#4
midmichman80 said:
Hi there, I too am coming over to the salty side of life and during my reading found that play sand and the like are not good in SW tanks. These sands contain silica and from my understanding you want something with a calcium carbonate base, like the argonite. I am by no means an expert, but have come across this in my research. Good luck with the transition.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's a quartz based play sand, so it's primarily SiO2.
I guess I'll just get the aragonite sand.


What about my lighting. Would that work, or should I try to find a fixture with 4X24watt 10,000K T5 fixture?
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#5
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#5
Welcome to the salty side!

Lighting: It should be enough for the corals you have listed. You'll need to have the higher-light corals up higher in the tank.

Filtration: I'd get rid of the Magnum. It will be a nitrate producer in saltwater, and only gives minimal flow compared with powerheads. The AC should be OK as a refugium. Get a couple of powerheads (Koralias are popular) to give you 10 to 20x flow (a total of 2900 to 5800 gph).

Substrate: I agree with others, you should get some aragonite.

Stocking: Sounds fine.
 

quaddity

quaddity

Large Fish
#6
Feb 25, 2007
641
0
0
Mesa, AZ
www.myspace.com
#6
I've always used play sand except a couple times but the diatom bloom is longer and nastier at the end of cycle when using play sand as it burns up any free silicates from the play sand. Unless you are on a budget you might as well use aragonite.

I wouldn't recommend a torch in a 29 gallon unless you devote a good amount of space to it because it will the sting any other coral it comes in contact with plus it sends out sweeper tentacles at night to serve up more punishment to the neighbors. I have been stung by mine as well.
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#7
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
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0
#7
I'll get a torch coral later on, whenever I get a bigger tank (I'm hoping once I finish with school, I can have 2 big tanks (100g), one FW planted, and one SW reef; I'm already halfway there :p).

So, I'll order the other light fixture and light bulbs, along with the powerheads and AC filter. I'll get the aragonite sand locally, along with a bucket of marine sand. That's step 1.

Step 2.... keep reading!

Thanks for the replies.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#8
Dec 1, 2003
1,830
0
0
36
Michigan
#8
All sounds good except for lighting. I would upgrade to HO T5 bulbs, those coralifes are fine for planted tanks and FO systems but a lot of corals dont do well under them. If you want to go T5, sunlight supply makes really nice Tek lights, there are some other less expensive HO T5 options out there as well.
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#9
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
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#9
Cool, I'll look into that some more. Luckily I put off ordering all that stuff for a week or two. I'm going to one of the several LFS around town to see what they have. I probably won't worry about lighting till sometime after summer. I'm going try to let my tank mature at least 6 months before adding corals.
 

supra1997

supra1997

Large Fish
#10
Feb 16, 2008
270
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43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#10
I too am setting up a 29gal SW tank as we speak (My 29 Gal Project). I bought the 30" Sunpod MH light. Its 150 watts and will handle anything I want to put into the tank. For your sake, you can get away with using a nice T5 HO light, but you may get the bug and want some different corals and such. So if your going to pay $200 or so for the T5 HO, you might as well get the 30" 150 watt MH I have.

Filters, no question, hands down, get the AquaC Remora hang on. That with the live rock will be more than sufficient for filtration. They are amazing machines and will run you anywhere from $120-$170 depending on which pump / model you choose. If you use a cannister, or anything else, you will just end up taking all of the components out of it to make it work with saltwater anyways, so it would be pointless.

Dont ever skimp on anything when it comes to Saltwater tanks. i used to own nothing but freshwater tanks. 125 gal, (2) 29 gal, (2) 10 gal, and a 2.5 gal, all stocked with amazing cichlids. Some skimping was ok and was more forgiving with FW. NOT WITH SW! Its too expensive to not do it right and plan it out to the fullest! So if your not looking to drop some serious dough, just stay with the FW. I hope to see a nice journal on here with pics if you do decide to go with SW! Good luck!
 

supra1997

supra1997

Large Fish
#12
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#12
I was worried about that too, but I spoke to some experts and they said that with the 150 watt I'm using, and the fact that it is a good 4-5" off of the tank, it shouldn't be an issue at all. I originally was going with the T5 HO, but I can do so much more with the MH. Clams, Anemone's, Frag's requiring high light, etc.
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#13
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
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0
#13
Hm.. Well, I'll definitely look into it then. The laundry room is next to my room, so when we do laundry, my room gets pretty hot, especially during our summers... If I have an open top, it should be able to release a lot of the heat though, right?

Where did you get your MH from?

EDIT: NVM, found the answer on your thread. :)
 

supra1997

supra1997

Large Fish
#14
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
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43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#14
I actually bought mine from a guy on craigslist for $150.00. So I saved a nice penny. But I was going to order it from here: Current Sunpod

Having the open top would release a ton of the hot air. Plus you can also buy a small clip on fan and have it blow the hot air out if you still need some heat release. I don't think this would be necessary, but you can test this and find out during the cycle period.
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#15
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#15
I'll probably keep it FOWLR for a while, and be on the lookout for a MH fixture from one of the local reef clubs. I'm going to browse some of the local reef forums and see if they have any good equipment for sale, before buying all new.
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#16
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#16
I think you will have issues with heat with a MH light. You'll definitely need a fan, but you may also need a chiller if the room isn't cool enough. Houston is humid enough that you'll get limited cooling from a fan. It's also going to make your room hotter.

As far as I know, you can grow anything with a good T5 HO setup that you can with MH, including SPS, clams and anemones. If you do decide to get T5, make sure you get one with individual reflectors (a reflector over each bulb).
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#17
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#17
I think you will have issues with heat with a MH light. You'll definitely need a fan, but you may also need a chiller if the room isn't cool enough. Houston is humid enough that you'll get limited cooling from a fan. It's also going to make your room hotter.

As far as I know, you can grow anything with a good T5 HO setup that you can with MH, including SPS, clams and anemones. If you do decide to get T5, make sure you get one with individual reflectors (a reflector over each bulb).
 

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emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#20
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#20
Lotus said:
I think you will have issues with heat with a MH light. You'll definitely need a fan, but you may also need a chiller if the room isn't cool enough. Houston is humid enough that you'll get limited cooling from a fan. It's also going to make your room hotter.

As far as I know, you can grow anything with a good T5 HO setup that you can with MH, including SPS, clams and anemones. If you do decide to get T5, make sure you get one with individual reflectors (a reflector over each bulb).
Click to expand...

We had over 90% humidity earlier this week... fans usually don't cool the house very much during the summer either, so I'm not sure that it would do much for an aquarium.

I like that T5's use less electricity; although I pay the light bill, so I shouldn't get complaints from the parental :rolleyes:.

Lighting is the last thing I'll worry about, I'll post what I decide later on.

BTW... should I make this the journal for the tank... or should I continue to use the other one to show the transition from FW planted to SW reef?
 

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