Newbie!

[theryzer]

Hey Everybody

My cousin is getting a 55 gallon for christmas and I would be Able to sell him my fish in my 29 gallon and i was considering making that 29 gallon a fowlr tank. the only hardware im running on it currently is a penguin Bio-wheel 200 (without the wheel) and a large sponge filter and a 100 watt heater. I understand that marine tanks need a higher PH mine sits around nuetral so how would i manage to bump it up? and i also want to ask what other hardware i need. i dont have room for a sump but i think i would need a powerhead or two? and a skimmer? totally new to this

thanks!

 

[lljdma06]

Hey Everybody

My cousin is getting a 55 gallon for christmas and I would be Able to sell him my fish in my 29 gallon and i was considering making that 29 gallon a fowlr tank. the only hardware im running on it currently is a penguin Bio-wheel 200 (without the wheel) and a large sponge filter and a 100 watt heater. I understand that marine tanks need a higher PH mine sits around nuetral so how would i manage to bump it up? and i also want to ask what other hardware i need. i dont have room for a sump but i think i would need a powerhead or two? and a skimmer? totally new to this

thanks!

I wouldn't use the same water, nor would I consider just bumping up your ph. You need the following equipment

1. refractometer
2. A source for RO/DI water (can be lfs, grocery, RO/DI unit)

or

2. A source of SW (lfs)
3. Saltmix
4. test kits (Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, high end pH)
5. Powerheads 20x turnover, do this with 2 powerheads
6. heater
7. swap out your light to a 50/50 or one that's suited to Marine
8. between 30-60lbs of LR depending on how porous it is.
9. Substrate is optional, I like the look of sand, others go bare bottom with their Marine tanks. Unless you plan on going with a Deep sand bed for either filtering purposes or organism purposes, you don't need much substrate, only about an inch.

Hope this helps a bit, I also recommend some reading. Get a book and have a good read.

L

 

[theryzer]

Thanks! i failed to mention i do have a light 10,000k flourescent. in terms of substrate, could i kill two birds with this one and get a crushed coral to help with my ph? I'm going to go buy some water from the store down the road and test it to see where it's at it might be higher, who knows!

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks! i failed to mention i do have a light 10,000k flourescent. in terms of substrate, could i kill two birds with this one and get a crushed coral to help with my ph? I'm going to go buy some water from the store down the road and test it to see where it's at it might be higher, who knows!

Don't buy crushed coral, it's too sharp for most gobies and blennies and other sand sifters. Aragonite sand will bugger the ph for you and it's a much finer grain. Unless you want a deep sand bed, don't have more than an inch or so of substrate.

10k is ok, but not the best for color, a 50/50 is better for both growth color. Usually it's 50% 10k and 50% actinic.