Should I Convert To Saltwater?

[KawaiiFish]

So I have a Kent Marine Bio Reef that is currently set up as freshwater. I have most of the equipment for saltwater apart from a protein skimmer but iv no idea where to start? Also, not sure what to have in it if I did. I love oddball fish like puffers and eel etc and would like a few live rock or corals in there. Anyone help me out with starter advice or stock ideas?

 

[Donya]

How big is this tank? Have a look over some similarly-sized journals and see what others have done. It's better to plan what you want to keep well in advance. Be aware that many puffers and eels require quite a large system.

and would like a few live rock or corals in there.

Live rock is the filtration, so unless this tank is tiny it won't just be a few rocks that you'll need. The live rock is one of the larger setup expenses in most tanks.

 

[Xraymark]

Check out this months practical fishkeeping magazine. It has done quite a good overview of setting up a marine tank if your starting out.

 

[KawaiiFish]

Thanks for all the advice. Only thing putting me off is the fact that it will be a 20 gallon. Iv read that for beginners its best to start with a bigger tank than this in case you have any problems... I'm still researching what to do with this tank, I'd love to have marine but not if I should wait until I can afford a bigger tank..hmmm

 

[Donya]

Nanos are harder, although enough people do start with them. The main ingredients to success with a nano are research, patience, and avoiding impulse buys (which includes buys with the idea or hope of a larger tank that doesn't exist yet). You get less warning for a lot of water chemistry problems because of the decreased volume. For example, if an animal crawls off in a hole and dies where you can't find it, the negative water quality impact will be much greater in smaller volume.

You won't get an eel to fit in 20gal unfortunately if that really is the type of fish you want, at least not one of the eels that is sufficiently well-suited to aquarium life (even experts have a hard time getting the smaller eels like ribbons and gardens to feed in captivity). You might be able to get away with a very small puffer species, but that would have to be the only thing in the tank really. I have seen those kinds of tanks though, and puffers are very interactive fish so it's a bit like having a sw version of goldfish that is happy to see you when you walk in the room - not really what most people think of for marine, but has its perks. Most fish suited to nanos are more peaceful community things like gobies, blennies, and clowns. If aggressive fish are your main interest, a 40 or 50gal would open up your options a lot more.

 

[Mat.P]

i have exactly the same tank as you, (90l kent marine bio reef) this is your tank but my one has the skimmer fitted, its a lovely tank and if you choose sensibly you can have a really nice setup.

i have 2 clowns a gramma and a blue tang, then inverts 2 starfish a brittlestar 3 turbo snails 3 naserus snails a sea urchin, many corals and a pink tipped anemone, this has been running for 5 months although after reading about the success most people have i would skip the stars as they dont feed in captivity if you get the wrong species and half the lfs dont know the difference in my case i had a combination of a great lfs and luck.

i have been running sucessfully for 5 months so far with no loss of life, if your running stock setup then upgrade the heater to a 250watt (should just fit in the first compartment slanted) this will prevent the violent temperature swings that i got with the underpowered stock heater, and fit a better submersible pump to improve the flow and a power head.

other than these things the rest is personal preference really, also i would put a new set of power compacts in as they lose power over time and light is very important to a marine setup (assume you have 2 sets of pc lights and a 2 led strips, i run 1 daylight white and 1 split blue and pink.

Mat

 

[Donya]

i have exactly the same tank as you, (90l kent marine bio reef) this is your tank but my one has the skimmer fitted, its a lovely tank and if you choose sensibly you can have a really nice setup.

i have 2 clowns a gramma and a blue tang, then inverts 2 starfish a brittlestar 3 turbo snails 3 naserus snails a sea urchin, many corals and a pink tipped anemone, this has been running for 5 months although after reading about the success most people have i would skip the stars as they dont feed in captivity if you get the wrong species and half the lfs dont know the difference in my case i had a combination of a great lfs and luck.

i have been running sucessfully for 5 months so far with no loss of life, if your running stock setup then upgrade the heater to a 250watt (should just fit in the first compartment slanted) this will prevent the violent temperature swings that i got with the underpowered stock heater, and fit a better submersible pump to improve the flow and a power head.

other than these things the rest is personal preference really, also i would put a new set of power compacts in as they lose power over time and light is very important to a marine setup (assume you have 2 sets of pc lights and a 2 led strips, i run 1 daylight white and 1 split blue and pink.

While there are some good suggestions elsewhere in your post, tangs do NOT belong in nanos, yours included I'm afraid. One of your other threads demonstrates that all is not going well with that particular fish. Small tanks DO stress these fish.