What I need for conmverting fresh to salt.

[kevsawce]

Hey I am very new to this site, my first post. I am making my 30g tall and s/w tank. So far I got white sand and it says ok for freshwater and salt water. I'm getting a cascade 700. I got ebo jager 100w. And an airstone. I know i need protien skimmer some metal haiden light. But where is a good place to get these and also what else do I need to get or know about making a salt water tank?

 

[K-Holed]

Metal Haliode light's aren't strictly speaking necercarry, unless you have a very deep tank, or your light reqirements are very specalised. For your substrate I would recomend either coral chips or coral sand. This will act as a buffer for the water and stop the Ph fluctuating so much. Are you wanting to keep a fish only system or would you wan't invertabrates in there too? If so what invertabrates (corals, star fish,anenomes)?

 

[Navarre]

K-Holed has given sound advice.

I would not add the sand you have unless its Coral sand, aragonite etc. White sand or any other type of sand might be "suitable" but doesnt mean its beneficial.

Sand that gets placed into a tank doesnt just play a cosmetic role, as mentioned, its a good buffer to keep PH stable.
Alot of sand that is used (not specially for marine tanks) can contain silicate (childrens play sand is a good example). If you add sand with silicate in it then you will get enormous algea blooms, diatom grows and cyano outbreaks. Diatoms esecially will feed on silicates and if its in the sand then they have an almost endless supply so you simply will not get rid of this algea outbreak.

pay a little extra money and get the right sand, it will save you alot of headaches in the months ahead.

 

[kevsawce]

ok My tank is a 30g tall and I want to have 1-2 anemone(after few months) live rock and clown fish.

 

[impur]

If you have ever treated ick in that FW tank or used copper in any way for a treatment, i would advise against using that tank for your new SW tank.

Also, you will want to wait at least a year to get the anenome. Anenomes are not for the beginner, require good light and excellent water conditions. They will also travel around your tank stinging other corals in its path. They need to be introduced to a mature tank.

You can use silca sand, there are several large systems over at reefcentral that have silca sand. The ones i have seen and read about have been running with no excessive algae or diatom blooms for years, no problems. This has been a topic for a long time, and we are finding that silca sand really doesn't have that much to do with algae blooms. It is similar to the old saying that you can't keep a SW tank thats less than 40 gallons. Or that you must have a DSB to be successful.

 

[Navarre]

I agree with Impur that a nenny is not really good for the tank early on. They require specialist care, good water dquality and strong lighting.

Clowns will happily live in your tank without having a nenny in there. In fact Clowns will also find other hosts if a nenny is not present. I have amaroon clown that loves to "timeshare" a Sarcophyon and Gonoporia.

I have a pair of Comon clowns that are sowing great interes in some pulsing xenia i have in my tank (although they havent taken the plunge yet).

Seeing clowns wallowing in an anemone is a wonderful sight and one that people love to have in their ownliving rooms etc. The same effect can happen with various corals and these are far hardier than an anemone.

Whilst its true to a degree what Impur says that Silicate sand doesnt leech silicates back into the water and thus algea bloom wont happen. There are some cases that say that it does. Of course this might just be conicidence and the people blame the sand but i would choose not to take the risk (shame though cosi love the look of this sand ) ) Its also as mentioned a great buffer so using silicate sand would mean you are having one less backup for your stability in the tank.

 

[impur]

Whilst its true to a degree what Impur says that Silicate sand doesnt leech silicates back into the water and thus algea bloom wont happen. There are some cases that say that it does. Of course this might just be conicidence and the people blame the sand but i would choose not to take the risk (shame though cosi love the look of this sand ) ) Its also as mentioned a great buffer so using silicate sand would mean you are having one less backup for your stability in the tank.

Yes, good point. No buffering capability.