New to the forum and to salt

[chris_w]

Hi everyone!

Just a small introduction to start out. Im new to the forum, just registered today. Ive kept freshwater tanks for years, with all different types of fish and plants. I currently keep and breed discus, angels, and rams.

Last week, I picked up a tank from someone who was moving and couldnt take it with them. Its a 29 gallon tank, hood and stand. It came with an overflow box and a large sump, looks to be pretty big for a 29. Its footprint is almost the exact same as the 29, it barely fits in the stand. The sump came with a skimmer and 2 pumps, one for the skimmer and 1 for the return. The hood has 2 mounted lights, they look like compact florescents and each is a little smaller than a textbook. On top of all that, the setup came with a large rubbermaid full of goodies, heaters, powerheads, spare bulbs for the lights, test kits, and tons more. All in all a pretty good deal for $125 :thumbs:

Now for the questions!

1. I use pool filter sand on my freshwater tanks, can I use it in my saltwater tank? Its pure quartz. Ive read mixed reviews on doing this, so if anyone has any actual experience your input would be greatly appreciated.

2. I plan on making this a reef tank, maybe 1-2 fish tops. Are my lights sufficient for coral?


Im sure Ill come up with more questions as I start setting this up, it will be filled with RO tomorrow. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Nice to meet you all.


Chris

 

[hackman72]

In regards to the sand. Though I've never used it before myself, I've been told that play sand can be used without leaching any harmful substances back into the water. As far as pool sand is goes, I might tend to staw away from using that as it's "pure" quartz and the play sand is a silicate base. I used to work in a rock quarry and there are tons of things found in quartz including traces of metals. Quartz cracks readily when it cools and the molten metals push into the cracks and fill the voids...gold, silver, platinum, COPPER, iron and the list goes on. I stress copper as it is lethel to most inverts in even small quantities.

 

[hackman72]

sorry...lol...and welcome to the club

 

[nanonano]

Sounds like a great deal. Welcome to ARC!

Is it an AIO?

 

[ricksconnected]

welcome to the darkside.
my suggestion is to go get a book titled
the conscientious marine aquarist by robert m fenner.
this book will take a lot of the guess work out of the hobby
for you as a beginner. sure wish i had it when i got started.
it would have saved me a fortune in mistakes and cash.
jenn has them in stock usually.
shes one of our sponsors.
at the top of the page here theres a link
"visit our sponsors". click on it and look for imagine ocean.
shes owner of the place and a good friend to have.
go meet her and ask for the book.
she has yrs of experience in this hobby.
if she cant answer your question she can get the answers.

 

[brisco15]

she can answer almost everything saved me from a crash 2 years

 

[toeside]

Welcome Chris!

The compact fluorescents will get you started. There are quite a number of "soft" corals that will grow nicely under those. Frogspawn, xenia, star polyps, ricordia, mushrooms, Kenya tree, zoanthids, etc. You'll likely want to get new bulbs. With two lamps, maybe one 10000K white, and one actinic (blue 420 - 460nm).

 

[hhughes]

Welcome You're in good company here.

 

[chris_w]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

toeside;475792 wrote: Welcome Chris!

The compact fluorescents will get you started. There are quite a number of "soft" corals that will grow nicely under those. Frogspawn, xenia, star polyps, ricordia, mushrooms, Kenya tree, zoanthids, etc. You'll likely want to get new bulbs. With two lamps, maybe one 10000K white, and one actinic (blue 420 - 460nm).

Will these work? The small bulb in each ballast is blue.

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NanoNano;475719 wrote: Sounds like a great deal. Welcome to ARC!

Is it an AIO?

If that means All In One, then no. Its a standard 29, I wish it was drilled!


I painted the back last night, Ill fill with RO today and take some more pics.

 

[jeffmuse]

Welcome Chris! I am like you and switched over from fresh water to salt, and I have LOVED the transition! My reef tank has been a great learning experience and a really fun project.

I am not sure about the sand, but as far as the lighting goes, you really have to decide what you are wanting to put in the tank first. I noticed that you are going to do a reef, so I would do some research on the different corals that you are wanting to go with... this will determine the type of lighting that you will need. Here is a VERY general guide

Do you want
* Soft corals (Pollyps, Mushrooms) These do not have very demanding light requirements
* LPS - (Torches, Candy Canes, Bubble Corals, Frog Spawn, Hammers) These will require more moderate lighting
* SPS - (Stony Corals - Akans) These require pretty intense lighting

If you are going with lower lighting, you can probably go with some VHO lights or power compacts. If you are interested in a little more intense lighting you could probably do a nice T-5 setup... I think that this would work really well for a 29 gallon tank.

Just some ideas. Once again, welcome to the club!

 

[chris_w]

JeffMuse;475828 wrote: Welcome Chris! I am like you and switched over from fresh water to salt, and I have LOVED the transition! My reef tank has been a great learning experience and a really fun project.

I am not sure about the sand, but as far as the lighting goes, you really have to decide what you are wanting to put in the tank first. I noticed that you are going to do a reef, so I would do some research on the different corals that you are wanting to go with... this will determine the type of lighting that you will need. Here is a VERY general guide

Do you want
* Soft corals (Pollyps, Mushrooms) These do not have very demanding light requirements
* LPS - (Torches, Candy Canes, Bubble Corals, Frog Spawn, Hammers) These will require more moderate lighting
* SPS - (Stony Corals - Akans) These require pretty intense lighting

If you are going with lower lighting, you can probably go with some VHO lights or power compacts. If you are interested in a little more intense lighting you could probably do a nice T-5 setup... I think that this would work really well for a 29 gallon tank.

Just some ideas. Once again, welcome to the club!

Will my current lights work for SPS? If not, could I get better bulbs for them to accomodate SPS? I didnt plan on going for any LPS.



So I went ahead and got a bag of live Aragonite and decided not to chance the pool filter sand. I put down egg crate in the bottom of the tank, poured in the aragonite sand, and filled it with salted RO. It only took me 3 tries to get my timing down with the overflow box and water :lol2:I hope salt water comes out of carpet! Heres what I ended up with:

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Any idea how long it will take to clear up?

 

[tnyga]

Your current lights will not be enough for SPS....Best of luck and welcome

 

[chris_w]

tnyga;475946 wrote: Your current lights will not be enough for SPS....Best of luck and welcome

Can I get better bulbs? if not, Ive still got some room in the hood for another light of some type, maybe a single long one? I dunno

 

[nanonano]

Chris_W;475821 wrote: Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!



Will these work? The small bulb in each ballast is blue.

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If that means All In One, then no. Its a standard 29, I wish it was drilled!


I painted the back last night, Ill fill with RO today and take some more pics.

Yeah was wondering if it was a biocube or something like that.

 

[nanonano]

I'll think you will need more than a single long one if you want SPS. Even if not you will probably want something stronger.

 

[chris_w]

Is there a better bulb I can get for this?

 

[chris_w]

Minor setback.

A few hours ago I found the overflow box was leaking from its bottom bulkhead fitting. I stopped the pumps and hit it with a generous portion of silicone and put a fan on it. It should be good to go by the morning. At least I found out before I started stocking it!

 

[chris_w]

blu_devl_06;476309 wrote: Better fixture? yes....I use t5's over my 40B and have lots of coral of all kinds...

I mean for my current fixture, can it be upgraded?

 

[toeside]

Chris_W;476313 wrote: I mean for my current fixture, can it be upgraded?

Not really. Other lighting technologies use different ballasts and different styles of connectors. It would be easier and more cost-effective just to replace the fixtures.

I use power compacts on my 10g, and I'm pretty happy with it, but I never intended to grow SPS corals. If I had it to do over, I would've gone T5HO.

Soft corals are more forgiving of problems than SPS, and cost less to purchase. Maybe just keep what you have while you learn and gain experience. Then later, you can make an informed decision about the livestock you want to keep and the lighting it requires.

 

[chris_w]

toeside;476342 wrote: Not really. Other lighting technologies use different ballasts and different styles of connectors. It would be easier and more cost-effective just to replace the fixtures.

I use power compacts on my 10g, and I'm pretty happy with it, but I never intended to grow SPS corals. If I had it to do over, I would've gone T5HO.

Soft corals are more forgiving of problems than SPS, and cost less to purchase. Maybe just keep what you have while you learn and gain experience. Then later, you can make an informed decision about the livestock you want to keep and the lighting it requires.

Toeside, your reply was exactly what I was looking for. Im not against spending money by any means, I was just trying to figure out if I could upgrade my current setup or if I needed to get something completely new. Thank you very much for being specific!