converting from tropical to saltwater?

[mitch86]

Hey,

ive had a tropical aquarium for about 3 years now.
just recently i wanted a salt water aqaurium.

just wanting to know what i would need to do to change from my current tropical setup to a salt water setup with an aproximate cost envolved?

the aquarium is 300 littres.

any help would be much apreciated,

thankyou,

mitch

 

[saltcreep1025]

That really depends on what type of tank you are going for, fish only or reef? Irregardless, you will need to get 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon of water which wouild be 80-120 pounds. That will be quite expensive at around 5 bucks/pound plus shipping if you get it off the web. You will need a protein skimmer which will be around 200 bucks. probably around 100 lbs of live sand or more if you want a DSB, maybe another 200 bucks. You will need test kits wich will probably be around 50-60, salt (50$), refractometer (50$), few powerheads (45$), heater (15$), and finally livestock (couple hundred more). So we are lookin at probably around 5-600 dollars before live rock which you can probably get a decent deal on if you look around the internet. You may also want to throw in a sump/refugeum (another 300 or so). These numbers are all just guesses by me so its probably off a bit. Good luck I hope I helped.

 

[mitch86]

i just wanted it so i could put 1 or 2 wobbegong sharks in there

i have a heater and a few water pumps with bio filters.and test kits.

so i need:

100 pounds live rock.
protein skimmer.
100 pounds of live sand.
salt
refractometer

with the sand and rock can i just use the stuff from the ocean?

 

[steve-s]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

A 75-80 gal tank is nowhere near suitable for this species. An animal with a potential adult size of upwards to 10 ft does not belong in a hobbyest tank, it should remain in the ocean.

Orectolobus maculatus

Cheers
Steve

 

[mitch86]

yeah?

just i went into the my local fish shop. and they had a tank of wobbegongs and port jackson sharks for sale in a tank that would of been roughly 90 gallons. and the looked awesome so i was interested to see if i could do the same.

well what about my idea of using actual beach sand and rocks from the ocean?
and if i cant have sharks. what sort of fish could recomend that would be suitable for my tank.

thanx,

mitch

 

[mjvincent]

You run the risks of contamination if you put beach sand in your tank. Most would recommend using store sand. Plus there are lots of restrictions regarding farming "rocks" and other items from the ocean. Check with your local authorities, I am pretty sure that Australia's regulations are pretty stiff too...

 

[steve-s]

and if i cant have sharks. what sort of fish could recomend that would be suitable for my tank.

Scan through this article....

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/SWCompatibility.php

It will help with compatability and various species vs. tank size. Just be mindful to stick close to the 1" of fish (less the tail) per 5 gal guideline depending on species.

Cheers
Steve

 

[mitch86]

thanx alot for your help guys. i did read that link its a good guide.

just like i said ive had a tropical setup for years and getting bored with it and wanted to try something new.

and this site is by far the most helpful that ive come accross even books cant answer the questions because the information from a book is all statistical and one sided.

cheers,

mitch