First FOWLR Setup

[mfdrookie516]

Hey guys, thanks to my wife, there is a good possibility that i'm getting some free lr today off craigslist. This is the only reason I have not set up a sw tank yet, because the stuff is so expensive around here. I've wanted to for quite some time though! Included with the rock is some sand, crabs (including hermits) and snails. They have some buckets of base rock along with some (unknown quantity) live rock (hey, whose complaining?). I figured I would start small (i know, smaller is harder... only have 10g's until i take the plunge on my 150g) so i'm going to start with it. I dont plan on any fish for a while, maybe a goby or clown of some sort eventually. I dont guess im going to have any mechanical filtration on the tank, just a powerhead or two to push the water around. I've been planning this for a very long time, I just havent had the opportunity to follow through with it until now. I'm going to wait for corals until later down the road since i dont have the lighting necessary (or the funds to purchase any), and I just wanna kinda get my feet wet with it here. I've already read most all of the commonly referenced articles and have a pretty good idea of what to expect (be expecting some i.d. pictures though), but any tips from people who have switched from fw to sw would be great. I hope to have some pictures up tonight (assuming they follow through and give them to me). Anything I'm missing?

 

[Zer0]

Sweet! Welcome to the salty side! Sounds like you know what you want to do also, so that's a plus when it comes to saltwater. Starting with fowlr is definitely a good start if you don't want to, or don't have the funds to step up to reef. It will give you a nice glance in to what will be expected further down the road when/if you do convert to reef.

I also think a 10G is a nice place to start. Only advice i could give for a tank that size, is just keep up with your weekly PWC's and you'll be fine. Only other thing is that if you don't have a lid covering the tank, evaporation is going to be nuts, so just make sure you are on top of your top offs.

Good Luck! Look forward to seeing some pictures!

 

[David S]

Wellcome to the club,I would definately advise on a lid for your tank not just for evaporation but alot of salt water fish will jump out of the tank,if poss i would advise on maybe adding a small sump/refugium to add some water volume to your tank and to add to filtering.

keep reading and asking questions as we all need advice

good Luck

david

 

[melosu58]

I`m the opposite as I dont suggest glass tops. There are some times when you need a top, not always but I always suggest a netting or eggcrate. Glass tops promote poor gas exchange at the surface causing low PH problems. As far as your tank size it can be done but it will require much dilligence. More water volume is more forgiving when problems arise. Smaller tanks are less forgiving. But with some dilligence it can come together.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've got a lid, but i hadnt planned on using it. I've experienced the ph problems with my fw tanks, and i know its a bad idea if avoidable. It'll be next to the kitchen sink (sorry i plan on using tap for now at least ) so topping off wont be too bad.

 

[Zer0]

Sounds good, i was just mentioning a lid to stop evaporation since it will be wild on a 10G.. but you know.. it's going to be pretty ruthless in that tank if your using tap water.

 

[Aquarium1]

I have an RO filter if you ever wanted to come over and get some water although for some reason the pH is like 6.4

 

[Flake]

Yay rookie! Bout time

 

[Etunes]

You trater

 

[mfdrookie516]

Just got back from getting my rock. I got a 5 gallon bucket full of live rock (probably around 30lbs, just estimating) and a 6 gallon bucket of base rock. I got smaller pieces, so the buckets were pretty full. The guy had a 125g tank packed full but since an ice storm we had last year, he's let it go. It had algae and aiptasia everywhere!!!!!!! But, i got a hermit crab and who knows whats in the tank. The good news, the guy paid nothing for his tank, and if he cant sell it, may give it to me. He also has a 6' light with 8 39w actinics and 3 175w MH lights he offered me for $350. So i may get a free tank out of the deal too? I got 15lbs of dry aragonite sand and am in the process of setting up the tank now. I'll have pics soon. I have a feeling im starting the hard way here!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Ok, get ready to cry. I'm almost embarassed to show these. The rock is just nasty looking, the tank is all cloudy, and there are these things (the guy said they're corals, they dont look like aiptasia to me. Maybe you guys will know. So anyways, $0 later, here they are...

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

Kenya tree or a similar soft coral. Most likely Kenya tree based on color. They are corals though. Aside, if that rocks nasty, i paid a good bit for the nastiest rock ever.

 

[Flake]

Looks like really gooey xenia to me. Take the rocks and scrub off all the algae and look give the tank a quick rinse and reassemble. It's too early to get discouraged.

 

[mfdrookie516]

not discouraged, just kinda embarassed after seeing all of your guys tanks. But, gotta start somewhere, right? Next step will be a bigger tank with good lighting. I've got a 15w bulb over this one, which is fine, i guess we'll see what the kenya tree/gooey xenia feels about it (im not going to cry if it doesnt make it since i'm not trying to keep corals yet anyways). And once the water clears up, you'll see a significant improvement on the rock. I took a toothbrush to them before putting them in the tank

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

You will want a reef soon enough. Just wait for it. Anyways, join a local reef forum and see if they have any big meets with sponsors comming. Im going to one at the Mohegan sun next week and like Brass in october, prices will be lower than wholesale.

 

[SnowZz]

You trater

ahahaha , fresh water is good and games but you wanna put your foot in the big leagues eh? yep give it time, reef fever is contaigious. Soon as i can figure out how to turn this room into a tank ill let you know how to cure it

 

[Zer0]

Dont worry.. the liverock i recieved from drs.fosterandsmith was 10x worse than what i see in those pictures. I also agree with Flake.. looks like some bruised-up Xenia to me.

 

[SnowZz]

yea i dont see anything major on those rocks, nothing a snail or 2 cant fix. Hey you even got something free out free it looks like with that coral

 

[Mitchell0605]

Nice Jonathan. For free, that's not bad rock. Also if he's offering you a 120G tank, and lights including T5's and MH's for $350, buy it! MH's alone cost upwards of $600.

 

[mfdrookie516]

This light costs upwards of $1000! This is the one he has Coralife Aqualight Pro, HQI MH Lamp + PC + Lunar LED ... i guess i had it wrong lol.

So a question for you guys. I've got a canister that i just put on my 150g, i've been thinking about cleaning it out and running it on this tank. Its an eheim 2224 and i actually ran it on a 10g that i had set up to soak some rocks in and it didnt seem like it was entirely too much flow (not at all compared to the maxijet 1200 in the tank right now ), i know everybody screams that they're nitrate factories, which isnt as big of a deal in a fowlr setup, and i clean my canisters weekly, so what do you think? good idea? I think it would help alot since i dont have the money to spend on good powerheads and it has a spray bar which would do a pretty good job spreading out the flow. Opinions?