First SaltWater tank

[LIMentality420]

Hi, I'm setting up my first saltwater tank shortly. I been reading as much as I can find and i'm taking my time. I don't have much money to spend all at once. Right now I have a 55 gal. freshwater that I want to make Salt. I have 2 aqua clear powerheads with filter attachments, a bio wheel 400, a red sea protien skimmer. Would these be good enough for now for a fish only tank with live rock ? I have a 100 lbs of sand (not live). Would that be enough ? That would be roughly 3 inches of sand in the tank. I am also gonna be purchasing live rock every few days after the tanks running and before I purchase fish. The live rock will make the sand live ? I only have 75 watts of light. Would that be good at first for a fish only tank ? I will be eventually purchasing a 220 watt light strip. Appreciate all the help I could get....

 

[copi]

You have the right attitude: go slow!

Some will express concern over the biowheel: it can cause nitrates to accumulate. You can probably remove it -- if you have sufficient live rock, you'll have all of the biological filtration you need.

Yes, the live rock will seed the sand. You may consider adding 1 to 3" more of sand to create a "deep sand bed." You can do a search on this site for more info if you're not familiar with this concept. In short, deep sand allows anaerobic bacteria to grow, which will reduce nitrates.

As for lights: do you intend to have more than FOWLR? Any corals? For FO, any lights at all will do. If you only intend to have fish, you can save a lot of money by skipping the lights.

 

[AR15 guy]

I have talked to people about the lighting situation. Some say that LR will look pretty good with NO flourescents. Others say they will loose all color and turn dull. I have been running NO on my little bit of rock and it is fine so far. Besides being overtaken with algea. But my new blue leg hermits are taking care of that.

I would skip the lighting.

I have a bio-wheel 280 on my 38 gallon. No fish or anything yet. However about 3 years ago I had the tank setup with that filter, and a aquaclear 300. It did fine. I think I only had 2lbs of LR and then just some other dead rock. And CC substrate. That tank did very well. Maybe it was just stupidity?? I also used tap water 8O

 

[copi]

LR and fish do not require any special lighting. The biggest factor in maintaining the color of LR (the coraline) is proper calcium levels.

 

[LIMentality420]

Thanks...Has anyone tried to use tropical play sand ? I heard if you rinse it real good, it's fine. Most of the silica can be rinsed out.

 

[AR15 guy]

Some play sands are silic free so you do not have to worry about rinsing it.

I have been searching for some tropical play sand to use in my 38gal instead of CC. But I cannot find it anywhere.

 

[LIMentality420]

I got mine at Home Depot. It was 3.50 for a 50 lb. bag. I just went back and got another bag. It also says it is sanitized.

 

[AR15 guy]

What brand is it?

 

[LIMentality420]

Premium Grade PlaySand...

 

[AR15 guy]

Are you sure you can use that? Is it silica based?

I purchased a bag of pavestone play sand at a HD. I don't know if it will work. I only bought it because I was about an hour away from home and saw it. 2.50$ a bag so I just bought it in hopes it will work.

I have been searching everywhere for playsand that will work in my 38 gallon. My mom (yes I live at home) is getting tired of the 38 gallon having no fish or anything.

 

[cordodor]

Some will express concern over the biowheel: it can cause nitrates to accumulate. You can probably remove it -- if you have sufficient live rock, you'll have all of the biological filtration you need.

sorry to bring back an ancient thread, but is this the general consensus? I believe I have plenty of live rock in my 46 Bowfront, but also a large biowheel that the return feed passes water over on the way back to the sump.

Thanks for the info.

 

[lando]

Biowheels do a great job at converting NO2, not so great at converting NO3. However, as mentioned, with enough LR to handle the job things should be fine. My first reef tank was a 38 gal with an Emperor 400 on it. I left both biowheels on the filter and never had a problem with NO3. I also had over 2lbs/gal of LR and a live sand bed in the tank.