to be or not to be....Saltwater

[virus]

Hello all!

I am a big freshy, And im about to Acquire a 75 gallon tank with a light, gravel, heater, and Filter for free. I was thinking about putting Cichlids in it for Freshwater and a Thought ran across my mind.Saltwater, In have always Thought about doing it, and i was told go big for saltwater so i got a 75. A concern i have is that i want a Clean looking tank, im not into having all that Stuff covering the back of the tank i like everything to look nice and clean.Also i dont have alot of money at the present time, but i am a very patient person, so saving up to get a skimmer, etc is no problem. i need to know exactly what to get and how much it would cost me, i already know my biggest expence is going to be LR so scratch that out, adn i can wait for deals on ebay/aquabid so can anyone give me a rough estimate and a answer to the question above,

Sincerly
John Gallagher

P.S. thank you guys you have alll been so helpfull!!!

 

[lando]

Honestly, if you have already dismissed the use of LR I would skip the SW tank all together. IMO, it is the best thing you can do for a SW tank.

 

[flamingonhot]

you dont have to have lr if you want a fishonly tank.for me im kinda skipping it with my 60 but instead im buying 50 pounds of base rock(50 pounds) for 60 bux (including shipping) from thatpetplace.com and im gonna add a couple pounds of lr to it.

for an estimate for fish...expect most things to be about 20 bucks or more. unless you want damsels then itll be about 5 dollars.

 

[talloulou]

I think virus was saying that he already knows live rock is expensive so he doesn't need to be told about that......I didn't get that he was implying he definitely won't be using live rock, in fact I read it just the opposite....he will be using it and has already considered the cost factor involved. Now he wants to know about the other cost factors.

 

[virus]

well i mean i AM getting LR lol just i was saying i knew the price and i mean about the whole shebang i mean what else do i need, im not useing the gravel so i think im going sand cuz i want to have certain sepices. but i want to know what are the rest of the stuff i need IE Skimmer, sand, saltmixes and various olther items i might need cuz i would really love to do this!

 

[flamingonhot]

oh i thought you were saying you saw how expensive it was and werent going to get it then lol,

 

[coolchinchilla]

virus,

Check out www.garf.org. He shows how you can make your own aquarium live rocks out of argonite sand and portmans (found in HD). Or you can buy some of their "dead" rocks. Then you make the rocks live by adding what he calls "garf grunge" as a seed. Looks infinately cheaper than buying live or dead rock.

HTH.

 

[greenmaji]

How about a RO/DI unit.. I would strongly consider a nice sump (fuge or not) as well plus all the pluming that comes with it

 

[ellisz]

I think sumps are a great idea and benefit the tank greatly but they can be a bit overwhelming when money, equipment and interest are an issue. Start out with just the tank, LR, sand and some fish and see how it goes.

Downside is that if you do decide you want a sump later on, drilling won't be an option with water, etc. in the tank. It has been done but not by most. You almost have to make up your mind on how far you want to go before hand.

I had a FO tank for many years before I even knew what corals were. Just a plain 38 gal. tank. Once I found corals, it went downhill from there My setup has grown a bit ....

My point is to just think about what you want. It does not have to be complicated to work.

 

[afilter]

Virus,

The clean look and SW are not totally compatible. I manage to keep three sides of the glass clean, but would recommend letting the back go as all the stuff growing is healthy for the fish if it is the right kind of stuff.

A FOWLR might be the way to start. You can start with a variety of base rocks and then seed it with a smaller amount of LR. Technically, all rock becomes LR over time as bacteria and micro organisms start to grow on it. The LR you purchase just has a larger amount of the good stuff along with other organisms growing on it.

If you go this route patience and a small fish load will be critical as you tank matures.

I had my 75 gal set up with Africans and am so glad I made the switch back to SW.

Good luck,

 

[virus]

Ok thanky everyone for the info!!!!


Ok so this is what im getting at
To have a 75g saltwater tank this is what i should prefferably have
A Sump<------Can somone explain to me how this works or pics?
Live rock/baserock 150 pounds of it
Sand/ Live sand or Aragonite?
Powerheads
Light fish load (2 clowns?)
Fuge <------Whats that?
Heater (2-200 wat heaters)
Ro /Di Unit
Filtration<---- Waht kind?

and can anyone else tell me what i need and answer soma dese Q's?lol

 

[afilter]

virus,

Take a look at my signature. My tank is almost two years old and running great. Oh, ignore my fish load as I am temporally way overstocked. I will be moving out about 1/3 of my fish load this week.

As for a Sump/refuge they are nice if budget is not real tight, but not required. Same with an RO/DI unit unless you can afford it. I buy my RO water.

The rest is fairly accurate although you will not need to start out with that much rock. I personally used based rock and then seeded it with some live rock. All rock becomes live rock overtime it just may not have all the nice coralline growth right away which requires a lot of lighting to maintain anyway.

You mentioned a small fish load. I hope you do not plan to cycle with fish. Check out the article on the fishless cycle as well as the others on starting a SW tank.

HTH,

 

[virus]

ok thanks so how much will lighting run me? i am intrested in having corals, but as i dont know much i want to learn, and i dont have accses to a book from my local store, but i love online articles on the whole SW keeping, other then the articles anyone know any good sites for reserching or cool tank plans? thank you all

 

[afilter]

Sorry, corals are not my thing due to the lighting costs. Conventional wisdom is 3-5 WPG which can easily run $300-400 even with DIY projects. This is why I have stuck to FOWLR which has still been a lot of fun. Someday I am sure I will break down and get more lighting.

 

[virus]

well do you or anybody else have a good online site for Begging a SW tank?

 

[greenmaji]

I posted my best DIY CF/florescent lighting links to date here
its 2/3's of the way down the page.. HTH
edit- im considering doing a reef tank with my 75 as well virus..

 

[greenmaji]

by florescent I mean that the ballasts can be used on any florecent setup you could imagine pretty much.. VHO, T-5, T-5HO ect. ect. ect.. but I gave links to CF supplies like the best buy Ive found for CF bulbs.. I hope that clears things up..

 

[Kevin23]

virus,
i could already see that you will need to upgrade your filter to a bigger filter. i personally like canister filters because i am used to them and they are pretty easy to use/clean. i also have africans and it is not that much of a change over from them to saltwater.

 

[virus]

ok, that sounds cool

lets see, so what kinda canister do i use? Brand? ohh and if i do tank scrubbing on the front left right side could i keep the glass looking good and clear?