Wanting to start my first salt water aquarium

[j_randall1702]

I had a old 29 gallon, aquarium laying around the house and wanted to know if the aqua fin power filter I have for it would work (I know nothing about salt water aquariums. It is for up to 40 gallons. How do you turn freshwater into saltwater? And what kinds of fish would a 29 [acronym:692dde4ce2="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:692dde4ce2] hold, and how many? I aint decided wether to start a saltwater aquarium yet ot not. I have a 75 [acronym:692dde4ce2="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:692dde4ce2] cichlid tank now, but the whole saltwater thing might be out of my league.

[j_randall1702]

Also I have no way of getting [acronym:7e3fde3856="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:7e3fde3856] supplies except throught the internet. Anyone got any good sites for buying fish and supplies

[IworkatPSP]

Well, the filter will work for a little while, but I would recommend getting something a bit more saltwater oriented in the future.

To turn freshwater into saltwater you need to mix in some sort of synthetic salt such as instant ocean or oceanic. A Hydrometer is a necessity to measure your salinty and [acronym:4aef2a1ff6="Specific gravity"]SG[/acronym:4aef2a1ff6].

The different combinations of fish for a 29 would be endless, however, no big fish would work. You'd be limited to pygmy angels (maybe), damsels, clownfish, etc.

Saltwater does require pretty much constant attention, so be forwarned it is not for the casual fish hobbyist.

But all in all, welcome to the saltwater section and good luck.

[fishfreek]

To properly stock a 29 [acronym:77dda24ac3="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:77dda24ac3] tank you should limit yourself to no more than 4 small fish (2"-3" or less in finial size). Stocking capacity is much lower in [acronym:77dda24ac3="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] than in [acronym:77dda24ac3="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] due to a few reasons. 1) saltwater has less disolved oxygen so fish sufficate faster if they are in a heavily stocked tank and water flow is lost. 2) in the wild there is more room for fish to live and thus most [acronym:77dda24ac3="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] fish are fairly agressive in their nature.

Ideally for flitration you would go with a decent skimmer like an Aqua C Remora, 40-50lbs of live rock, 3-4" sand bed. Additional water movement should be provided by a few powerheads or you could use a sump and the return pump woudl provide the water current. A good starting point for water current should be 10 X the water capacity of the tank. So for a 29 [acronym:77dda24ac3="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:77dda24ac3] tank a minimum 300gph should be moving in the tank. The ocean currents are very strong so [acronym:77dda24ac3="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] fish are used to such movement and some require it for their well being.

If your serously looking into [acronym:77dda24ac3="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] a small investment to make now would be in a good book like The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta or The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner these books will be of great value when your in the intial stages of planning your tank or even figuring out if you are ready to take the dive.

Things you will need will include:
Saltmix
Hydromoter
Heater
Powerheads
Skimmer
Live rock
Sand
[acronym:77dda24ac3="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:77dda24ac3] test kits

[GoodFish]

A cheep website where i bout some this at, is Petsolutions.com
And another site is captivereefs.com and the other two are, aquaplumbers.com
and aquacrylics.com hope these help.....Shop around and research!!!! it will help

[Thumper]

Click on the sponsers page here at the top of the screen, great sites and they help support your free info your getting here and they have some of the best prices around,
My advice is read,read,read,read and read some more on sw. This is an expensive hobby and not one your want to get wrong because it's normally an expensive mistake, I know first hand.