OneSlickNic
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello!
I have been keeping a 30 gal freshwater tank for the last 6 years. Unfortunately my cichlids had gotten to big for the tank and I transfered them to a buddies much larger tank. I now have a clean 30 gal tank and am ready to begin my first saltwater tank. I have been researching for the past month or so on these forums and understand the pitfalls of setting up this small of a tank without a sump set up. I am ready for the challenge and plan on taking it slow, and stocking it lightly.
I have a Marineland Penquin 150 cartridge filter and a sufficient heater. Here are a couple quick questions to get me started... Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
1. No that my tank is clean, do I add the salt or sand first? Does it matter? From what I have read, live sand, is not necessary. I plan on getting 20 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs dead rock next weekend, but want the water/sand up and running before hand.
2. Will my Penquin filter be sufficient to get my tank up and running? I understand that a protein skimmer is more important, and plan on getting one next weekend as well. Should I remove the carbon rocks from the filter cartridge for this SW tank?
3. Is R/O water required? or could I use tap and then a dechlorinator solution? Is there a difference between fw dechlorinator and salt water? Where can I find R/O water? I've called a couple stores but they only sell the converters. Would the water stations at a suppermarket work?
Once again, thanks for your help. There will be many more questions to follow.
-Slick
I have been keeping a 30 gal freshwater tank for the last 6 years. Unfortunately my cichlids had gotten to big for the tank and I transfered them to a buddies much larger tank. I now have a clean 30 gal tank and am ready to begin my first saltwater tank. I have been researching for the past month or so on these forums and understand the pitfalls of setting up this small of a tank without a sump set up. I am ready for the challenge and plan on taking it slow, and stocking it lightly.
I have a Marineland Penquin 150 cartridge filter and a sufficient heater. Here are a couple quick questions to get me started... Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
1. No that my tank is clean, do I add the salt or sand first? Does it matter? From what I have read, live sand, is not necessary. I plan on getting 20 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs dead rock next weekend, but want the water/sand up and running before hand.
2. Will my Penquin filter be sufficient to get my tank up and running? I understand that a protein skimmer is more important, and plan on getting one next weekend as well. Should I remove the carbon rocks from the filter cartridge for this SW tank?
3. Is R/O water required? or could I use tap and then a dechlorinator solution? Is there a difference between fw dechlorinator and salt water? Where can I find R/O water? I've called a couple stores but they only sell the converters. Would the water stations at a suppermarket work?
Once again, thanks for your help. There will be many more questions to follow.
-Slick