new to sw

[bminnow]

Hello all im new to this site, i have had fw aquariums all my life and the wife and kid have challenged me to try sw. They want finding nemo cast. I have been deaprately trying to talk them out of it as it will be me doing all the work. That being said i have aleays wanted to do sw but have never had the guts.
I have health issues so buget is limited but i do have a lot of extra stuff kicking around. The tank im thinking of using is a 40gal tall with hood.(used to breed salvinis). I have piles of hob filters and was thinking of using 2 wisper minis (with carbon), 1 aqua clear 40 (with foam floss and ceramic), then using a fluval max4 power head in tank (with bioballs and floss over top of balls)
I would like to jamb as much lr as possible and beach sand for substrate. I live on the shores of lake huron and we have really nice sand. I have used it in fw setups with great results it just takes alot of boiling. I am prepared for it to take a long time to cycle (6months or more is what i guess) bfore i can put any fish in.
I would like to work with what i have and doubt very much i can get away with this but im limited on space so sumps ect wont fit. I can afford a hob skimmer in a few months time when i sell off some convet and firemouth fry(its how i afford my hobby lol) water changes are not an issue as i have a strict rgime already.
I have stressed to the kid and wife that once the live rock is in and growing there will only be room for a clown and a small blue tang like fish and thats it. I do kinda want to try this but there is a little nagging feeling in the back of my head that say disaster.
Any thoughts additions opions ect... is closely listend to. Btw the tank im thinking of using is still in storage, im still in the R&D stage

 

[Jolee0722]

They cycle will take 4-6 weeks. Don't use bioballs are they are known as nitrate factories. Also, a blue tang needs at least a 180 gallon tank.

 

[bminnow]

Thanks for the post. So ceramic instead of bio balls in the power head? I figured the blue tang would be too big, but a bright blue small fish will make them happy. Maybee a blue coloured wrasse? Still researching fish. Thanks for the input

 

[bminnow]

What about my beach sand idea good or no?

 

[Mebbid]

The Nemo Tank Guide - Aquarium Advice

Coral and marlin are the best bets. Other than that there's not much you can keep in a 40g from the show.

Have you thought about other stocking options?

 

[Mightyreefer87]

Most of those fish wouldnt be compatible in the same tank anyways, I agree the clownfish and possibly a bicolor Blenny would be ok in a 40 gal

 

[bminnow]

Yes i have. They are insistant on the clown but other than that all options are open. I personally like wrasses but im keeping out of the selection for the most part as i have all my fw tanks so this will be for them. But i will NOT allow them to pick something that wont work and just die

 

[bminnow]

My main concern is the set up it self. I have never done sw before so im not sure if i well be beat before i even start if i go with filtration and substrate as mentioned above. I will stock fish to suite the tank and filtration. The family is prepared for that.

 

[Mebbid]

Start with 40 - 60 lbs of dry rock and probably 40 - 60 lbs of aragonite substrate. I don't believe it's legal to take beach sand and I wouldn't do it anyways regardless of how much boiling you would do. Salt water tanks can be very fragile and are too much of an investment to risk on something as minor as the substrate.

As far as filtration goes you don't need anything other than water flow and live rock for your tanks. If you want extra help you can run nitrate removal media in one of the HOB filters.

I would also suggest putting a 20g long refugium under your tank. It allows you to put all the equipment in the refugium, helps water quality, and lets you grow happy pod populations.

 

[Rmckoy]

I'm sorry to say but a blue tang ( dori ) will not last in that size of a tank .
As for substrate I'll recommend buying a bag of live sand ,
Not crushed coral .
Putting all the rocks you want ( min 1 lb / gallon )
And adding a ammonia source to start the cycle .
Seeing as you are going to cycle it anyways dry rock is cheaper .
If you want to rush it a little you could seed it with some live sand from a established tank .
I will highly recommend a skimmer ,
They say it's easier and parameters fluctuate less for a bigger tank .

By the way ,
Welcome to the forum .
Good luck and happy reefing .
Keep us posted with your progress .
Ask a lot of questions and patients is the salt water secret to success

 

[bminnow]

Yeah did a lil reasearch on tangs and realize they are too big which is not a big deal, i know i can find something else that will work. Heck id be happy with just a coral tank lol, i love corals. The skimmer i do plan on adding at a later date, its just a matter of affordability at the moment. Most extra cash goes to my meds at the moment. Is there any dyi skimmers that work? Im really handy. This is why it does not bother me if it take a little longer to cycle.
My beach sand idea came from the fact that i have acess to all i want in my back yard. I'used in my fw tanks with no desise or parasite problems, just got to boil the hell out of it. My thought processes on this is that boiling it should kill any parasites in it, and if in the off chance that something does survive boiling then the sw will kill it. It is comming from a fw lake after all. I dont know maybe im out to lunch on this point and tell me if i am.
I have read that your BB and pods will eventually migrate to your substrate eventually turning your sustrate to live sand. So i figured this would happen into beach sand to.
If im crazy pleaselet me know lol.
Just to reassure everyone this is not something im going to get going in the in the next few weeks. I feel i dont know any where near enough yet to get this going, im reading as much as i can. This aslo means that i ask a million questions lol.

 

[bminnow]

Oh yeah btw, thanks to all for all the input it is appreciated and sorry bout all the spelling mistakes lol. Im a terrible speller.