Saltwater questions?

[Paxdaddy]

I've only been in the fish hobby for about 6 months. Freshwater only. I love marine fish. But I have a few questions.

Can I have a marine tank and run it just like a fresh water tank? Same filters that kind of thing?

Do I need live rock and live sand? I know they are for biofiltration. Or could I do just live rock and another substrate?

Is upkeep expensive? Do I need a lot of additives and that sort of thing?
I'm asking these questions because I don't have a lot of money and freshwater is pretty cheap as far as upkeep.
Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Paxdaddy]

Can anyone help me out?

 

[Kickingfish]

On my way out the door but I will get back to you tonight and help you out.

 

[dwint]

depends on how big your tank is.salt is the only thing you will really have to add on your water changes.i have a 75 gallon and i change it every two weeks.so thats only 4 cups of salt for 8 gallons.a jug of salt cost me $23.00 so its not too bad.test kit is around $25.00 and will last a long time.you will need a thing to test your salt levels,i forgot the name but they dont cost much either.if you already have a fresh set up you probably already have a heater.my filters are $12.00 amonth.it all depends on the size of your tank

 

[Paxdaddy]

Thanks for the answers. What is a cheaper substrate than live sand that will work well? Do I have to use R/O water? Or can I use my well water?

 

[Paxdaddy]

I forgot to mention my tank is a 46 gal. Bow front. Can I use the hob filter I already have?

 

[Grizz]

Dont use well water,better to get a RO/DI unit or buy water. you can use your hob but you'll need to add a power head to increase flow. is this goin to be a FOWLR? or will you be adding corals? Coral will need upgraded lights. Lot of people use play sand, live sand is a ripoff IMO There's a few stickies at the top of this forum you may want to start there as there's tons of info

 

[Paxdaddy]

Dont use well water,better to get a RO/DI unit or buy water. you can use your hob but you'll need to add a power head to increase flow. is this goin to be a FOWLR? or will you be adding corals? Coral will need upgraded lights. Lot of people use play sand, live sand is a ripoff IMO There's a few stickies at the top of this forum you may want to start there as there's tons of info

Thanks a lot. It would be a FOWLR for sure. I would love to have a reef but I dot have a lot of money. Dont want to shell out the cash for lighting that would be good enough to support corals.

 

[joshpwolf]

Thanks for the answers. What is a cheaper substrate than live sand that will work well? Do I have to use R/O water? Or can I use my well water?

I used pool filter sand that I bought from my local pool store. I cleaned it very good and stuck it in. I have had no problems at all. It cost me $10 for 50 lb and that was plenty for my 75 gal.

 

[Paxdaddy]

I've also read that I can get some live rock use other rocks and the live rock will seed the other. What kind of rock would I use for that. Trying to get away with not spending a fortune on all live rock.

 

[Paxdaddy]

I used pool filter sand that I bought from my local pool store. I cleaned it very good and stuck it in. I have had no problems at all. It cost me $10 for 50 lb and that was plenty for my 75 gal.

That's the route I wanted to take. I just wasn't sure if you couldn't use certain. Substrates in saltwater.

 

[joshpwolf]

That's the route I wanted to take. I just wasn't sure if you couldn't use certain. Substrates in saltwater.

I havent had any problems. I did have diatoms but from what I have read any new tank will develope them until all silicates are gone. My only concern was that my goby wouldent be able to sift it, but he has no problem at all.

There is a web site u can get the baserock from cheap. This would be a rock u could add in with ur live rock. I will try to find the web site. And let u know

 

[joshpwolf]

Reefrocks.net is the site they have sand for sale there also cheap.

 

[Paxdaddy]

Reefrocks.net is the site they have sand for sale there also cheap.

Awesome! Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Paxdaddy]

So if I were to get 50 lbs. of rock from that site, how much live rock should I get to help seed it?and then would 40 pounds of sand be enough? They have what looks like would be good sand that I could get 40 pounds of just for shipping ($15)

 

[Paxdaddy]

So if I were to get 50 lbs. of rock from that site, how much live rock should I get to help seed it?and then would 40 pounds of sand be enough? They have what looks like would be good sand that I could get 40 pounds of just for shipping ($15)

It's Bahama aragonite sand (calcium carbonate)

 

[OscarFan76]

I ordered 50 lbs of base rock and got 50 lbs of sand for free at reef rocks. The rock is great. The sand has shells and stuff in it but still looks nice.

 

[Grizz]

40 lbs of sand will give you a 3/4 to 1 inch sand bed you can mix pool sand for deeper bed if you want. you can seed base rock (and your sand) with a cup of live sand from your LFS
some will give you a cup free, some may charge up to $5 for the same cup. or you can use as little as 1 lb of live rock. That's what i did i bought 100 lbs of base for a 90 gal. and one 1.5 pound piece of LR. to seed it.

 

[54seaweed]

theres plenty of places to get either base rock or live rock with free shipping
as for filter thats your rocks
just need a skimmer
and a good set of power heads