Thinking about starting a saltwater 30g?

[Exteremecheddar123]

Do you hVe a skimmer running on the 30? Because I feel that this is necessary because I feel I would be be able to keep up with it every week. At least if i have the skimmer, I can push it to every 2 weeks instead of per week & i thought live rock is necessary for the bacteria growth in the tank?

[BigRedsReefs10]

All rock becomes live is what I was saying. And just because you have a skimmer doesn't mean you shouldn't do wc's every week, in nano systems wc's are crucial as nutrients can build up quickly

[carey]

I didnt start off teh 29g with a skimmer, I went with water changes weekly. Its really not that bad, I had two 5g buckets and would use a small maxijet pump attached to some clear tubing to pump out 3g for each bucket. (Im a girl and 3g is all i can carry lol), into the bathtub it went and then i would put the same amount of fresh salted water back into the rinsed out buckets and pump it back in with the maxijet. Takes about 15 min or so max.

[Exteremecheddar123]

Good point. & what is the whole purpose of having live rock? For corals?

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by Exteremecheddar123

Good point. & what is the whole purpose of having live rock? For corals?

That's where all your bacteria live. It's like biomax in your aquaclear.

I'm converting a 30g bowfront aquarium from fresh to salt right now. My planned list is

HOB Skimmer (BH-100, Remora, or a bakpack)
2x Hydor Koralina 600 gph(I think) powerheads
1x Maxijet for mixing
X2 100W heater (1 tank, 1 mixing)
60lb sand (I want a deep sand bed)
30 lb dry rock
RO/DI unit

I plan on keeping all of that under 400$. Buying a lot of it used hopefully.

[Exteremecheddar123]

Lol we can be twins sillyfishies. how much water do you plan to change weekly? what is a maxijet? Are you going to use a hydrometer or a refractometer (if thats how its spelled). i have a cascade heater in the tank, what kind should i buy for the changes to heat up the water?
Carey, did the skimmer help at all in the tank? after you got the skimmer for the 29, did you do less frequent water changes? lol im prob gonna need RODI thing im not even gonna test my water ik there are going to be impurities in my water

[Exteremecheddar123]

Originally Posted by Sillyfishies

That's where all your bacteria live. It's like biomax in your aquaclear.


HOB Skimmer (BH-100, Remora, or a bakpack)
2x Hydor Koralina 600 gph(I think) powerheads
1x Maxijet for mixing
X2 100W heater (1 tank, 1 mixing)
60lb sand (I want a deep sand bed)
30 lb dry rock
RO/DI unit

You are buying 30lbs of dry rock? is that neccessary? how does the dry rock eventually become live rock? do you have to put in fish? or do you let it cycle?

[Sillyfishies]

All live rock is, is rock with bacteria on it. Live rock already has bacteria on it (you buy it straight from a tank). Eventually the dry rock will get bacteria on it and become live. So I will buy 30 pounds of dry "live" rock (same type of rock. Just dry).

A Maxijet is a cheap powerhead. It has multiple "modes". Which is nice so you can pump water AND circulate.

Any heater will do and I'm going to change 5 gallons a week with a refractometer.

I'm going to cycle it with either a shrimp from the grocery store or pure ammonia.

[Exteremecheddar123]

ok so, it really pays to get the dry rock because the bacteria will grow when you cycle it? so the 2 hydor koralina powerheads are for the tank and the maxijet is for mixing. whats filter did you have on the freshwater, i have aquaclear 50, you didnt say you were buying a filter ,so what media will you put in the filter? is 25 lbs of dry rock enough? cause i found the aquamaxx dry reef rocks on marinedepot.com for like $65. also i was looking into the protein skimmer, what company makes the BH-100. i was looking but could not find anything.

[Exteremecheddar123]

nvm about the bh-100 i found it and im pretty sold on it. for the powerheads, i was not sure about whether to get one hydor koralina nano 425 or 2 koralina nano 240. i was thinking about getting the 2 smaller ones cause there would be more flow at the top so more gaseous exchange.

[Exteremecheddar123]

oops koralia* not koralina

[Exteremecheddar123]

was researching about RO/DI systems from BRS and idk how to maintain them. do they have to be replaced like the 3 system things? or is it ok forever? how do i know when to replace it.

[Sillyfishies]

Double post - ignore

[Sillyfishies]

I am not using a filter. And for dry rock, I'd get the caribsea dry rock from dr. Foster and smith. 40 lbs for 83$. I would recommend at least 30 lbs.

You need to replace the RODI parts when your TDS (measured by a TDS meter) starts rising.

[Exteremecheddar123]

I really want to have a budget between 500-600 & i dont think its necessary to over buy on the rock, is there an option to buy just 30? & which power heads are you getting from hydor

[Exteremecheddar123]

So I have to buy this TDS meter,
What is considered high that I have to change parts of the RO/DI.
What parts of the RO/DI do I have to change.
How do i test TDS. From tank water? Or from water that jut went through RO/DI

[BigRedsReefs10]

Most units have an inline tds meter, and you want 0 tds

[Exteremecheddar123]

So when it gets to like 1-2 ppm, which part of Ro/di do i replace cause there are 3. Do I replace the resin thing or all of it? How long does it take for the TDS to go up

[Exteremecheddar123]

Sillyfishies, there is caribsea base rock on drs. foster & smith but also on marinedepot.com for $10 less. which should i trust?

[Exteremecheddar123]

is ro machines differnet from ro/di. do i have to get ro/di or can i get just ro.