Please help..Not sure what to do now.

[yankeeslover]

As you probably been reading. I changed my 29 gallon freshwater to saltwater last week.. used 30 lbs of sand and 30 pounds of combination dry rock/live rock. tested water yesterday and already 20 ppm of nitrate.. I would assume im cycled at this point(not sure how after only a few days but maybe its from using alot of live rock from LFS).
Anyways heres my delima. i have been shopping for a hob protein skimmer.. most i find are around $150.00 or so.. Last night i found someone selling his 46 gallon bowfront with 40 lbs of liverock already and a remora c skimmer and a 36" coralife light with stand.. I am currently using a normal freshwater light. he is selling this all for $175.00. at that price i think im better off buying his stuff and it comes with the skimmer.. he says he upgraded to a 75 gallon..
My question is, is it worth it now to upgrade my new 29 gallon to a 46 gallon? will a 17 gallon make a difference in any stock? his LR is still in water and should be good to go, do i just use a combination of his LR and my LR and set it up however looks best? he also has two small clownfish that he is giving free.. two young ones that he purchased last month.. Also he is using crushed coral, i have heard sand is better.. how do i swap my sand for his coral? is this all worth it and possible? thank you..
BTW, i would turn around and sell my setup with whatever LR DR i have left over on craigslist..im sure i can recoop some money and maybe get $100.00 for my 29 gallon setup with liverock...

 

[RnBMum]

One thing that is worth mentioning (because I made this mistake myself), a bowfront tank tends to be deep. Width is a better option than depth, and I am mentally working out the logistics required to essentially swap my fresh and salt water tanks because the fresh (50 gal) is wider, shallower and has more "real estate".

Think it through, and I would be very surprised if your tank is fully cycled already...


Allison
Freshwater fish-head for more than 20 years now, but salt water newbie.

 

[yankeeslover]

Is it worth the hassle of swapping the 29 for 46?

its about one hour trip each way. im just afraid that mine is already almost ready.. if it doesnt make a difference stocking wise then im better off just keeping mine and waiting for a skimmer that i want to go on sale. I already have mine setup the way i like it but was thinking his setup comes with a nice light compared to my light and comes with skimmer.. but not really sure if its worth it to swap everything out to gain 17 gallons of water...is that a big difference in adding fish? I only want a couple clownfish and maybe couple other small fish.. maybe 5 total fish and some small hermit crabs for clean up crew..

 

[Hugo_Lopez]

At that price it is definitely worth it depending on how good condition his items are,but I would definitely buy it even if u don't change tanks yet,it's always better to start big because in the long run you are going to want or need a bigger setup.I doubt your tank is cycled even if you added allot of rock,as far as the other rock you could added to your already setup if you don't have livestock and let it cycle together ,I would go bigger now,let it cycle with all the rock,sand andcrushed coral together,you don't need his light yet until you decide to add coral but even then you might need better light,you don't need the summer just yet.But I would definitely buy it, just rock is probably that price on line.

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[Hugo_Lopez]

I meant you don't need the skimmer yet

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[Reefer James]

So I can actually weigh in on this. I have been running a 20g Saltwater reef with hard corals that are pretty sweet. For background, I work in the industry and have experience with dozens of skimmers every month hands on in client's homes, businesses, and others.

The light fixture alone is worth it in my opinion. It is 36" inches which means you can use quality bulbs. Sometimes coralife will have a 30" fixture or weird size that they only sell the bulbs for. For this one you can use bulbs like ATI.

The reason I said I could weigh in on this is because I just put that exact same protein skimmer on my tank THIS EVENING... My boss told me if I could fix his aunts Aquaeuro I could have the Remora he replaced it with. He didn't realize you can slide the divers out of the Aquaeruo and I could easily get the pump out hahaha. Anyway, the skimmer is sweet! It's a nice design that doesn't require the pump to inject air. I like this because it means, because of the design, it will never overflow.... I actually have a nice head. It is a small cylinder so it looks bigger, but it's still doing a lot for my tank right now.

This tank is in my room so I only run the skimmer during the day. It's loud for a bedroom. But it's not like it couldn't chill in living room.

I think for the fixture, skimmer, and fish for $175 you're getting a deal and he's asking a FAIR price. You both get away happy I think. Low ball him and say you can do $120 and just see what he says hahaha.