I wanna do Salt Water

Hello,

I have wanted to do sal****er for a couple of years. After a recent
promotion I think I might actually be able to afford it. I was hoping to
get some ideas. I have an available 39 Gallon tank (Same footprint as a 29
just taller). I would like to use what I have simply because I want to see
how this goes before I sink to much money into it.

What I am thinking of doing is using the current tank to start out then
moving up in size when money permits. I would like to go to 90 or 120 then
I could use the current tank as a sump. I would love to hear suggestions on
the best way to go. Also your opinions of my "master plan" would be
appreciated. The only other specific that i would like to address is wether
my biowheel filtration will be enough.

Please list sites that would be good for doing some research on.

THANKS!!

James

wrote:

I have wanted to do sal****er for a couple of years. After a recent
promotion I think I might actually be able to afford it. I was hoping to
get some ideas. I have an available 39 Gallon tank (Same footprint as a 29
just taller). I would like to use what I have simply because I want to see
how this goes before I sink to much money into it.

Treat it as a 29 gallon tank for all practical purposes. The most important
aspect of marine tanks is the amount of surface area, so a tall tank is "bigger."

What I am thinking of doing is using the current tank to start out then
moving up in size when money permits. I would like to go to 90 or 120 then
I could use the current tank as a sump. I would love to hear suggestions on
the best way to go. Also your opinions of my "master plan" would be
appreciated. The only other specific that i would like to address is wether
my biowheel filtration will be enough.

To a certain extent, larger tanks require less work and are more successful than
smaller ones. Your filtration will be woefully inadequate, IMO.

You also should decide which way you want to take this. There are three basic
marine setups; fish-only, fish-only with live rock, and reef.

Having just read "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for
Successful Sal****er Hobbyists", by Robert M. Fenner, I would recommend that as
a good place to start researching. The old standard text used to be "The Marine
Aquarium in Theory and Practice", by Cliff Emmens. My copy is very dated, and I
don't know how up-to-date the latest edition is.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

George Patterson wrote:

Treat it as a 29 gallon tank for all practical purposes. The most
important aspect of marine tanks is the amount of surface area, so a
tall tank is "bigger."

That should have been "a tall tank is NOT bigger."

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

On 11-Sep-2006, George Patterson wrote:

To a certain extent, larger tanks require less work and are more
successful
than
smaller ones. Your filtration will be woefully inadequate, IMO.

From experience I can agree with the larger tank concept. My 120 freshwater
never had water quality issues....ever. Could you make a suggestion to a
more appropriate Filtration System?

You also should decide which way you want to take this. There are three
basic
marine setups; fish-only, fish-only with live rock, and reef.

Would it be realistic to go FOWLR with the option to upgrade to a reef?

Yes, Once your tank has cycled after starting the FOWLR, from there you can
pretty much do anything you want. After the tank cycles, add a few fish to
see how they adapt, then if you like, more fish or corals and anemones. The
foundation for a reef tank is LR, Get that started first.
I would suggest that you keep a log of everything you do to the tank for at
least 1 year. The log should state when you test the waters (date and time)
what the results were and also when you added what live stock to your tank.
The log is a good reference point should you have a problem down the line,
you can learn from any mistakes you may have made. Good luck


wrote in message
...

On 11-Sep-2006, George Patterson wrote:

To a certain extent, larger tanks require less work and are more
successful
than
smaller ones. Your filtration will be woefully inadequate, IMO.

From experience I can agree with the larger tank concept. My 120
freshwater
never had water quality issues....ever. Could you make a suggestion to a
more appropriate Filtration System?

You also should decide which way you want to take this. There are three
basic
marine setups; fish-only, fish-only with live rock, and reef.

Would it be realistic to go FOWLR with the option to upgrade to a reef?

wrote:

Could you make a suggestion to a
more appropriate Filtration System?

You need a good protein skimmer. The biowheel will be ok for the rest of the job.

Would it be realistic to go FOWLR with the option to upgrade to a reef?

Yes. But. Reef tanks require better lighting than FOWLR, so you're probably
going to be replacing those. Particulate matter filters are not desirable with
reef tanks, so the filter you are planning on now will have to come off (the
skimmer stays). Water circulation is more important with a reef tank, so you'll
be buying pumps or powerheads. Temperature range is more critical, so you may
need a chiller. Anticipating the move to reef, make sure the heaters you buy now
are precise. You will probably also want a refugium, and a tall tank such as
your 39 will not be ideal for that.

I'm gradually moving my 125 gallon FOWLR towards a reef tank as I can afford to
make the changes. I replaced the crushed coral substrate with sand a few eeks
ago. I'm increasing the amount of live rock from 70 pounds to at least 140 (I
just put in 30 pounds and will buy another 30 or 40 tomorrow if the nitrites
stay down). I just bought two magdrive 7 pumps to increase circulation (I still
have to do the plumbing for them). The existing skimmer will stay for the
moment, but I may upgrade that. My cannister filter will be retired as soon as I
get the magdrives working.

I have plans to build a new stand with a custom hood for improved lighting. I'll
be going to high-intensity fluorescents with an actinic strip. That's months
away at the moment.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

wrote:
On 11-Sep-2006, George Patterson wrote:


To a certain extent, larger tanks require less work and are more
successful
than
smaller ones. Your filtration will be woefully inadequate, IMO.


From experience I can agree with the larger tank concept. My 120 freshwater
never had water quality issues....ever. Could you make a suggestion to a
more appropriate Filtration System?


Live rock certainly counts as filtration, believe it or not. Some of us
depend on it as our primary biolgocal filter (circulate water all over
the rock using power heads)

It's also standard to have a protein skimmer on the tank. Pretty
important item, IMO.

There are plenty of setups out there where the ONLy filtration is live
rock and a skimmer. These tend to be reef systems, however.

You also should decide which way you want to take this. There are three
basic
marine setups; fish-only, fish-only with live rock, and reef.


Would it be realistic to go FOWLR with the option to upgrade to a reef?

Yes. I always advocate live rock. Upgrading to a reef if you start with
a live rock setup would mostly just entail upgrading your lighting and
adding reef livestock.

There *IS* sort of a halfway step between full blown reef and fish only
with live rock - I call it "fish with hardy invertebrates" - for
instance fish, with live rock, and some stuff like maybe some blue leg
hermit crabs and cerith snails to eat up all the deritus and algae that
accumulates. As time goes on, maybe add some cnidarians (ie: soft
corals) that do not have high lighting needs.

hi---
I`m as new as you are. The people on this newsgroup have been great.
The guys at Marine Depot made sure I read ""Natural Reef Aquariums" by John
Tullock before I bought ANYTHING.
It really made me feel more comfortable about jumping into the Salt Water
thang. I was lucky---they had it at my Public Library.
To be honest---there`s almost TOO MUCH info out there---
but heres some places I found:

This site has just about everything in easy-to-read,step-by-step sections.
They will even send you a "Sal****er 101" daily lesson if you give them your
email address:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/

Another good Forum site:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/index....8a851906513476

These people are conservationist reef-keepers. They are proponents of making
your own Rock instead of harvesting it from the sea. There is a lot of real
interesting info he. they also sell live critter packages. They sound
like real experts:
http://www.garf.org/




wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have wanted to do sal****er for a couple of years. After a recent
promotion I think I might actually be able to afford it. I was hoping to
get some ideas. I have an available 39 Gallon tank (Same footprint as a
29
just taller). I would like to use what I have simply because I want to
see
how this goes before I sink to much money into it.

What I am thinking of doing is using the current tank to start out then
moving up in size when money permits. I would like to go to 90 or 120
then
I could use the current tank as a sump. I would love to hear suggestions
on
the best way to go. Also your opinions of my "master plan" would be
appreciated. The only other specific that i would like to address is
wether
my biowheel filtration will be enough.

Please list sites that would be good for doing some research on.

THANKS!!

James

On 11-Sep-2006, "StringerBell" wrote:

This site has just about everything in easy-to-read,step-by-step sections.
They will even send you a "Sal****er 101" daily lesson if you give them
your
email address:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/

Awesome Site!! I think it might even answer my filtration question.... =)