New Sal****er

I'm thinking about converting a 55 that is currently frershwater into a
sal****er tank. No plans yet, it's just something in the back of my mind
-- is the process and cost prohibitive? Someone describe the process --
or is Junior's sig about having more money than brains right on? --Mark



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"Mark Stone" -DONTEMAIL wrote in message
...
| I'm thinking about converting a 55 that is currently frershwater
into a
| sal****er tank. No plans yet, it's just something in the back of my
mind
| -- is the process and cost prohibitive? Someone describe the
process --
| or is Junior's sig about having more money than brains right
on? --Mark
|

I'm not going to kid you, going "reef"** gets bloody damned
expensive...if you do it right. My main tank is a 75 gallon reef,
with about 110 gallons of total water volume with sumps included. I
have no idea how much money I've spent on it, but I'm sure it's close
to two thousand dollars over the last year and a half, and I still
feel like I've cut some corners. If you try to cut costs by buying
crappy equipment, not setting up a quarantine tank, stuff like that,
you're going to have SERIOUS troubles, you're not going to have fun,
and you're going to kill critters.
If you just want sal****er fish, called "FO"** or "fish-only",
you can get by much cheaper. You can get away with Normal Output
flourescent lights, for example.You still need to buy good equipment
in other areas, though. The protien skimmer, IMO, is the most
important item. Buy the best damn skimmer you can afford. I'm
serious. It should be physically painful when you buy the skimmer.
You will never regret it. Bio-filtration, IMO, is best accomplished
with the use of Live Rock. (FOWLR)** It can take care of the entire
biological filtration process, saving you work and money through
significantly reduced need for water changes (salt gets expensive) to
reduces nitrates. Again, don't buy cheap live rock. It's expensive,
for your 55gallon you're looking at 400 dollars or more, but cheap LR
can have parasites, unwanted pests like aiptasia, bryopsis, and very
little in the way of desireable organisms. "Getting a great deal" is
not often a great deal in this uh...hobby.
Research. Sign up at www.reefcentral.com , go to www.garf.org ,
and you may wish to start at http://faq.thekrib.com/sbegin.html .
Your LFS may be a good resource, but keep in mind, "buyer beware",
and that the person who's advice you're taking is, at the basics,
trying to sell you stuff.

Also, you may want to sub to rec.aquaria.marine.reefs as this
group is pretty dead most of the time.

Good luck, and there are no stupid questions. If you wonder about
something, it's probably been wondered about before, and someone
here, or at RF, or your LFS will have an answer. Possibly not the
right one, though. Much of what you will hear in the way of advice is
anecdotal. Meaning, it worked for this one guy under his
circumstances, but it may result in disaster for some other guy.
Read. Research. Think about your desicions. Discuss them with others.
Find and join a local reef club, if you can't find one, start one.

Welcome to the obssesion.

Billy

FYI:
Reef: Sal****er, with Live Rock, fish, corals, and likely
invertebrates
FO: Fish-Only. Just fish. Maybe a couple minor inverts.
FOWLR: Fish Only With Live Rock. Live rock, fish, probably some
inverts. No corals.