Hello, New to site

I just wanted to say hello, I am glad that I found this site. Very Informative.
I have decided to make the leap to saltwater. Being a beach rat myself it was only a matter of time. ;D I have a 100 gallon freshwater tank (6 years) that I will be converting to saltwater. I would like to have live rock, aenomones, clown fish. This is the only thing that I am sure of. Like I said I am new and learning, but once I get it figured out I will ad more items. I am reading this site and learning on the setups. I have two aquaclear 500 filters (which I probably won't be able to use) and two 30" lights with UV bulbs (17W ea). About 25 pieces of lava rock. Any suggestions on what to start up with for a 100 gallon would be appreciated. I just wanted to introduce myself and my situation and look forward to contributing more as soon as I can get setup. Thanks and I look forward to any advice, it is greatly appreciated.

 

I would say that it is indeed normal to crossover from freshwater to saltwater. Freshwater get's a bit boring after a while and the care saltwater requires is more challenging and in some aspects, easier to maintain than freshwater tanks. I, myself am gonna build an old 20g freshwater to a mini-reef pretty soon, as soon as money in my pocket allows it. It's expensive!

IMHO, I would dump all the freshwater equipment, filtration, decoration and lighting. If you are going with anemones, you need stronger light and room (which you have). Anemones are stingers, so if you plan to keep corals, you must limit yourself. Trust me, once you get yourself to an LFS and check out their enormous reefs, you will fall for corals. The symbiosis that the anemone and clown fish share are awesome, put that together with a full blown coral reef and you got yourself an outstanding tank to look at.

Get live sand, live rock and a I suggest you opt for the refugium rather than wet/dry as it is quite better. You will dose less and never have an ammonia spike.

 

I agree with rickzter ...the only thing that i just found out...from expirence that is...does anyone know where the idea of anemones stinging corals came from? i have alot of corals that come in contact with my rbta and they seem fine...im not sure if this is because the anemone is just used to them or what...anyone know?

anyway...lets see 100gals...well i would prolly go with some kind of mh fixture for lighting, just remember patience is a virtue

 

Thanks! I know that I have still alot of reading to do. I have done alot already and have already confused myself. Can any of you validate this: I have read that If you buy Live Rock and establish it with Lava rock that the Lava rock will somehow transfer to a live rock itself. Any truth to that?

Filters, skimmers, and all the acronyms are where my confusions lie. Like I said alot of reading yet to do. Thanks

 

Welcome to 3Reef!
I just started here myself last year and the folks here are great! Here's a thread on some of the acronyms used. Acronyms Link There used to be a full link devoted to acronyms, but the return of that link is still in the works since the site upgrade last summer (hint, hint Matt )

Enjoy!

Mike

 

Welcome to 3Reef!!!! Yes it's true about the live rock. I "seeded" my tank with about 50lbs of live rock and filled the rest up with "base" rock. Baisically dead live rock. It takes longer but it is definitley cheaper. With live rock going for about 8 dollars a pound around here, it gets expensive quickly. As for filtration I would dump the filters and go with a protein skimmer and sump application. Rickzter talked about a refugium. I have no expierence with them so I can't recommend one way or the other. I've heard alot of opinions going either way on that one. As for the rest of it I second and third the comments about corals. When I was originally planning my tank, I was thinking about having a few fish and a little bit of live rock. Now its a weekly trip to the LFS every thursday at 2:00 p.m. because thats when he gets his coral shipments in and I just can't wait to see what new coral has arrived this week. As Matt is fond of saying "Go slow, let it grow". Words to live by when dealing with a saltwater tank. Good luck.

 

Thanks! With the protien and sump combo do you recommend any certain brands or ones to stay away from? I am new to the Jacksonville, FL area and have found a couple of LFS that I like so far. Good to hear about the Live/Lava rock combo!

 

On the protein skimmers, I recommend searching the 3 Reef site and making your own decisions. They are plenty of threads on here about different skimmers and they're pros and cons. Honestly I only have expierence with the seaclone skimmers and can't comment on any of the other brands. I think blade runner messes with them quite a bit. Maybe he'll chime in with some info.


Eric