I have a 30 gal hex tank that i may be turning into marine system need some input.?

Question

I recently got a 30 gal hexagon tank and I'm considering using it for a marine tank. I havent had a marine tank in 8+ years and was wondering if any one had any tips or suggestions. right now it has a penguin filter but i do have a kotobuki canister filter available. I already have 2 other tanks, a 29 and 20 but they are both fresh coldwater tanks.

I'd like to have FOWLR tank. I'm not too into live sand myself but if that would work better that might me ok.

Answer 1

What kind of marine tank are you aiming for? Do you want fish only with live rock (FOWLR) or a nano reef tank? Because the tank is faily small I'd go with FOWLR to start, anyway. Treat it like a 20 gallon tank because that's what it is, really, in terms of width and depth - it's just taller.
You can use either of your filters. If you use your canister you can put a layer of bio balls and a layer of live rock rubble. In your penguin I would ditch the biowheel and just put in some live rock rubble.

On top of that, try to get a decent protein skimmer, or you'll get a protein film at the surface of the water.

Then you should get a good, submersible heater. Fluval tronics are great.

What type of lighting do you have at the moment? You may want to look into a coralife fixture or maybe the brand of tank has a retrofit kit for the hood. Anyway, you'll probably want to upgrade the lighting to support the live rock (LR) and fish.

Fill your tank with water that is appropriately salted with Instant Ocean (other brands of reef salt are fine - IO is just my preference).

You've got to decide if you want live sand or not. Live sand is more expensive. Personally, I'd get one pound of live rock and the rest just aragonite - then you can mix them and the live rock will "seed" the aragonite.

You should get a good 25-30 lbs of live rock (you may need less because your tank has less floor space than a regular 30 gallon). Don't waste money on buying cured LR, because any LR you buy will go through a curing process when you put in your tank. My personal preference is Fijian or Tonga (not the branch kind) - but that's just me. You can find LR online if your LFS is too high priced, but avoid getting it on e-bay unless they have a really good track record - E-bay LR usually comes dried out and dead.

Anyway, once that's set up, let your tank sit and cycle for a month. This will also be a good time to brush up on the basics, and re-read some books and online articles, and decide what fish you want.

Please remember to stock this tank lightly. I can't stress enough that a 30 gallon "hex" is not the same as a regular 30 gallon. Sorry to be a broken record if you know this already :)

Answer 2

I didn't know Zoe recently got a salt tank!

I am glad to hear you are going back to salt! Your canister filter isn't really needed on your hex tank. Danielle has really good advice and has the most knowledge along with copperhead with regards to salt water here.

Also, Instant ocean is fine as far as synthetic salt. However, you may want to think about using a real sea salt.

Answer 3

Many others know much more than me. One thing I can tell you, I had a 38G salt water and it was a lot more work than the larger tanks (90Gs, etc). The 38G can change parameters very quick and it took a lot of time to keep under control.

My only comment is, if you have a chance to start a little bigger, I would... Good luck!!

Answer 4

Congrad's for getting back into the salt water!

you don't need live sand hun. Only one of my tanks have live sand. You don't need a canister filter either. (Personally I don't care for them, but there are pleanty of people who do)

Are you still questioning starting the tank? I know it has been a while for you and salt, here is what I tell those who are setting up their salt tank:

First step for your tank is figuring out where you are going to put it. Remember with a salt water tank, you are going to have to leave room behind the tank for access, filters etc. About 8-12 inches. (This will also help to protect walls from salt evaporation. I'll explain later) Once you have that, we are ready to start.

Do you have a local fish store to trust? One that relies on good fish keeping and good advice to stay in business. Find one even if you have to drive a few miles out of your way. They can be a large asset when it comes to fish.

Do you have any ideas on what you might want to keep? Or is this a "we'll start with a blank canvas and see where it goes?" thing?

To start, a regular hood, no special lights will suffice for now. (until you see if this is what you really want to advance to)

To start, you do not NEED a skimmer. They are prefered but, my 30 gallon has never had a skimmer or power heads and still doesn't. I hate to use the word cheap, just less expensive. And you can still have a healthy tank.

A rear whisper filter designed for a 75 gallon tank will suffice for now. This will run around $50 at walmart of all places. Your best bet is to shop around. You can if you choose to go with a back pack filter which come preequiped with a protein skimmer for around $150.00. This could save time and money later when upgrading.

For a beginner, I would suggest dolomite (Crushed coral) for the bottom of your tank (Easier to care for). If you are not going to be runninga protein skimmer, this will make cleaning much easier. You will also want to get a gravel siphon for cleaning (these can range from a couple of bucks to upwards of $50. You don't need anything fancy, just a siphon). A heater is a must $10-15), thermometer $1.95 In the tank only a floater of one that attaches doesn't matter. It should be placed the farthest from your heater as possible.) A hydrometer These can run from a few dollars and up. Just a floating hydrometer is fine. around $4.00. Some packages of salt you will purchase sometimes come with a hydrometer, so this may help. Instant Ocean makes a quality synthetic salt. ($22.00). (When you start moving up in the salt water I would suggest switching to Red Sea Salt.) Power heads are beneficial, but at this point not necessary. They can be added on at any time. Get a quality Dechlorinator. (DO NOT USE start right or stress coat in your marine tank) AquaNova + is a good dechlor and it also adds back trace minerals to the water. One or two 5 gallon buckets. $2.29 each at home depot.

Ok I think we are ready to start. Be sure your tank is clean. You can use a salt water mix to clean your tank. There is also an aquarium cleaner you can buy but for your tank, a mix of 1/2 cup of salt dissolved in a gallon of water will do. (no specifics here.) Clean the tank rinse and let's get started.

If you chose to use the dolomite you do not want to use more than will cover 1 1/2 - 2 inches across the bottom. (Sand will require the same) Use a kitchen sive and clean the gravel by rinsing it. Dump the gravel into the bucket and swish the heck out of it. Drain and rinse again.

(You will only do this if you are using dry dolomite. LIVE dolomite and live sand do not get rinsed)

Pour the gravel into the bottom of your tank. Doesn't need to be flattened yet since you are going to be dumping water into your tank and this is going to dislocate it anyway. Using your 5 gallon buckets, fill just about 4 gallons or 4 1/5 depending on how much you can lift. Add the required amount of Dechlor and then the salt. (Usually 1.5 pounds or 24 oz per 5 gallons, however I have never used that much to obtain a 1.022 gravity in my tank.) I start by adding a cup mixing to disolve (and I use warm tap water here) I will check the hydrometer to see how far off I am and either add more salt or more fresh water. Since you are setting up your tank, obtaining an exact 1.022 is not that important right now, getting close is. Continue dissolving salt and new water until your tank is about 3-4 inches from the top. Attach your filter (be sure it is rinsed well as well as the filters) if you choose to use a rear filter. Even so a back pack filter also needs rinsed. Now we have water movement.

I did not mention anything about live rock or any other items for your tank yet. At this stage since you REALLY should not try to cycle your salt water this early with live rock. If you only knew what things grow on and in the rock, don't waste your money now. It really isn't needed. Now that your tank is running. Check the water with the hydrometer. you should be pretty close to your 1.022 range. Slightly higher or lower isn't going to matter. Turn your heater on and set it for around 78. Finish topping off your tank with salt mixed water. Don't forget to add dechlor to every bucket. Congratulations, your tank is now set up. Now comes the waiting. And you will wait. To aid in the tanks cycling, but does not replace cycling, take a few pieces of raw fish or shrimp, chop them up and toss them intothe tank. This will help the bacteria establish more quickly leading to a healther tank later. Get a notebook. Markdown the day you set your tank up and what you did and what you used. Do this with water changes and tests. This way you have a record of what was done.

Let it run. Continue to run the lights during the day and off at night. After about a week, check your water quality. I would suggest a really good test kit, and strips. I use the strips (I call them dummy strips since they are very broad ranged and are not accurate enough for fishkeeping) to initially test. Then I compair them with what I get from my water tests. I mark the results down in my note book with the day. If you don't trust yourself enough to read the water, take it to your LFS. They will do it for you. Your tank will have to run a minimum of 6 weeks with nothing in it. Do not try to rush this process. Salt water is not the same as fresh water. Shrimp, anemone or even fish are less tolorent of water conditions.

If you really MUST have something swimming around, after 3 weeks, you can buy a black mollie or a couple of guppies. They will live fine in your tank at this time. They are the only fish to attempt. Placing damsels would kill the damsels since they are not the same kind of fish mollies and guppies are. You really do not need to do any water changes during the break in time. If you are showing spiking of nitrates, you may want to do a 20% water change. After your 6 week break in period, test your water. If all the parmiters are ok, you can begin with the lower end fish. Damsels. DO NOT TRY to place triggers or tangs or puffers into your tank. The bacteria is present, but not established and it will kill these fish. If your damsels are doing fine in two weeks, you can start adding live rock to build up your substraight. You can buy as little as pound or ten pounds. You can buy dead corals, fake corals, or whatever you want to decorate your tank. Your tank will need to sit for a minimum of 6 months before you can attempt the higher end fish.

I test my tanks every three days. I only do a water change of 25% once every three to four weeks. My tanks are established however and are pretty much on their own.

A few rules of thumb when dealing with salt fish. Keep your hands out! The more your hands remain out of the tank, the better your fish will be.

DO not spray anything in the room your tank is in.

Now you can start thinking about breeding brine shrimp, and what other fish you are interested in getting. Remember to do your research, since fish require different lighting, water paramiters and are or are not compatable with reef, invertabreas etc.

Good luck. If you have any additional question feel free to email me.