Saltwater tank question?

Question

I have a 30 gallon tank with stand, and recently decided to go from freshwater to saltwater.
So to start my reef/fish tank up I need 30lbs of sand? 30lbs of live rock?

Now I need to know what kind of heater for a 30 gallon tank (i eventually want soft corals as well, but not until 6 months or so so my tank is fully cycled)

What type of light is best for the top of my tank are, 30 x 12 3/4'

What type of protein Skimmer, filter, powerheads, and will I need a sump?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Lots of questions, so be prepared for a rather long answer!

First, though, you don't mention if your stand is iron or wood, but if it's iron I would suggest getting a plastic tablecloth to cover it - if the salt gets on the metal, it will corrode. If it's wood, it should be solid wood, not the pressboard. I knew someone who had a 55 gallon on a pressboard stand and it developed a small leak which seeped into the wood and softened the glue holding the pressed wood together. You can guess what happened next. Saltwater is expensive enough to warrent buying a new stand or protecting the one you've got so your tank isn't damaged.

Now to your actual questions:

SUBSTRATE - You're correct in getting 30 pounds. You preferably want something made of aragonite to help keep the pH from changing. I like the smaller shell material that Carib-Sea puts out - it doesn't have to be live sand, either. Some folks like crushed coral, but the particle size is bigger than I like, and it tends to have a lot of dust that never rinses completely out. Another very fine grained material is oolitic aragonite (looks like small white balls) and aragonite sand. Here's an idea of the materials available: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html While it's possible to keep a marine tank with regular aquarium gravel or no substrate, the aragonite will keep the pH from falling below 7.8 (it should be 8.2-8.4, especially if you want a reef tank). You can buy the substrate dry, or as "live sand" which (supposedly) contains the nitrifying bacteria. I haven't been a fan of the pre-bagged live sand, as the bacteria needed for the tank are aerobic, and there's no telling how long bags have been sitting on store shelves. I've also seen a few of these bags with red slime algae growing in them, and I doubt that's something you want to introduce. These also cost about twice as much as the dry. If you find a store that sells live sand by the cup out of their tanks (where there's aeration) you can use this to seed the tank. Just keep an eye on any fish in that or connected tanks - you want to avoid buying if you see fish that appear unhealthy, you don't want to introduce any parasites or diseases to your tank either.

LIVE ROCK: This gives the tank a more natural appearance, provides hiding places for the fish and inverts, and increases the biological filtration. If you use this, the bacteria in the live rock will also seed the substrate, which is why I said that live sand isn't necessary. Not to mention, you get all kinds of cool critters that hitchhike into your tank. For best filtration, the general "rule of thumb" is 1 lb of Pacific origin rock per gallon or 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of Atlantic or Carribean rock per gallon (the Pacific is more porous, so less is needed to produce the same results). Although many people like the Figi live rock, I also like the Atlantic/Carribean aquacultured rock - to me it provides more color sooner than the Pacific. Since any organisms the require good light or high circulation at the bottom of the pile may die, I recommended getting dry "base rock" (also called reef or lace rock, or travertine) for the bottom, then placing good quality live rock at the front and top. The organisms from this will colonize the dry rock where the proper conditions exist for them.

HEATERS: For a saltwater tank 30 gallon or larger, I'd suggest getting 2 and putting one on each end. This will provide more even heating, and your tank has a back-up if one gives out (and they eventually will). Figure the correct size as 5 watts per gallon divided by 2 heaters. If you need to heat the water more than 10 degrees above the room temperature, go one size higher.

LIGHTING: For a 30 gallon, a compact fluorescent or T-5 system should be fine for many of the corals and anemeones sold, but do some research on the species before you buy. Some need even higher levels and should have metal halides (or a combo) for the best success. For a saltwater system, I would recommend at least 1/2 of the tubes be 10,000K and the others either 50/50s or 03 actinics. This gives the coloration of a reef about 30 feet underwater, and gives the proper wavelengths necessary for organisms that use photosynthesis. I use the Coralife compact fluorescents with the blue "twilight" feature on my smaller tanks (the twilight isn't necessary for most tanks, but it make the tank look like it's lit by moonlight and is thought to benefit corals).

FILTER: It's possible that you may want to just use your old filter if it's properly sized (filters at least 5x-10x the tank volume per hour - check the gallons per hour rating). If you need a new one, or are looking to upgrade, there are lots of choices, and what you'll need will really depend on budget, what you're trying to keep, and personal preference. I'd consider the best to be a refugium or wet/dry trickle filter (as a sump), as these provide extra water volume for the tank as well. You can do one of these without needing to drill the tank if yours isn't predrilled, but it would better to have the sump above the main tank in this case, so you get at least one direction using gravity flow, but this will also mean a slightly lower water level to accomodate water in the plumbing if the electric fails. Having a second tank gives you more surface area for a biological filter, and you can use macroalgae to remove some of the nitrates. If you do a refugium with gravity flow into the main tank, you'll be able to produce copepods and small shrimp which will get caught in the gravity flow and provide occassional "treats" for your fish. If you keep the sump and main tank on opposite 12 hr. photoperiods, this also make the pH more stable (has to do with products of photosynthesis).

Next best would be a canister, followed by a biowheel, then a standard hang-on-tank. Unless you're using a fine sand or oolite substrate, you can also use an undergravel filter to supplement filtration, but I'd suggest powering it with a reversible powerhead to blow the water up through the substrate (prevents stuff from building up under the filter and clogging it). The more surface area you get for bacteria, the better your biological filter will function, so the canister will probably have the next most area to the refugium or wet/dry. The canister has the advantage of being the only filter that forces water through the media, rather than allowing unfiltered water to bypass the media as it becomes clogged. The downside of these is that you have to break down the filter to clean, so it's somewhat more inconvenient.

The biowheel is considered a good choice for added biological filtration, but don't discount "traditional" filters like the AquaClear filter which have a large sponge filter to add surface area. While these can clog and allow unfiltered water to bypass media if you don't clean the media regularly. The media, however, is much more easily accessed than that of the canisters, and these are less expensive as well.

Another thing to consider is circulation of the water in the tank. If you use a wet/dry, refugium, or canister, you'll probably only use oneor more powerheads so wastes from the opposite side of the tank make it to your intake to be removed. With a biowheel or traditional hang-on, you can get two filters for about the same price, and place them so they are closer to all the sources of wastes.

POWERHEAD(S): To provide more water circulation in hard to get to places, and to keep particles in suspension for filter-feeders (and the filters). Red cyanobacteria (red slime algae) doesn't like high current, so an extra powerhead (or two!) is one thing you can use for prevention. This also helps circulate dissolved oxygen to the bottom of the tank. Even though you want extra circulation, you also want some areas of the tank with higher and lower areas of current for the animals to choose their own level of preference.

PROTEIN SKIMMER: This isn't 100% required, but will make a difference in water quality for sensitive fish and inverts. You can get these in venturi models (my preference, but more expensive) or models which need an air pump and wooden airstone (the wood produces finer bubbles than the "traditional" airstones). Effectiveness here is related to the height of the column through which the bubbles rise, with longer being better. These are great for removing organic materials that raise your nitrates before they become nutrients for algae. Most people on this forum like the Coralife skimmers.

Some of the other items you'll need to have on hand:

SALT MIX: If you're only keeping fish, you can go with one of the less expensive brands of synthetic sea salt. If you get any invertebrates (shrimp, snails, crabs, corals, anemones, etc.), switch to a better quality mix before you add them. These cost a little more, but you won't need to be using additives for the trace elements they need either.

HYDROMETER: This measures the amount of salt that's dissolved in water. There are two kinds you can get, one made of glass that floats on the surface (more accurate, but easy to break) and a plastic container that has a needle that rises and falls as the amount of salt changes (less accurate, bubbles attaching to the needle gives false readings). For fish only, you want the specific gravity to read 1.020 - 1.026. If you're keeping inverts, you want it to be 1.024 - 1.026.

WATER TESTING KIT: minimum of pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. I like the API Saltwater Master test kit, it has all the tests listed above, with more for nitrate and pH, since you'll continue to monitor these after the tank has cycled.

CLEANING SUPPLIES: elbow length gloves, gravel vacuum, 5 gallon bucket, large plastic container and powerhead for mixing the salt (to be done well ahead of water changes), algae scraper, razor blades (for coraline algae and diatoms that like to attach to the glass).

WATER CONDITIONER: for removing chlorine or chloramine from your tap water (unless you plan to use a reverse osmosis filter or buy RO water, which is the preferred water source). If you use tapwater, I would also suggest buying a phosphate removing pad that you can cut to size for whatever filter you choose. Public water supplies are permitted to add a small amount of phosphate to the water as a method to prevent pipe corrosion, unfortunately, it acts as an algae fertilizer.

The following are optional, but strongly suggested:

GLASS COVER: This reduces evaporation and keeps the fish inside the tank. If you ever go to a metal halide lighting system, though, it can overheat your tank.

CHILLER: If you use metal halide lighting (and even the CFs put out some heat), or the water temperature regularly gets above 85o (for corals or anemones, fish can take a little more heat), you may need to invest in a chiller to keep the tank cool. The water temperature should ideally run 76-80oF.

Before going out and buying all this, I would suggest some (additional, as if this weren't enough!) reading to see what you're getting into by keeping saltwater. I did research for almost 2 years before I set up my first saltwater tank, and I had about 20 years of freshwater aquarium experience already. Rushing into a saltwater setup usually doesn't give you good results, and the equipment and fish are a little too expensive to be finding out in a few weeks you got something that's not appropriate for what you want for your tank. I'd also recommend a good reference book for some research. Either of these would be a good one to start with: The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-52-1 or The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-02-5

Here's an excellent web site where you can check out for more info on keeping saltwater: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Although your 30 gallon may seem large to you, just be aware that marine fish tend to be more aggressive and territorial than freshwater community fish (more like cichlids in their personalities), plus the organisms are less tolerant of poor water conditions, so the stocking level for a saltwater tank is much lighter than for freshwater. Plus the fish tend to be larger in size, although there are a few smaller species (and peaceful ones as well). I started my first saltwater tank in a 29 gallon, and added a second 55 gallon six months later. Marine tanks a bit addictive.

Good luck with your tank!