125g/100g top/bottom freshwater to salt conversion

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
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Jun 5, 2009
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AZ, USA


thinking about moving my indoor setup to salt.

I have everything currently except for:
protein skimmer
salt
live sand
live rock
refractometer
fish!

I want to go with a fowlr for right now corals look great but look like more work than I'm ready to take on right now. (plus the 6+ month prep time before you can even introduce one anyways)


from that I'd like some advice/ideas on stocking and setup as well as skimmer recomendations

one thing to note about stocking, the overflow is 2" so if the girth of the fish isn't larger than that down she goes.

I like puffers, lionfish, eels, and colorful fish in general. But I've heard eels like to get out and it should be noted that my hood is open in the back, a 3" opening.

curious on what others are keeing in tanks this size and what fish play nice with each other, etc.

thanks for your help.
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
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Heathd

Fire Eel
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yogurt_21;4323182; said:
wow both of those are quite nice looking.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+257&pcatid=257

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+32+149&pcatid=149

the trigger looks to be about right size wise but the grouper is showing as 125g minimum. While it looks to get to the same size of my O's, liveaquaria is typically pretty loose with the tank size, any paticular reason it would need more space?
They're messy, aggresive, and the stocking standards are different for saltwater.
 

beex215

Candiru
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Mar 31, 2006
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im really contemplating on a salt tank for my 125g. its either damsel and clowns plus one medium fish like a tang or angel. that or trigger and an eel.
 

EastBay

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2010
346
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SF East Bay
If you want aggro, predatory-type fish: perhaps a harlequin tusk? Really pretty, but can get rather large, perhaps even too big for your tank.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with large, aggro fish: They are super messy and tend to get rather large, meaning you can't keep as many as you would like.

I know of no one who would suggest it, but I always thought of setting up a damsel-only tank. Many people and LFS look at damsels as throw-away fish used to cycle tanks, but, they come in a variety of colors and are as aggressive, pound-for-pound, as any fish out there.

You can also look in the wrasse family - there are dozens to choose from. Dottybacks (bi-color and stawberry) are very colorful and while small, pack a punch for their size. You could also look at the angel fish which are awesome - they change colors/patterns from juvie to adult. They can get pretty big, so there is a good selection of dwarf angels to choose from (flame, coral beauty, etc).

Bottom line is, there are literally hundreds of fish to choose from. I would identify a few that I like and then do as much research as possible to make sure they're compatible.

As for setup: The bigger the skimmer you can get, the better. I had an remora pro on my 90g. I probably could have used a larger one. Get a ton of live rock - will help tremendously with biological filtration. I would suggest spending as much money as you can on lighting because even though you say now you don't want corals, trust me, you're going to want corals. And those corals will need intense lighting. T5 and LED are all the rage now, but metal halides are the workhorses of coral keepers.

And the most important advice I can give: BE PATIENT! :)

Man, I hope you have a lot of money! :)

Good luck!
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2009
1,087
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AZ, USA
EastBay;4324915; said:
If you want aggro, predatory-type fish: perhaps a harlequin tusk? Really pretty, but can get rather large, perhaps even too big for your tank.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with large, aggro fish: They are super messy and tend to get rather large, meaning you can't keep as many as you would like.

I know of no one who would suggest it, but I always thought of setting up a damsel-only tank. Many people and LFS look at damsels as throw-away fish used to cycle tanks, but, they come in a variety of colors and are as aggressive, pound-for-pound, as any fish out there.

You can also look in the wrasse family - there are dozens to choose from. Dottybacks (bi-color and stawberry) are very colorful and while small, pack a punch for their size. You could also look at the angel fish which are awesome - they change colors/patterns from juvie to adult. They can get pretty big, so there is a good selection of dwarf angels to choose from (flame, coral beauty, etc).

Bottom line is, there are literally hundreds of fish to choose from. I would identify a few that I like and then do as much research as possible to make sure they're compatible.

As for setup: The bigger the skimmer you can get, the better. I had an remora pro on my 90g. I probably could have used a larger one. Get a ton of live rock - will help tremendously with biological filtration. I would suggest spending as much money as you can on lighting because even though you say now you don't want corals, trust me, you're going to want corals. And those corals will need intense lighting. T5 and LED are all the rage now, but metal halides are the workhorses of coral keepers.

And the most important advice I can give: BE PATIENT! :)

Man, I hope you have a lot of money! :)

Good luck!

unfortunatley clowns, damsels and the like all fall under the no category for the reason of the overflow seen in the first post. As I said, anythign smaller than that in girth, down she goes.


I just had a small O go down it, luckily the filter is partially submerged and he wasn't too damaged. He's 4", imagine the size of damsel I'd be purchasing, thats some expensive filter media lol.

and as far as messy goes I'm cool with it, those are oscars and commons in there right now, powerheads easily take care of waste and drwaers give easy access to filter media.
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2009
1,087
1
0
AZ, USA
EastBay;4324915; said:
Bottom line is, there are literally hundreds of fish to choose from. I would identify a few that I like and then do as much research as possible to make sure they're compatible.

As for setup: The bigger the skimmer you can get, the better. I had an remora pro on my 90g. I probably could have used a larger one. Get a ton of live rock - will help tremendously with biological filtration. I would suggest spending as much money as you can on lighting because even though you say now you don't want corals, trust me, you're going to want corals. And those corals will need intense lighting. T5 and LED are all the rage now, but metal halides are the workhorses of coral keepers.

And the most important advice I can give: BE PATIENT! :)

Man, I hope you have a lot of money! :)

Good luck!
oops missed the filtration comments.
skimmer looks like a good one but maxes at 120 gallons, there's 200+ in my system so I'd either need 2 or look for a bigger one.

what do you think of this one? says up to 250 gallons.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4392+8185&pcatid=8185

lighting I have a t12 10000k setup in there now for the top section and a t8 that I was thinking of doing on the bottom I already have the fixture so bulbs would be all I need for that. That way if I do end up adding corals it will be to the bottom 100g rather than the top 125 which I'll defintelty keep fish only

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8066+4500&pcatid=4500
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8066+4511&pcatid=4511

while metal halides may be the workhorses they're also the most expensive lighting fixture out there, (most likely due to the use in filming studios, we use them here in our filming room for the online ed company I work for)

being that corals would be secondary to fish, I'd rather put the money into filtration/fish.
 

EastBay

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2010
346
1
16
SF East Bay
Given the diameter of the overflow, you might have to find sub-adults or adult fish to prevent them from going on that roller coaster ride! It's funny, I've actually had a couple mbuna fry get sucked into the overflow, through the wet/dry and grow up in my sump! I have one in there right now that I haven't been able to catch.

Could you possibly put some kind of screen on your overflows? That would prevent small fish from getting sucked over the falls and would open up the options of smaller fish or juveniles. I'm sure you know, the larger the fish, the more expensive.

Not familiar with that skimmer. But like any other filtration system, most manufacturers fudge the numbers pertaining to skimmers. So, take it with a grain of salt. Even if my skimmer was less than what it claimed, I had no problems. You might want to think of getting two smaller skimmers, instead of maxing out one large one. Might cost a little more, but it's like running two thermometers in one tank -- it's nice to have a backup if one fails.

As for lighting, you can probably get away with it -- just throw a ton of light on it! :) I know of one guy's website, who lives in the Philippines, who uses a different combo of regular flourescent "twisty" bulbs and he has no problem growing corals and what not, so it can be done without spending thousands of dollars. And you're right -- MH are expensive. I was basically relating my experience with lighting: I upgraded 3,4 times over the course of 6 years. If I would have just invested in the right stuff to begin with, it would have been cheaper!
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2009
1,087
1
0
AZ, USA
EastBay;4326190; said:
Given the diameter of the overflow, you might have to find sub-adults or adult fish to prevent them from going on that roller coaster ride! It's funny, I've actually had a couple mbuna fry get sucked into the overflow, through the wet/dry and grow up in my sump! I have one in there right now that I haven't been able to catch.

Could you possibly put some kind of screen on your overflows? That would prevent small fish from getting sucked over the falls and would open up the options of smaller fish or juveniles. I'm sure you know, the larger the fish, the more expensive.

Not familiar with that skimmer. But like any other filtration system, most manufacturers fudge the numbers pertaining to skimmers. So, take it with a grain of salt. Even if my skimmer was less than what it claimed, I had no problems. You might want to think of getting two smaller skimmers, instead of maxing out one large one. Might cost a little more, but it's like running two thermometers in one tank -- it's nice to have a backup if one fails.

As for lighting, you can probably get away with it -- just throw a ton of light on it! :) I know of one guy's website, who lives in the Philippines, who uses a different combo of regular flourescent "twisty" bulbs and he has no problem growing corals and what not, so it can be done without spending thousands of dollars. And you're right -- MH are expensive. I was basically relating my experience with lighting: I upgraded 3,4 times over the course of 6 years. If I would have just invested in the right stuff to begin with, it would have been cheaper!
lol not sure if you're into computers or not but for me the same rule applies to both fish and computers, upgrading's half the fun. So i've no doubt that you're right and I won't be able to resist corals and I'll likely end up at MH evntually, but take the example of my pond.

first rendition single liner 3300g with a 900gph pump and a 50g filter box, next rendition, dual liner dug out to 4800g with a 3200gph pump and a 2000 gph pump as well as a 18w uv through a 700 gph pump with a 125g filter area., current rendition, 2" mortar with a single liner 7000g pond with a 6600gph pump and 2000gph secondary and 400g filter area.

would it have been cheaper to do rendition 3 first? Yes. would it have made me more sane? Yes. But wheres the fun if you don't get to experience the thrill of upgrading each time?
 
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