Hey all, i've got a 20gal mini-reef set up so i have some general knowledge of saltwater tanks but just figured i'd ask a few questions i have about potentially converting my 75 gal to salt as well. This setup will eventually be FOWLR and the only fish guaranteed to live in it as of now will be my juvy niger trigger (cute little guy bout 1.5"). Basically what I want to ask is could I get away with running this tank without a protein skimmer for a while with light feedings and small fish? When I start this tank over I plan to use about 30lbs of live sand and 40lbs of LR just to start and cycle with and would have 2-3 small fish before I added a skimmer in to the mix. What do you guys think? Could I get away without a skimmer for a while? Also I would be looking to buy my own RO unit for a tank this size but from what I understand sometimes you can get away with using tap water as an initial fill in a FOWLR set up? just lookin to get some more opinions here as i'm undecided what i wanna do with the tank and the less initial cost the sooner I could make it happen. Thanks
Conversion of my 75gal fresh tank
- Thread starter NCStateFisher
- Start date
I'm in the same boat. thinking of converting my 120 gal. discus to sw. I would like to keep it as simple as possible. thinking of using my two cannisters for flow instead of a sump. I would run them empty unless I needed carbon or phosphate remover. probably a skimmer but maybe not. there are many sw tanks being run without skimmers. you could get away with it for a while for sure. may need more wc's. live sand is a waste of money. I would put a little more rock. it does'nt have to be all live rock. I'm planning on about 100 lbs. of dry and 30-40 lbs of live to seed it. R/O imo is needed. it's because tap water will cause many problems with algae. the first piece of equiptment I will buy is a R/O unit. I have been on a few sw forums, asking questions. your going to get flak from the purists who will say you must do this and you must have that. been there and done that with my wild discus. I was told they would die within days. my tank has been running fo almost a year and a half and my fish could'nt be better. so to answer your question. skimmer is probably a good idea for a fowlr but not needed to start. R/O unit for sure. just my opinion. I'm sure someone will flame me for it.
hey id rather get the real opinions that people just wanting to shove their ideal at me and say there's no other way to do it, i found a decent little skimmer for up to 75g on ebay for $40 with free shipping, so that's no longer my focal point, now i just need to find an affordable RO or a friend that would let me use their's for an initial fill, i dont mind paying .50 a gallon for top off but paying $75 for premixed SW as an initial fill is a bit obscene 
I use a protien skimmer - why, because it removes dissolved proteins from the water while adding oxygen helping to keep my nitrates at a minimum and the tank healthy - this allows me to change only 10-15% or 30gals of saltwater each week because 50% or 105 gals w/c's just isn't financially fesible for me, that's like $100 a month just in salt. Everyones tank is different and generates nasties at a different rate - if your not getting high nitrate readings before w/c's then maybe you don't need one. You'll have to test your water to see for yourself. I don't use nor ever have used R/O water - I run my waterchange water thru carbon for 1 week instead and have never gotten algae issues even while cycling. But once again everyones stuff is different - you have to test your tapwater, as I did, to know for sure.
Fish are far more tolerant and adaptable to differing water parameters than corals and other inverts.
Fish are far more tolerant and adaptable to differing water parameters than corals and other inverts.
yeah true, i found a skimmer at a good price. the tap water thing is just something i can't decide on, so many people are so bad against it saying it can hurt the fish etc but i mean the biggest issue most people say are algae blooms, so idk... at the moment keeping an eye out for a decent RO unit
You're on the right track, as long as you get what they need you will do fine. Not like how others think,"oh this will do, we don't need to add/use that thing."
My tap water caused an algae bloom so we switched to filtered water; I use the 5 gallon jugs for water dispensers and refill them at the vending machines. I mix the sw inside the jug and let it dissolve completely, and then perform the water change. It seems like you have the protein skimmer already so the wcs wouldn't be as big an issue. Just stay on top of the maintenance and you'll be set; sw tanks require more attention than fw tanks mainly because of the water quality(salinity/nitrates). It doesn't seem like a big deal but having to mix the water every week for that big tank and making sure that the salinity is going to be balanced(the water evaporates from the tank, not the salt) can take up a lot of time compared to fw tanks.
My tap water caused an algae bloom so we switched to filtered water; I use the 5 gallon jugs for water dispensers and refill them at the vending machines. I mix the sw inside the jug and let it dissolve completely, and then perform the water change. It seems like you have the protein skimmer already so the wcs wouldn't be as big an issue. Just stay on top of the maintenance and you'll be set; sw tanks require more attention than fw tanks mainly because of the water quality(salinity/nitrates). It doesn't seem like a big deal but having to mix the water every week for that big tank and making sure that the salinity is going to be balanced(the water evaporates from the tank, not the salt) can take up a lot of time compared to fw tanks.
yeah i've noticed with my 20L mini reef its a good bit of work but well worth it, sadly as much as i love my FW fish the tank just pales in comparison when looking at the two.. i've done a bit of free work at a new LFS around here and today he told me i can have as much RO water as i want for free so i no longer need to worry about that xD
so i no longer need to worry about that xDyeah i've noticed with my 20L mini reef its a good bit of work but well worth it, sadly as much as i love my FW fish the tank just pales in comparison when looking at the two.. i've done a bit of free work at a new LFS around here and today he told me i can have as much RO water as i want for free
Glad to hear it, I'll be waiting for updates or maybe a thread on it
if i go through with it i will definitely make a thread on here... im just so torn on what to do with the tank.. i love my freshwater fish... but i really like the idea of a large saltwater tank.... gaaaaaaah >_<