Going from Brackish to Marine

[xspainx69]

I have reached 1.020 SG

My tank and its inhabitants are below my signature.

Based on that information, can I throw in a marine fish? What would fit well with the stock I currently have? Can I do a clownfish? Or a Trigger fish?

Do you guys think that my current stock of fish might pester or kill a marine fish?

I have no protein skimmer , all I got is the CC substrate, SG 1.020 and an Eheim 2217 for my 75 Gallon tank.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

the puffers can cause problems, but it wouldn't be to just marine fish. Personally, I'd kick up the salinity a little bit more before adding marine fish

 

[bromie88]

I have reached 1.020 SG

My tank and its inhabitants are below my signature.

Based on that information, can I throw in a marine fish? What would fit well with the stock I currently have? Can I do a clownfish? Or a Trigger fish?

Do you guys think that my current stock of fish might pester or kill a marine fish?

I have no protein skimmer , all I got is the CC substrate, SG 1.020 and an Eheim 2217 for my 75 Gallon tank.

you first need to decide what type of tank you want to have. fish only (FO), fish only with live rock (FOWLR) or a reef. the fish you want or do own will affect this. puffers dont normally make good reef fish as they like to investigate things with thier teeth. mainly all your expensive corals. there are exeptions though. my puffer isnt at all interested in my corals.

going fom brackish to marine is easy enough. i used all the same equiptment as before, but you may have problems with your canister filter. they become nitrite factories if maintainance slips. they need to be cleaned regularly, maybe even twice a week so stop this. for a FOWLR or FO its not too much of of a problem, but you will get an awful lot of algae. for a reef it can be harmful to corals if the levels become too great.

i'd also push to 1.022 and then get some live rock. or a 60/40 live/dead mix, it will greatly improve your filtration. and some reef inverts as a clean up crew to help with your duties.

triggers in general are a messy fish, not to mention grow quite big. the most suitable one for you i think is the niger trigger. but will still be cramped in your tank with your other fish. they will also move around your decor to thier liking too. so you gotta make sure its all solid.

i think the clown route will be good as they stay small. but remember that clows are damselfish in pyjamas, and damsels are basically cichlids of the SW world. so i would add them last. other fish such as firefish, some gobies jawfish dottybacks and wrasse will be a good call too. just do your research as not all these fish are reef safe. a dwarf angel would be nice in there too, but they need loads of rock to pick algae off, and only one per tank as they will scrap to the death.

check the SW forum too. there is loads of info there and more people who now more than me about the whole marine thing. ive only had my tank as marine for about 6 months. learning quick though...

 

[xspainx69]

you first need to decide what type of tank you want to have. fish only (FO), fish only with live rock (FOWLR) or a reef. the fish you want or do own will affect this. puffers dont normally make good reef fish as they like to investigate things with thier teeth. mainly all your expensive corals. there are exeptions though. my puffer isnt at all interested in my corals.

going fom brackish to marine is easy enough. i used all the same equiptment as before, but you may have problems with your canister filter. they become nitrite factories if maintainance slips. they need to be cleaned regularly, maybe even twice a week so stop this. for a FOWLR or FO its not too much of of a problem, but you will get an awful lot of algae. for a reef it can be harmful to corals if the levels become too great.

i'd also push to 1.022 and then get some live rock. or a 60/40 live/dead mix, it will greatly improve your filtration. and some reef inverts as a clean up crew to help with your duties.

triggers in general are a messy fish, not to mention grow quite big. the most suitable one for you i think is the niger trigger. but will still be cramped in your tank with your other fish. they will also move around your decor to thier liking too. so you gotta make sure its all solid.

i think the clown route will be good as they stay small. but remember that clows are damselfish in pyjamas, and damsels are basically cichlids of the SW world. so i would add them last. other fish such as firefish, some gobies jawfish dottybacks and wrasse will be a good call too. just do your research as not all these fish are reef safe. a dwarf angel would be nice in there too, but they need loads of rock to pick algae off, and only one per tank as they will scrap to the death.

check the SW forum too. there is loads of info there and more people who now more than me about the whole marine thing. ive only had my tank as marine for about 6 months. learning quick though...

Yeah Im gonna do a Fish only tank with no live coral or live rock.

I dotn have room in the tank to add more decor or live rock.

I havent had any recent algae bloom, in fact it hasnt even happened yet period....Im not sure why.

I have been doing bi-weekly water changes 25% percent exactly and my water parameters are in superb shape. I have everything harmful at 0 ppm's.

My feeding pattern is somewhat scarce so I may be able to contribute some of that due to the way I feed my fish.

I heard that live rock is good for filtration but I just dont have the room to add it to my tank. I have like 3 dead corals sitting in the tank as part of CC substrate to help with pH. But Im not sure I could add a live rock, the fish would have like no where to swim.

Later on in a few months I may consider investing in a protein skimmer for some filtration back up.

 

[bromie88]

I dotn have room in the tank to add more decor or live rock.

I havent had any recent algae bloom, in fact it hasnt even happened yet period....Im not sure why.

I have been doing bi-weekly water changes 25% percent exactly and my water parameters are in superb shape. I have everything harmful at 0 ppm's.

My feeding pattern is somewhat scarce so I may be able to contribute some of that due to the way I feed my fish.

thats probably why. water changes make the evil go away... but all new SW tanks go throught the diatom stage. brown sludge over everything. not pretty but normal. lots of water flow helps to keep it to a lesser degree. also cut the amount of light your tank gets. no more than 9 hrs of light a day. id read up on diatoms or 'new tank syndrome'. its handy to know about. if you know the problem you can dfind a way to make it right.

keep the canister if your going FO. it would be a good idea to invest in a good skimmer though. with no LR your gonna need it to help your water params stay in check.

 

[festerfish]

does anybody like diatoms? i do weekly water changes and each week. after my last water change my nitrates were at 10 ppm, i hAVE A gsp which requier nitrates below 20 ppm. i did my tri weekly water test and now i have >5 ppm nitrates. so i could only hypothisize that the diatomes ate the nitrates, which they do. and us the silicates from marine salt and my coral substrate for there structure. they arnt preety but have a niche just like any organism. Go diatoms!

 

[bromie88]

if your tank is 1.022sg+ then you can also get caulpera or chaetomorph. those get rid of nitrites and phosphates too. as do mangroves, but they need to be above water, so are only really of use in sumps (with lighting and pleanty of airspace) or open top tanks where they can really spread thier leaves.

use caution with caulpera though... if it runs out of food it dies back and will decintergrate. then it will re-appear everywhere. just keep clipping it back every now and then.