new to salt few questions.

[hayden]

i hope to get a salt water tank in a couple weeks. i have seen hob stile skimmers i would prefer a hang on back because i dont want to build a sump. also i am going to the beach next week is there any reason i could not just get a bucket of sand to use in the tank? im cheap. i am planing to get an aquapod 24 gallon tank or a 29 gallon kit form the lfs.

o yea what do i need to know about sw?

 

[BIGgourami]

HOB skimmers are alright but more accident prone IMO.
beach sand can conatin garbage, dangerous chemicals, and parasites/unwanted critter.
the aquapod would be better if you ever want coral and stuff.

 

[hayden]

okay, how often should i do sw water changes? as often as fw? should i keep a 55 gallon or bigger trash can full of sw for watter changes?

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

okay, how often should i do sw water changes? as often as fw? should i keep a 55 gallon or bigger trash can full of sw for watter changes?

Id do them once a week, since your just starting out. Maybe move to a bigger % every other week later. It really depends on Bioload and filteration.

and yes having a 55 gal trash can is a great idea, at the LFS's ive worked at both had one on hand.

 

[hayden]

if i use a 20 long, how deep should my live sand be? how much lr should i use?
does any body know if the 20 longs from petsmart are tempered?

 

[hayden]

i read that i should use a really big filter because in the end its cheaper to get a big filter and a small power head rather than a small filter and a big power head, i plan on using a 10 gallon sump with a fuge if it will fit. i have a media holder thing that fits in a 10 so a couple baffles and a pump and i should be good right?

 

[Taboojen]

if i use a 20 long, how deep should my live sand be? how much lr should i use?
does any body know if the 20 longs from petsmart are tempered?

As for the amt of live sand and live rock to use, it all depends what you plan to keep in the tank. (Ex: Coral or fish only, etc.) If you are not using any other means of filtration aside from the skimmer, the live rock and sand are going to be your primary biofiltration and also buffer for the water.

For me, I used about 45-50 lbs of live rock in my 37 gal, as I did not use a sump either. My filtration consisted of just the live rock and two HOB skimmers, which worked out pretty well for me. I didn't use live sand, as i just let my live rock seed the substrate I put in there.

 

[BIGgourami]

generally 1 pound of each per gallon, but obviously, to a point, more is better. 20L's and 55's will hold a lot of rock for it's volume, i'd say 25-30#'s, and 60-70#'s is probably more than enough.
LS is something different.
with adaquate filtration you really only need as much as is required to keep your fish happy.
like if you're just going to have a dwarf angel in the tank by it's self, than sand is of little importance, if you're going to have something like a jawfish they need, at least a small area, of 4'' deep sand. so i guess it really depends on stocking.

 

[hayden]

im seriously concidering setting up my 55 as a sw so i can have more fish and lr. i think i might set up a 20l as a starter tho.

 

[BIGgourami]

you could always use it as a sump.
with the biomedia (bioballs, LR, etc) in there you wouldn't need as much in the tank.

the 20 would be a good starter, not too exspensive, decent size, a few things can be put in there.
but trust me you WILL do the 55 if you do the 20, so save yourself a step and set it upnow
IT'S SOO ADDICTIVE