Question about Brackish & Marine

[xspainx69]

As many of you may know I currently have a 75 Gallon tank with 1 Archer, 1 Mono Sebae, 1 Colombian Shark Catfish and 1 Green Spotted Scat and a pair of Molly's.

I currently have my tank at a specific gravity of 1.014.


As my fish begin to grow and I begin to slowly raise my specific gravity higher and higher, at some point or another I will reach the ideal specific gravity for "Marine conditions".


Am I obligated to "Fully" convert tank to Marine conditions in the sense of protein skimmer, reverse osmosis unit and live rock? Its really expensive...

Can I just keep my specific gravity at marine conditions like 1.025. and not buy all that protein skimmer and reverse osmosis unit and live rock stuff?

Thanks

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

you don't need to add live rock, and the other stuff is good to have, but it is not a necessity

 

[SalmonAfrica]

As above. The protien skimmer can wait a while but you'll see some improvements once it is added to the tank. The RO unit as well is just a luxuary really, unless you don't trust your local tapwater, where it becomes a necessity.

 

[xspainx69]

As above. The protien skimmer can wait a while but you'll see some improvements once it is added to the tank. The RO unit as well is just a luxuary really, unless you don't trust your local tapwater, where it becomes a necessity.

So in other words I can convert my brackish tank to marine by simply elevating the Specific gravity passed 1.024.

I'll probably consider getting the protein skimmer down the line..But if I can pull this off without any extra equipment then i'll consider getting some kool saltwater fish later on.

 

[bromie88]

So in other words I can convert my brackish tank to marine by simply elevating the Specific gravity passed 1.024.

I'll probably consider getting the protein skimmer down the line..But if I can pull this off without any extra equipment then i'll consider getting some kool saltwater fish later on.

of course you can... just keep up on water changes. i do 25% a week, but i did that before so i dont think i have any more work than when the tank was 1.010sg

i have raised my Green Spotted Puffer to marine (1.024sg) and he has never been happier. i have live rock though, so it helps with filtration, and you also get critters. so far i have 4 million starfish, a red legged hermit, and a few corals that have sprung up. i got my rock pre-cured from a guy about an hour from me for £5 a kilo, when live rock is normally £10 a kilo uncured near me. i had my SG at 1.024 already, so i just put the rock in and removed my bogwood.

i still use the same filter (a fluval 4+) rated to 1000 lph in a 100 l tank and added a cheap powerhead for extra flow. i run 50w of flourecent lighting (standard T8 bulbs) 25w marine white and 25w actinic, but i already had those on my brackish setup. you dont need to have live rock but it helps with filtration, and looks good in my opinion.

i dont have a skimmer, i use water changes instead. although you could do less with a skimmer.

i dont have an RO unit, or use RO water, i have algae but who doesnt. if it gets too bad, i'll add some snails and put the puffer in the QT tank for a few days. to let the snails clean up. they would be good for ollie to chew on anyway.

so to turn my tank marine cost me £55. £5 for the powerhead, £50 for the rock. with no extra work. but i do go through twice as much salt

the general rule for live rock is 1-1.5lbs pe galon. so your lookin around 170$ if you can find it at 5$ a kilo. which is easily possible. you dont have to buy it all in one go either, as long as its cured, or you cure it yourself in a bucket. you also only have to buy it once, and if you get rid of it you could sell it at 5$ and make your money back, or sell it for more as 'matured live rock'.

going marine is also a natural progression for your fish. you could at least try marine without the rock for a while, if you dont like it then you could lower your sg just as easily, but remember raise/lower your SG no more than 0.002 per week, otherwise your benificial bacteria will crash.

 

[xspainx69]

of course you can... just keep up on water changes. i do 25% a week, but i did that before so i dont think i have any more work than when the tank was 1.010sg

i have raised my Green Spotted Puffer to marine (1.024sg) and he has never been happier. i have live rock though, so it helps with filtration, and you also get critters. so far i have 4 million starfish, a red legged hermit, and a few corals that have sprung up. i got my rock pre-cured from a guy about an hour from me for £5 a kilo, when live rock is normally £10 a kilo uncured near me. i had my SG at 1.024 already, so i just put the rock in and removed my bogwood.

i still use the same filter (a fluval 4+) rated to 1000 lph in a 100 l tank and added a cheap powerhead for extra flow. i run 50w of flourecent lighting (standard T8 bulbs) 25w marine white and 25w actinic, but i already had those on my brackish setup. you dont need to have live rock but it helps with filtration, and looks good in my opinion.

i dont have a skimmer, i use water changes instead. although you could do less with a skimmer.

i dont have an RO unit, or use RO water, i have algae but who doesnt. if it gets too bad, i'll add some snails and put the puffer in the QT tank for a few days. to let the snails clean up. they would be good for ollie to chew on anyway.

so to turn my tank marine cost me £55. £5 for the powerhead, £50 for the rock. with no extra work. but i do go through twice as much salt

the general rule for live rock is 1-1.5lbs pe galon. so your lookin around 170$ if you can find it at 5$ a kilo. which is easily possible. you dont have to buy it all in one go either, as long as its cured, or you cure it yourself in a bucket. you also only have to buy it once, and if you get rid of it you could sell it at 5$ and make your money back, or sell it for more as 'matured live rock'.

going marine is also a natural progression for your fish. you could at least try marine without the rock for a while, if you dont like it then you could lower your sg just as easily, but remember raise/lower your SG no more than 0.002 per week, otherwise your benificial bacteria will crash.

Yeah but I got standard lights on my tank. As for live rock...I dont know I already have dead rock just for the pH buffer.... I pretty much want to know if I can go marine without live rock and all the equipment and then add saltwater fishes with my brackish fishes in a full marine tank.

 

[bromie88]

Yeah but I got standard lights on my tank. As for live rock...I dont know I already have dead rock just for the pH buffer.... I pretty much want to know if I can go marine without live rock and all the equipment and then add saltwater fishes with my brackish fishes in a full marine tank.

ok. then yes.

its just easier to keep your water in check with the added help from the live rock. you already have dead rock, so you could get a few pieces of live rock or live rock rubble and seed your dead rock. you will get live rock, but it cCould take a while. worth doing though in my opinion if you dont want the initial wallet sting of buying x amount of live rock.

i had my tank marine for a few weeks with all my brackish crap in. fake plants, resin rockwork as the background, even bogwood, although i dont think it did much for my Ph, but waterchanges sort that out.

so you should have no problem at all, as you already have Ph buffers in the tank, you will basically only need to raise the salt to around 1.023sg but that is only to support inverts. as im told most boney marine fish do fine in SG down to 1.012, (the 'My Brackish Tank' thread) i wouldnt like to push that far though. 1.018 would be better for my piece of mind.

you say you have 'standard lighting' on your tank. what is it exactly? T5s, Power Compacts or basic T8s like mine?

id deffo run marine bulbs though. like i said, i run two. a marine white and an actinic, but i have 2 light units. if you have one run a 50/50 bulb. it will make your fish look so much better, the actinic makes them glow. but i find that alone, its not bright enough when compared with a white one.

so with white bulb for general light, and the blue for luminence, your fish will look even better.

good luck. and have fun

 

[xspainx69]

ok. then yes.

its just easier to keep your water in check with the added help from the live rock. you already have dead rock, so you could get a few pieces of live rock or live rock rubble and seed your dead rock. you will get live rock, but it cCould take a while. worth doing though in my opinion if you dont want the initial wallet sting of buying x amount of live rock.

i had my tank marine for a few weeks with all my brackish crap in. fake plants, resin rockwork as the background, even bogwood, although i dont think it did much for my Ph, but waterchanges sort that out.

so you should have no problem at all, as you already have Ph buffers in the tank, you will basically only need to raise the salt to around 1.023sg but that is only to support inverts. as im told most boney marine fish do fine in SG down to 1.012, (the 'My Brackish Tank' thread) i wouldnt like to push that far though. 1.018 would be better for my piece of mind.

you say you have 'standard lighting' on your tank. what is it exactly? T5s, Power Compacts or basic T8s like mine?

id deffo run marine bulbs though. like i said, i run two. a marine white and an actinic, but i have 2 light units. if you have one run a 50/50 bulb. it will make your fish look so much better, the actinic makes them glow. but i find that alone, its not bright enough when compared with a white one.

so with white bulb for general light, and the blue for luminence, your fish will look even better.

good luck. and have fun

Now if I buy some small live rock in order to seed my dead rock, I just throw into the tank and let it do its thing on its own? I would have to throw it in once I reach like 1.020 SG right?

 

[xspainx69]

Also the dead rock i have is a dead coral? Is that the same as dead rock?

 

[xspainx69]

ok. then yes.

its just easier to keep your water in check with the added help from the live rock. you already have dead rock, so you could get a few pieces of live rock or live rock rubble and seed your dead rock. you will get live rock, but it cCould take a while. worth doing though in my opinion if you dont want the initial wallet sting of buying x amount of live rock.

i had my tank marine for a few weeks with all my brackish crap in. fake plants, resin rockwork as the background, even bogwood, although i dont think it did much for my Ph, but waterchanges sort that out.

so you should have no problem at all, as you already have Ph buffers in the tank, you will basically only need to raise the salt to around 1.023sg but that is only to support inverts. as im told most boney marine fish do fine in SG down to 1.012, (the 'My Brackish Tank' thread) i wouldnt like to push that far though. 1.018 would be better for my piece of mind.

you say you have 'standard lighting' on your tank. what is it exactly? T5s, Power Compacts or basic T8s like mine?

id deffo run marine bulbs though. like i said, i run two. a marine white and an actinic, but i have 2 light units. if you have one run a 50/50 bulb. it will make your fish look so much better, the actinic makes them glow. but i find that alone, its not bright enough when compared with a white one.

so with white bulb for general light, and the blue for luminence, your fish will look even better.

good luck. and have fun

I just got back from the LFS. I bought a Marine-Glo 30W Actinic blue light and 30 W High intesity Marine white light. So I have 50/50 I guess , one of each. It looks way better than that T8 yellowish crap I had before.

The lights are done now.....The next phase of the aquarium project will be changing the substrate from crushed coral to aragonite sand. Then in a few months after slowly raising my SG to like 1.020 then I'll get the live rock and onto the marine fishies.