i want to turn an old 30 gal into a saltwater tank. i know a few of you guys have small gallon tanks that are s/w. so i want to know everything i need to set this up.
saltwater question
- Thread starter RedDevilDon2005
- Start date
I also recently took the SW plunge, turning an empty 29 into a mini reef. My best advise is to do lots of homework. LOTS OF HOMEWORK. I'm currently curing my live rock, and I'm already seeing some hitch hikers popping up. It's a really cool experience. I only plan on doing some corals and possibly inverts. The lighting will likely be the most expensive thing you buy. Invest in a master test kit and a hydrometer. When you get the hang of it, and if you want to do some more advanced things buy a refractometer. It's waaaaaaay more accurate at testing the specific gravity of your tank. The rest is pretty much common fish keeping sense. Don't add any fish or inverts until the tank is completely cycled, water changes, things of that nature. Here's a good article. The author used to run an LFS in my area and was a huge help when I was first getting into the hobby.
Normally I use the following to start my small sw tanks with:
Enough salt for the tank and 1 water change
A hydrometer
About 1/2 lb live rock per gallon
About 40 lbs sand or crushed coral for a 30 gallon tank
A good HOB filter that will filter at least 2 times the amount of water in the tank in an hour
2 damsels
Jungle test strips (for fresh and salt water)
An appropriate size heater for the tank
I think that is about all I use to set the tank up, I don't add any other fish for the first 2 months unless I use a cycled filter.
Enough salt for the tank and 1 water change
A hydrometer
About 1/2 lb live rock per gallon
About 40 lbs sand or crushed coral for a 30 gallon tank
A good HOB filter that will filter at least 2 times the amount of water in the tank in an hour
2 damsels
Jungle test strips (for fresh and salt water)
An appropriate size heater for the tank
I think that is about all I use to set the tank up, I don't add any other fish for the first 2 months unless I use a cycled filter.
Glad to help. There are a lot of people on this board more well versed than I am on the subject. I eagerly await their input. 
Im also settin up my first salt tank in a 20 tall. I was wondering if using live sand (the kind that comes w/ water in the bag) helps any?
Im gonna try and get some live rock tomorrow if the stores are open (we just had a big blizzard) I was thinking like 15-20 pounds of base rock and 10-15 pounds of live rock to go over it. I dont want to buy all live rock cuz im trying to save as much money as I can lol