want to go SW!

[dmopar74]

i have a 38g laying around that i thought i would try sw with. i have 2 penguin 200 filters, heater, and an aquaclear 400gph powerhead. the light is only 17watts but i think fish only is how i wanna start(but i can change the light if needed). i am looking for advise on what/how much sand and/or rock i need. also what protien skimmers are good and any other equipment i need. one major question i have is how to make and change sw, is RO water neccesary? can i use tap water with declor. like my fw tanks? i know that sw takes lots of time/money so i will buy what i need a little bit weekly, what to buy first to last? thanks in advance for any info!

 

[JamieC77]

From my experience usually 1lb per gallon is a good ratio to go by for rock and sand, unless the tank is a tall tank then you can go a little less on the sand. When you first set up the tank you do your normal salt/water ratio, if you are just adding water that has evaporated you don't have to add salt. But when doing waterchanges you put in as much saltwater in as you took out. Also most SW fish don't care about the lighting from my experience but if you ever decide to add any type of coral it is a must. As far as the RO water goes I have always used it b/c it has always been availabe to me and seems to be better for the fish. I'm sure you can use tap water if it isn't too hard and has a decent pH, but I always liked to be safe then sorry. Hope this has helped and good luck!

 

[dmopar74]

yeah thanks for the info.

 

[smmfish]

I have really good tap water and that is what I use for my SW tank. My tank is very lightly stocked so I only do waterchanges every 6 weeks on this tank. I just top off the water every week.