New tank

[kaiser]

Hi to all,
I am new to this forum and would lie some advise. I've had a freshwater tank setup for about 8+ years and getting kind of tired of it. So I decided to go with a marine tank. I have a 55gal tank, UGF, striplight w/2 4'bulbs, marineland biowheel 300 hang on filter and I done bought a red sea prizm hang on skimmer w/deluxe upgrade kit. For starters I would like a fish tank and may add coral later. Any advise on this would be appreciated.
Kai

[robertpower3]

I would not use the ugf. They are a pain in the *** once they get clogged. :evil: Get some live rock and live sand. At least one to two pounds per gallon for both the sand and rock. Tims got some premium fiji cheap like $3.00 a pound i believe. We sell it for $5.50 to $7.50 a pound. kind of a rip off.

[1salt]

Welcome to the forum Kaiser!!! Alot of nice people with a ton of good info.

[captexas]

WELCOME TO MAAST! :D

Kai -
As Robert mentioned, you will want to ditch the under-gravel filter. With saltwater tanks, they are more trouble than they are worth. Your best bet is to go with live rock as your main filtration. You will need to probably buy a few powerheads to help with water circulation. Also, one of the main differences from freshwater tanks is that you must pace yourself when starting the tank. It takes much longer to cycle a tank and for it to build up its nutrient handling ability. And remember that saltwater fish have large areas of water to swim in their natural environment so you will not be able to have as many fish compared to freshwater fish.

Hope that helps. It's good to read a few books to get some better ideas on how things work and figure out what you want to do with your tank. Again, welcome to MAAST and feel free to ask any questions you have!

Chris

[Jimnorris]

Kaiser,
Welcome!
Sometimes seeing is better! If you are near you can come look at my tank and ASK questions.
Where are you located?
Jim

[kaiser]

Where do I get the live rock at?

[TexasState]

If you plans on turning it into a reef later on, you should go and buy a new tank/equipment to ensure that you don't have build up bad chemical from the old tank.

We sell it for $5.50 to $7.50 a pound. kind of a rip off.
Don't be so hard on yourself, that's close to standard pricing for rock at LFS around the U.S.[/code]

[TexasState]

Whatever you do, don't read the DFS article on how to setup a reef tank. In it, they adviced to put the LR in, then pour in the dechlorinated water, then pour in the salt. There's a sequence mess up in there somewhere.

[kaiser]

So where are the good stores in the SA area? I will need Sand, Live Rock and whatever other supplies.

[Sherri]

kai...Welcome to MAAST ... :D

I agree with Joshua on CB Pets in this area. I also switched from freshwater (african cichlids) of 15 yrs to a reef - it's been a year and I have learned so much from the group here. As you can already tell..there are plenty of smiles and help to be found here. Great people that love this hobby & take it very seriously.

Good Luck on your new setup.

Sherri

[DaBird]

C B pets is the place to go...Richard is on vacation but Mark is there...

[Jenn]

I'm with everyone else on this...CB Pets is the best place. Mark and Andrew are very helpful and the prices are pretty good too.

[MikeP]

I need to go check this place out someday - sounds like a nice little shop.