Salt water newbie

[mrhasan]

If 20 is your limit, I would suggest that you get a 20 long. Awesome footprint and should give you a bit more space for more corals and one or two more fishes. I have also being into freshwater for like 10 years and started saltwater about a month ago and its going great till now. Small is not bad as long as you have proper filtration and do regular maintenance. The only downside I would say is that it limits your livestock to a "huge" extend!

[Lonster]

Think about using dry base rock if you want to make sure that there are no bad hitch hikers and save a bit if money. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the cycle to finish but then you can spend a bit more on your skimmer or lights.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Lonster

Think about using dry base rock if you want to make sure that there are no bad hitch hikers and save a bit if money. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the cycle to finish but then you can spend a bit more on your skimmer or lights.

the price for dry rock and live these days is almost par so not saving that much def not enough for a simmer or lights and with not getting any pests also comes not getting any good things.


even if i had the choice to use free dry rock id still go majority live rock.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

If 20 is your limit, I would suggest that you get a 20 long. Awesome footprint and should give you a bit more space for more corals and one or two more fishes. I have also being into freshwater for like 10 years and started saltwater about a month ago and its going great till now. Small is not bad as long as you have proper filtration and do regular maintenance. The only downside I would say is that it limits your livestock to a "huge" extend!

X2. 20 long tanks have very nice dimensions. Though I think 40 breeders have the "best" nano dimensions.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Enigma

X2. 20 long tanks have very nice dimensions. Though I think 40 breeders have the "best" nano dimensions.

40 long is even more awesome. And I don't think 40g would be considered nano :P

[Dearth]

Thank you for the information after reading some more I think I might use my 33 gallon tank standard glass rectangle shape and I do have some accessories that I can convert to salt water and will have to buy the rest and I already have rock I have 18 lbs of fake lava rock gifted to me for Xmas a few yrs ago but never used in my fresh water tanks.

One problem I do have is every room in my house is bright and always had algae issues because of the light are salt water aquariums affected in the same way? If so is there a light diffuser that I can use without spoiling the looks of the tank?

Another question I have is what is the best light medium to go with as all I have are the standard fluorescents but coloured (red,blue,yellow) are LEDs or halogen better to use?

Again thank you

[mrhasan]

LED will definitely be more economical in the long run but the initial investment is going to be very high.

You can always use T5HO lights for moderate results but the best for SW (if you plan to keep delicate corals) would be metal halide lighting.