# Anyone Do Salt Water Here To?



## SonicDark (Apr 30, 2003)

Basically when I get back from vacation looking to convert a 12 gallon Eclipse tank from freshwater to saltwater. I was reading this:

http://www.algone.com/fresh_to_saltwater.htm

It looks pretty simple. My basic question is that I can't use live rock with my current regular lighting right? Can I try it and see how it goes or no? I was just wanting to put 1 or 2 clown fish in there along with some rocks and call it a day

Any thoughts?


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## tweekie (Nov 3, 2004)

im going to do almost the same thing. girlfriend wants two "nemo's" in a new 12g tank we will be putting in the kitchen. good luck with it. have a check on the salt water forum on this site and do a search on setting up a salt water tank, sure you will find plenty on it. can you let me know how you get on and what bits and pieces you had to buy? would be nice to know in advance.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

you can use live rock, it's just you won't be able to keep coral in the tank without the lighting. liverock serves as a biofilter. get the lighting though, you'll be much happier with it, it will look incredible with coral and live rock. IMO, if you're gonna go with a bare tank and just fish.. with maybe some sand and deco.. there isn't much of a difference between saltwater or freshwater. if you get corals though, then that's when saltwater looks its best and worth your time and effort maintaining the tank.









make sure you get test kits and the sort, you want to test for copper in your tank. if you find positive results on it, then you won't be able to keep invertabrae in your tank (shrimp, snails, crabs, etc..) check out www.reefcentral.com it's like pfury, but for saltwater. they have a lot of info and you'd be best to post there about saltwater. they'll be able to help you much better *than most* people on this forum, including myself and what i've told you, as i am only relaying information that i have once read. 
EDIT: i don't want to say people on here can't give good/valid info. there are a lot of good fish keepers on this forum, it's just i would go to a forum more specialized in saltwater for more specific questions and information.

i know this is for your girlfriend, but it'll be a fun tank to keep. my girlfriend got me my first p and got me back into the fish hobby and i wanted to setup a tank for her, but her dorm won't allow any tanks. saltwater always impresses me, even nanotanks (small tanks). i want to get into it, but it's gonna end up spending money i don't have right now.


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## cadeucsb (Nov 4, 2004)

what do you need hardware wise for a simple saltwater setup, no coral? can u get away with standard freshwater filtration and heating? and just have the added burden of also checking the salinity... like mentioned above, i am contemplating a small 10gal tank with something small like clown fish as well


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## EnFuego (May 27, 2004)

i just got into salt water a little bit ago too. Check out some other forums such as www.nano-reef.com for information about the tank you are looking at doing. Also, the saltwater section of this forum is very helpful. 
You current lights will be fine for live rock, but you will not be able to keep much coral-wise unless you upgrade the lights. It is suggested to keep about 10-15 lbs of liverock for that size tank. 
If you are going to go with clownfish i am assuming you are talking about Percula clowns (Nemo type). They can be somewhat aggressive so I suggest that you buy them from a store when they are very small and are together with other clowns. This way they will most likely not have paired up and most will most likely still be male. Then when you get them into your aquarium, the dominant one will become female and will be a little larger. 
For filtration, live rock is your biological filtration, so just get some liverock, a heater, and a powerhead or two. You shouldn't need a skimmer for that size tank, but you will need to do water changes like you would a freshwater tank (but not stirring up the sand bed-just taking water out and adding more water back in).


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## Blitz023 (Feb 19, 2004)

salinity is not really a big problem with salt, you just need a refractometer which can be bought in you LFS. 
As for the hardware,
- you just need the right lighting (check the pinned post above the saltwater forums),
- freshwater heater can be used,
- for a 10g you can use a standard freshwater filter as well and you don't need a protein skimmer.
- If you can afford some live rocks add it (you'll be amazed seeing different life forms in it) and it is also you biofilter.

More and more people are going for salt


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Check this site out. There is all you want to know there.
Click me


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## cadeucsb (Nov 4, 2004)

Blitz023 said:


> salinity is not really a big problem with salt, you just need a refractometer which can be bought in you LFS.
> As for the hardware,
> - you just need the right lighting (check the pinned post above the saltwater forums),
> - freshwater heater can be used,
> ...


is something as small as a 10gal a large enough tank for live rock?


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## Blitz023 (Feb 19, 2004)

live rocks can come as small as a stick. Just grab little bits that can fit in a 10g.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

cadeucsb said:


> is something as small as a 10gal a large enough tank for live rock?
> [snapback]799680[/snapback]​


easily. it depends on how much live rock you plan to use though. most rocks aren't very big, but i have seen some boulders before. a 5lb rock generally isn't too big.


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