Converting from freshwater

[White Lightning]

I really want to convert my 33 gallon  into a saltwater tank. I understand that if I would like to have corals and such then I would be required to update my lighting but at first I was just thinking about getting some live sand and live rock. After the tank is safe for fish, I would probably add something lik a snowflake eel or something. I am going to have to update the filter in it and I was wondering if an eheim 2213 would be sufficient enough. If not, perhaps I could run the 2213 and the HOB filter I currently have on the tank? What other things would I need to purchase?
Does anyone have any helpful hints that would assist me in starting this project?

[xenon]

You need between 1-2lb of live rock for every gallon of water. You don't need a filter because the live rock has beneficial bacteria that acts as a natural filter. You should get some caribsea aragonite sand.

Buy yourself a refractometer and forget about those cheap swing arm hydrometers. They are just not reliable. You will also need a few power heads for flow.

You don't need any fancy skimmers, calcium reactors etc.. Do large water changes to keep water quality high.

Enjoy!

[White Lightning]

Okay thanks! So let's hypothetically say that I get 60lbs of live rock, some argonite sand (how many lbs??) and a refractometer. I will be on my way to keeping a saltwater tank?
This sounds a little less complicated than I originally thought. A couple questions though: Do I still need a heater?
           How often do I do water changes? How much at a time? What kind of additives   do I use when changing the water?        I
           What is a refractometer and what purpose does it serve?
           What else should I know?

Any help/advice I can get would be greatly appreciated! 

Randy

             

[kennyman]

If your going to setup a system for a specific creature research the heck out of it before you start your build. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/snowflakemoray.htm and http://www.wetwebmedia.com/morays.htm  is a good place to start.

I have about the same volume as you and no way I'd try and keep a Moray in there. Now if you had sump/refuge of equal or greater volume than maybe. I have four 2"-3" fish in my tank and I am maxed out with respect to bioload. Even the smallest Moray get 2 feet long. There is a lot of hormones and excretions comming off a creature that big. Also it is a messy eater that needs flesh which pollutes your tank even more. SW is a whole new world when it comes to water quality.

[RoxyDog]

Keeping a fish only SW tank is not that much different than keeping a non-planted FW tank.  Lose the filters and get live rock and powerheads as was already said, or you could use an empty filter as a powerhead.  You need a heater suitable for the size of your tank, and remember you can't stock as much fish in SW as in FW.  You don't need to use additives @ all (well dechlorinator if you use tap water of course!), you just need salt.  Water change once a week, how much is debatable, but 15-20% is about what I do.  A refractometer tells you how much salt is in your water, you need to keep it pretty constant.  I use a swing arm hydrometer with no problems, but some people hate them. 

[White Lightning]

Thanx guys/girls! This sounds like it's gonna be fun. I am defintely gonna research the fish when it actually comes time to add some. So if I understand this correctly, I'll clean out the gravel and sadly part with my africans that are in there right now. Add some live sand, water with salt, and 60 lbs of live rock. I will hook up a powerhead and refractometer and I am on my way to keeping a saltwater tank?
So once all this has been added, I now wait for the tank to cycle?
How do you test the water parameters? I have kept four freshwater tanks for approximately 3yrs and never once tested my water. What do I test for in a saltwater aquarium besides the salt level?

Thanx again!

Randy

[White Lightning]

I just read an article on the link that kennyman provided me...very interesting. It pretty much coincided with what Roxydog said, "it's very simular to keeping a non planted freshwater tank." This shouldn't be too hard as I am quite dedicated to my tanks. I have always performed my weekly water changes for three years which is probably the reason why I have not had to test the water. All my fish are quite healthy. I have the occasional casuality but it's only due to having a bully in the tank.

[kennyman]

The biggest difference I found switching over a few years ago was how much slimy yuckyness loves to grow in a marine environment 

I think quite a few people who don't get a good handle on excess nutrients right away get beaten by relentless diatoms, dinoflagaltes, cyano and various algae. It took me quite a while to cycle through that stuff. But once you get it working it is so rewarding! My system is a couple of years old now and I am still finding new stuff appearing out of nowhere. Its great!

[xenon]

Here is a link to the sand bed calculator.

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/SandBed.php

You can get some test kits if you want. (alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrate, phosphate, ph)

Salifet was the industry standard but they are not very consistant anymore. I am starting to buy the Elos kits.

For flow you can get some maxijet 1200 powerheads. They are very cheap and you just cant kill them.

[Funkmotor]

But once you get it working it is so rewarding! My system is a couple of years old now and I am still finding new stuff appearing out of nowhere. Its great!

For a good example of that, see kennyman's post on finding those small stars in his tank: http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=24921.0

To me, that's really the best part about the Reef tank...you look in there one day/evening/night and wow!  Where did that little thing come from?  What the heck is that?  Pull out a dim flashlight at night and it's amazing how many little things are scurrying about...amphipods with their crazy legs all over the place, little shrimp, worms and all sorts of stuff.

I looked in last week and saw this little tiny fluorescent green "nodule" sitting on the sand.  It was only a couple mm across, and it was like a bunch of tiny balls joined together to make a 'star' if you can visualize that.

I kept FW for a long time myself, and though the plants can be pretty cool I just didn't find it terribly rewarding.  The fish aren't as colourful (with few exceptions) and they don't have as much personality...cichlids being the mosexception there.

With the reef you also get to have numerous types of snails, crabs and corals - and there's really no end to it.  There's so much different stuff out there that you could have a dozen tanks in your house/garage/shed/attic and you'd never touch what's available.  Never.

That's why I like it.