Hallo!

[Medym]

Hi all,

A friend of mine just pointed me to the direction of this site recently as I am in the middle of making the big move from fresh water to salt water.  I've kept a 56 gal tank and decided to change it over to salt water.  I have received a lot of support and information from friends, the guys over at Fish Tail, and from various online sources.

I look forward to keeping you all updated as I take the plunge!


Cheers,

Matt

[Rybren]

Matt,

Welcome to OVAS.

There are quite a few salties here, so please feel free to ask away if you have any questions.

[dan2x38]

Look forward to following another s/w build. I too switch over about 1.5 yrs ago and do not regret it one bit very rewarding side of things. Good size tank to start with too.

[Feivel]

Welcome to OVAS Matt

There are actualy a couple recent topics about builds and the needs to start oneup. I also have JUST switched over. i have my tank cycling but i need more LR. its been up about 3 weeks. don't have any cash to purchase anything

MAKE sure you have good clean water (RO/DI) and a GOOD set of lights and you will be very happy. What type of tank are you looking to set up Fish only? FOWLR(Fish Only With Live Rock) or Reef ? (corals fish the whole sha bang) and also are you running a sump?

Cheers and good luck.

[White Lightning]

Good luck Matt!

One thing I would suggest is that you do  lot of research before buying all of your needed equipment. Often times people buy the cheaper things (ie lights) and then find out that they are not strong enough to support the things they would like to keep ( ie clams, anemones etc)

Its a great hobby! Enjoy!

[Medym]

MAKE sure you have good clean water (RO/DI) and a GOOD set of lights and you will be very happy. What type of tank are you looking to set up Fish only? FOWLR(Fish Only With Live Rock) or Reef ? (corals fish the whole sha bang) and also are you running a sump?

I am looking to do the FOWLR at this time.  Sadly I am unable to run a sump due to space restrictions at this time (that and the wife wasnt up for me smashing holes into the wall right now to achieve the complex plumbing I would have liked).

One thing I would suggest is that you do  lot of research before buying all of your needed equipment. Often times people buy the cheaper things (ie lights) and then find out that they are not strong enough to support the things they would like to keep ( ie clams, anemones etc)

I have been researching for a couple months now.  Reading books, forums, blogs, websites and the like.  I am making use of a lot of what I have right now for my tank as I had a lot of what I needed for FOWLR. With my fresh water I was running with a canister filter which I plan to use now with live rock inside adding carbon and floss as I move forward and as it is needed.  From what I have also read my coralife light and bulb at this time should be more than enough to support FOWLR, but I suspect it will be upgraded as I get more into it.  Since it 'will do for now' I will save myself on this expense as I get used to the different chemistry and challenges of a marine aquarium. 

The guys at FishTail have also been fantastic; I have gone in a number of times and they have always been willing to give me their feedback, honest advice, and to educate me. 

Over the past little bit I have been staring at an empty aquarium as Ive waited for the time to add my live rock.  I picked up about 20lbs of live rock from an established tank a while ago and I will be adding it shortly to the tank.  I also picked up a corner piece of a DIY rock (from a very kind individual from OVAS) which will be looking to add into the mix in a while as well.  Hopefully I will find the last bit of live rock I desire in the next month or so to be able to complete my 'vision' of how I wanted it 'scaped.

Some point soon I guess I will start a thread on my build, but for now, I will lurk like a creeper.

Matt

[dan2x38]

Using a canister filter can go against you believe it or not! The issue the bio-bacteria builds up which is good right but it also creates what is called a nutrient sink in this case excess NO3 (nirate). Google nutrient sink and marine aquariums tons of good links for that topic. With good cured LR and power heads plus your regular water changes you can easily have a healthy tank low in excess nutrients that cause algae. It is so easy to end up with out breaks in marine aquaria. There is no NO3 in our oceans (well virtually) so it is not good for fish or corals and your chief algae contributor especially if you have an entry level light fixture.

Everyone is just trying to point out what works and that research can't be stressed enough for success. For myself I spent 2 yrs researching and then 6 months collecting components before assembling my first marine tank. Besides for me it was fun learning and still is I am learning so much just from threads like these.

You can also put a sump under the stand. It doesn't have to be tons of money or super fancy either. But the benefits far out way any cost. If you can't that is cool on your next build design one... there will be more builds trust me... LOL