Help please, converting fluval Roma 240 to marine.

[Sarah1990]

Hello I have a fluval Roma 240 currently used as a tropical tank. I'd love to change this to marine but I'm not entirely sure of the best equipment to use/changes to make. Has anyone done with this tank or a similar tank and can give any advice please?

I had a go at marine before but found the sump on the second hand tank I bought to be very loud and my autistic partner couldn't deal with it especially with the ATO beeping in the middle of the night too.

I'd like to continue to use a canister filter, I currently have the fluval 407 and am thinking of changing to a fluval fx4, would this be a good choice or is there a better filter?

I also want to keep the hood on to minimise the evaporation and am thinking of changing from the aquasky to the fluval sea marine 46W, would this be adequate for softies and possibly a few LPS?

I have still got the rock from the old tank in the garage, dry. Could I clean this and use it?
I'm also wondering if I can clean the sand currently in the tropical tank and use that as the base underneath some finer aragonite? I'd like to get another peacock wrasse so I need deep sand but it's expensive stuff.

Sorry for all the questions and thank you if you read this far.

 

[Rtaylor]

Hi and welcome! You can definitely convert a tank from tropical to marine. A lot of people use canister filters on marine tanks, but they are a ton of maintenance. I’d personally do two oversized hang on back (hob) filters before using a canister.
You can use your old rock assuming it’s porous reef/saltwater rock and not the dense, smooth rock often used in freshwater.

As for the sand….first, you do mean you currently have sand, not gravel correct? You absolutely can’t use aquarium gravel with burrowing saltwater fish like wrasses. It also shouldn’t be too course. You could probably clean and reuse your sand, but there is a risk it has elements that would be undesirable and even deadly (not super likely) depending on exactly what it is. For new sand, don’t get oolite, it’s too fine and just blows around everywhere. You can get relatively inexpensive sand from Petco:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/caribsea-florida-crushed-coral-substrate

Personally, pretty much all of the strip lights like the one you mentioned kinda suck. They don’t penetrate the water very well so unless it’s a really shallow tank, I’d look for something else. I don’t know how much room is under the hood, but T’5’s might be your best bet if you really want to keep the hood.

 

[Idech]

I bought an FX-4 for my freshwater tank and sold it. Way too hard to do maintenance on for my taste.

I transformed my 75 fresh to salt and I did not use my canister filter because (Fluval 407) because you need to change the media every few days and it’s just not practical with a canister. You can’t clean it every 6 weeks like you do in Freshwater. You only use it with mechanical and chemical media (if needed) and it needs to be kept clean.

So I went with the Tunze trio : Tunze internal filter, Tunze skimmer and Tunze ATO. They are sold in a bindle in Europe but in North America you buy them separately. Very good quality equipment, and practically silent.

Reefpack 500 - Tunze

Hi-Tech für Aquaristik

www.tunze.com

 

[Sarah1990]

Hi and welcome! You can definitely convert a tank from tropical to marine. A lot of people use canister filters on marine tanks, but they are a ton of maintenance. I’d personally do two oversized hang on back (hob) filters before using a canister.
You can use your old rock assuming it’s porous reef/saltwater rock and not the dense, smooth rock often used in freshwater.

As for the sand….first, you do mean you currently have sand, not gravel correct? You absolutely can’t use aquarium gravel with burrowing saltwater fish like wrasses. It also shouldn’t be too course. You could probably clean and reuse your sand, but there is a risk it has elements that would be undesirable and even deadly (not super likely) depending on exactly what it is. For new sand, don’t get oolite, it’s too fine and just blows around everywhere. You can get relatively inexpensive sand from Petco:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/caribsea-florida-crushed-coral-substrate

Personally, pretty much all of the strip lights like the one you mentioned kinda suck. They don’t penetrate the water very well so unless it’s a really shallow tank, I’d look for something else. I don’t know how much room is under the hood, but T’5’s might be your best bet if you really want to keep the hood.

Okay great thank you, I will have a look at T5s.

Yes the rock is porous not smooth but I've just been out to find it in the garage and it has some rat droppings on so I guess I need to get fresh rock and also deal with the mouse issue

Yes I've got sand not gravel I was hoping to just use it to reduce how much new sand I'd need to buy as i didn't really want to spend too much just to upgrade a tank I already have but I will shop around and try to get all new sand. I'm in the UK so I can't order from there but thank you.

 

[Rtaylor]

Okay great thank you, I will have a look at T5s.

Yes the rock is porous not smooth but I've just been out to find it in the garage and it has some rat droppings on so I guess I need to get fresh rock and also deal with the mouse issue

Yes I've got sand not gravel I was hoping to just use it to reduce how much new sand I'd need to buy as i didn't really want to spend too much just to upgrade a tank I already have but I will shop around and try to get all new sand. I'm in the UK so I can't order from there but thank you.

You can use the rock, just clean in a bleach solution and then allow to fully dry in the sun (at least a week). As long as the rock completely dries, the chlorine from the bleach will all evaporate.

What kind of sand do you currently have?

 

[Sarah1990]

You can use the rock, just clean in a bleach solution and then allow to fully dry in the sun (at least a week). As long as the rock completely dries, the chlorine from the bleach will all evaporate.

What kind of sand do you currently have?

I can't remember what the brand of sand it was, it wasn't live sand it was just fine beige aquarium sand from the local aquatic shop. If I can reuse the rock I can more easily afford all new sand though

 

[Sarah1990]

You can use the rock, just clean in a bleach solution and then allow to fully dry in the sun (at least a week). As long as the rock completely dries, the chlorine from the bleach will all evaporate.

What kind of sand do you currently have?

 

[Rtaylor]

You should be ok using it. It might cause high phosphates for a while, but that’s not a big deal. Just clean it really thoroughly to get as much organic waste as possible removed.