what is the bare minimal cost to upgrade to salt water?

Luckyduck

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Just when I think I have my tank nice and all set. There is always something happening. So there I go ordering more stuff for it to make it all better.
So true! Point & case. Got a perfectly working cheap-o air driven protein skimmer I bought off Amazon for $20. Just ordered a Reef Glass to replace it. Also just ordered a magnetic Speedstirrer to make testing easier. There's always something to buy lol
 

Texas Rick

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So true! Point & case. Got a perfectly working cheap-o air driven protein skimmer I bought off Amazon for $20. Just ordered a Reef Glass to replace it. Also just ordered a magnetic Speedstirrer to make testing easier. There's always something to buy lol
Yes, I bought a cheap $60 JBJ protein skimmer. dang thing broke. Had to buy a better protein skimmer. Spent $160 on a good Tunze DOC 9004 protein skimmer
 

Luckyduck

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Yes, I bought a cheap $60 JBJ protein skimmer. dang thing broke. Had to buy a better protein skimmer. Spent $160 on a good Tunze DOC 9004 protein skimmer
Oh those are really nice. That hang on back or stand in a sump? I am super limited on space unless I put it in the main display but I like to put it in my refugium which I've got basically a 2"x2" final chamber. The other one was a little bigger than that so it is in the center chamber. The Reef Glass is like an inch by an inch so it will fit nicely in the reutn chamber and open the center back up. Can't wait, should have it tomorrow actually. That and you can run the skim mate into a collection jar which is going to be very useful as my wife and I are going away on vacation for a week and I usually dump my skimmer once every two days. I'll just temporarily run it into a 2 liter bottle or something while we're gone. Can't expect my neighbor to take care of my reef aquarium while we're gone. Lol 4 foster kittens our cat and our dog is enough to take care of. Her head would explode if I had her top off, feed fish & corals, dose, empty skimmer check PH and do a couple water tests. Lol
 

Luckyduck

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It’s been running for 2 years. The first 6 months it ran without corals for the tank to mature. Then after I added a few corals, I had a bad Dino outbreak. Took another 6 months to overcome the dinos. I’m just taking it easy with the corals and letting the tank do it’s own thing.
Bro!! I won! Just won an auction on Ebay from World Wide Corals for some AOI zoos! So pumped!! Figured you'd be most excited out of anyone Mr. ZoaGarden :)

Screenshot_20200706-234152.png
 

Texas Rick

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Oh those are really nice. That hang on back or stand in a sump? I am super limited on space unless I put it in the main display but I like to put it in my refugium which I've got basically a 2"x2" final chamber. The other one was a little bigger than that so it is in the center chamber. The Reef Glass is like an inch by an inch so it will fit nicely in the reutn chamber and open the center back up. Can't wait, should have it tomorrow actually. That and you can run the skim mate into a collection jar which is going to be very useful as my wife and I are going away on vacation for a week and I usually dump my skimmer once every two days. I'll just temporarily run it into a 2 liter bottle or something while we're gone. Can't expect my neighbor to take care of my reef aquarium while we're gone. Lol 4 foster kittens our cat and our dog is enough to take care of. Her head would explode if I had her top off, feed fish & corals, dose, empty skimmer check PH and do a couple water tests. Lol
Love it, does a way better job than the JBJ one. I have to empty it everyday. Plus it’s adjustable. You can control the motor. I have it nearly in the lowest setting and it skims nearly a cup every day. When I leave, usually for 2 to 3 days. I just turn it off so it won’t over flow.
 

45ZoaGarden

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Bro!! I won! Just won an auction on Ebay from World Wide Corals for some AOI zoos! So pumped!! Figured you'd be most excited out of anyone Mr. ZoaGarden :)

Screenshot_20200706-234152.png
Congrats man! Those are a very nice piece! I just picked up some moneyshots for my tank a few days ago. The aio’s can be finicky with light. I’d pm wwc and ask about where they keep them so yours are happy where you choose to put them!
 

45ZoaGarden

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Love it, does a way better job than the JBJ one. I have to empty it everyday. Plus it’s adjustable. You can control the motor. I have it nearly in the lowest setting and it skims nearly a cup every day. When I leave, usually for 2 to 3 days. I just turn it off so it won’t over flow.
I have the same skimmer on my tank! It shouldn’t be filling up a cup per day though. It should take a few days and be skimming tea water. I think you probably have it set too low into the water.
 

Luckyduck

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Congrats man! Those are a very nice piece! I just picked up some moneyshots for my tank a few days ago. The aio’s can be finicky with light. I’d pm wwc and ask about where they keep them so yours are happy where you choose to put them!
Oh the money shots are sweet too! Okay I'll definitely PM them and find out. They're customer service is great. I've gone back and fourth with them on Ebay a bunch of times, very friendly people.
 

Luckyduck

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Here I go again. In the spirit of buying things I just upgraded my CPR Hang on back refugium from a small 13" to a medium 19". Aslo bought my third and final grow light; the Cheato Max. Had two $20 grow lights on it before switched from one to the other. Figured with more room I'll grab the Chaeto Max. Bought it from Innovative Marines second hand refurb for $50. Not a bad price.
 

45ZoaGarden

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Here I go again. In the spirit of buying things I just upgraded my CPR Hang on back refugium from a small 13" to a medium 19". Aslo bought my third and final grow light; the Cheato Max. Had two $20 grow lights on it before switched from one to the other. Figured with more room I'll grab the Chaeto Max. Bought it from Innovative Marines second hand refurb for $50. Not a bad price.
I thought you were working on setting up a new tank? LOL
 

flabryth

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hey guys, i have been keeping fresh water fishtanks for allmost 4 years now and i allways wanted to try salt water, i have a 240 liter (60 gallon) fish tank, i'm not gonna start off with corals, as i wanna start out just seeing if i can maintain just regular salt water fish first, so my question is what is the cost of going bare minimum to change to salt water, seeing as i dont want live coral (yet) and what would i need to keep just the fish for now? thx guys

you can check out my build thread for a general idea of what a Fish Only With Live Rock F.O.W.L.E.R setup looks like.
you can removed the fluidized filter media and insert a refugium if you want. this is more or less the general setup you need. you can ask me questions on any specific questions about my equipment selections.
 

Luckyduck

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I thought you were working on setting up a new tank? LOL
I am. That's why I upgraded the refugium ;) Just waiting for the stand to show up and I'll get moving! Got my water all mixed up ready to go. It's gonna be a long day when it does show up. I've got a 5 gallon Aquarium all cleaned out to hold my corals while I move the rest of the stuff. I'm gonna acclimate them as well adding some of the new water to the tank. Got a little pump and I'll put the light over that tank. It's probably gonna be an all day affair. Also gonna clean off the rocks really good as I got a slime aglae outbreak last week from my dumbbutt over feeding my corals. Had a nasty phosphate and nitrate spike. Got the phosphates back under control back to 0.05 and working on the nitrates now, tested 25ppm still this morning. Used a bunch of products from Brightwell to fix it up, I'm very pleased with how well it's working.

IMG_20200706_185349.jpg
 

flabryth

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Order it online then.

why pay that price, just buy some dead rock, a couple pieces of live rook, and some coralline algae in a bottle. As the saying goes if you can grow coralline the your tank is ready for corals. this slow and steady pace will save you time, frustration, and money. nothing good happens fast in a reef tank...short cutting and filling your tank with already live rock with coralline highlights this principle. yes you can start the rock early but that would not mean you tank parameters are ready and mature enough to support coral.

I am not an expert on this I am mainly a fish guy but it seems rushing any process in this hobby comes back to hunt you every time.
 
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Luckyduck

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why pay that price, just by some dead rock a couple pieces if live rook and some coralline algae in a bottle. As the saying goes if you can grow coralline the your tank is ready for corals. this slow and steady pace will save you time, frustration, and money. nothing good happens fast in a reef tank...short cutting and filling your tank with already live rock with coralline highlights this principle. yes you can start the rock early but that would not mean you tank parameters are ready and mature enough to support coral.

I am not an expert on this I am mainly a fish guy but it seems rushing any process in this hobby comes back to hunt you every time.
That's very true that you can't rush this hobby but you can speed certain things along. Bacteria colonization is one, coralline growth is another. Bottled Copepods to help establish a mature eco-systen. Carbon to feed bacteria and chemicals to boost coralline growth. There's many products out now that help achieve getting to a mature point quick than before. You always have to be cautious and do your research on products to find the correct one for you and test your parameters to make sure you're in line. I have a thriving reef with Coral growth and a huge population of pods after 7 weeks from the start of my tank. I spent a lot of money though for the proper equipment and additives to get me to where I am today but it is entirely possible. Dry rock online sells for about $2 a pound. You may want to consider curing it for a couple months ahead of time but it is a very inexpensive alternative to live rock. There is no such thing as dead rock. If you have live rock its live, even for months out of water organisms can survive deep in the rock. You would be buying dry rock or man made rock if you want "dead rock".
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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