Transition from bw to sw?

[Brandon8521]

I plan on one day makeing the transition from bw to sw with my 40 gallon tank. At what sg is a skimmer and live rock needed and a hob with fw media pointless? Could you make the transition with live rock and then get a skimmer or is the skimmer detrimental to the success of the tank? Also would a sump be needed (my tank is not drilled and will have to use a hob overflow.) The reason i ask about the sump is i have read alot that a in sump skimmer works much much better? This is a topic for my future plans but want to start the research early and thought alot of other ppl could learn from what is replied.

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't try them in <1.018. Sump not totally necessary, there are some very good HOB skimmers.

[Brandon8521]

I understand that the skimmer is purely a mechanical filter would puregan(i think i spelled that wrong) in a hob filter work as a mechanical filter or would it fail in comparison to a skimmer. I know these may seem as dumb ?'s but i am just curious. And if there is no where to cure the lr and your transitioning a stocked tank from bw to sw how would you safely make that transition without causeing spikes in water chemistry. Would lr at a local marine fs be cured since it stays in their display tanks for possibly months b4 being baught?

[Pufferpunk]

FAIL! In no way does the Purigen work anywhere near similar to a protein skimmer.

Cure the LR in a bucket, with a powerhead & heater.

[Brandon8521]

Ok so no way would it compair to a skimmer...... is there any other chemicals/suppliments needed for a fowlr tank. i know there are tons for a reef tank.

[Pufferpunk]

Nope, you can even still use tap water if you wish, as long as you dechlorinate & pre-mix.

[Brandon8521]

Is there a reason to use prime or amquel if you have well water?

[Pufferpunk]

No

[Pufferfreak42]

I'm on a well and use Prime. I don't want to take any chances on something being in the water. It also gives the fish a slime coat that protects them.

[Mek0ng]

Dont add live rock until your SG is up to marine, ~1.025 SG, it was harvested from 1/2 around the world and you are buying it for the life it has on it, treat it with the same respect you would a fish or any other life. Cure in a bucket as PP said, if you cant cure it in a tank.

Look into Octopus HOB and Octopus HOB skimmers, I read that they are pretty good. A HOB skimmer will not skim as good as a in sump skimmer, but still its a lot better than nothing.

I have read that prime will make a skimmer go nuts. RO/DI would be best, another option is getting filtered water from the supermarket in 5g containers but that is a major back ache. Tap water or well water, you run the risk of elevated nitrates and phosphates. Test your well water to see if its a concern.

Running somthing like carbon and gfo or some kind of combination filter media would be a good idea too. You could use a HOB filter for that. How ever, dont just run a sponge filter, take the HOB filter off if you are not using chemical filtration.

[Brandon8521]

Thnx Mekong that was very informative. My well water I love 0 anything or at least not readable. And a decent ph of 6.7 I beleive it was. After I add my salt my tank keeps a 7.8 ph at 1.016 and no ph buffing substrate.

[Nick]

I believe only large overdoses of prime should effect skimmers in any way, and even that is anecdotal. I'm sure you're thinking of Stress Coat, the aloe! It will set your skimmer up for DAYS of wet foam overflow.

When I worked at the LFS, at one point, a new manager (who was very good in most respects, and boy do I hate management) had not worked in a store with a salt water system before. So when a new employee did a water change, she just had him use the free huge jug of stress coat API gave us along with the "used in our store tanks" stickers. I swear, whenever I was not there they just turned the thing off, and when I was, I was dumping a cup of wet skimmate every 5-10 minutes. So that's... 38 estimated hours of wet skimming before it died down to reasonable. No idea how much that guy added, but do NOT put stress coat in a tank with a skimmer.

[Pufferpunk]

Actually, I think they might be referring to Melafix, which really causes great foam & overflowing skimmers. Never heard of Prime doing that & don't know why it would.

[Pufferfreak42]

I don't know anything about saltwater tanks, I just wanted to point out that because I'm on a well also, I still use a conditioner as I don't want to take any chances. I use Prime so that's why I mentioned that product.

[Nick]

Original or pond melafix will do it too for sure.