freshwater to marine

[warlord238]

i have had my freshwater tank up for abot a year and wanna convert it to salt...i have read the marine tanks for dummies books but was wondering what stuff i might need to do this.

i have the basic stuff every tank needs like filtration and stuff like that but is there any other more specific things i wouldneed for a marine tank that i dont already have from my freshwater one

also what would be a good puffer to throw in there the dimmensions of the tank are 24" tall, 14" wide, and 40" long

[zombiefetus]

(Your tank is about 58 gallons)

What kind of tank did you want to set up? Are you looking to get corals, or just fish and liverock?

[warlord238]

just fish and live rock...i love puffers so im most likely only going to be looking for a single puffer or whatever ammount is recommended but i dont mind a single specimen tank

[warlord238]

i also dont want a GSP they are to common...i currently have 3 F8s in a similar size tank and i even got a tattoo of 1 on my arm lol

[trekenk]

In a 58 gallon about the only saltwater puffer you would be able to keep would be one of the toby's varities. As far as filteration live rock 1 1/2 to 2 lbs per gallon and a good protein skimmer with good water flow is all you need.

[goldielocke76]

+1

You can always do a puffer from the Canthigaster genus, such as Sharp-nosed Puffers or Tobies. I have heard that they do well in a FOWLR set up, especially if you only want one.

-Saddle Valentini Puffer
-Papuan Toby Puffer (personally love the colors on this one)
-Saddle Puffer
-Spotted Puffer
-Bennett's Sharpnose Puffer
-Blue Spotted Puffer
-Leopard Puffer (I believe PP has one of these)

Found all of these on: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aqua ... fm?c=15+39

[warlord238]

ok awesome...also i probly wont be able to buy all that liverock at once so if i use a little bit of live rock along with my aquaclear 70 HOB filter until i have enough rock will that be ok....also how long should i wait before adding fish after i get salinity to the correct levels

[J-P]

what is in the tank now?

The quick and dirty way (if empty) is just to raise the SG level to where you want it, add some dry rock, a powerhead or 2 and some bacteria.

You'll need to consider a substrate, possibly a skimmer and maybe some live rock but once you get the SG and the substrate out of the way, the sky is the limit in terms of potential and costs

[warlord238]

right now it currently has 2 figure 8s and a big african featherfin catfish

the substrate is playsand and its been up and running for a little over a year

also after i get the sg level to where it needs to be and all that other good stuff is when i do water changes will i always need to add more salt, i talked to one guy and he says he hasnt added salt to his water in atleast 8 months with weekly to bi weekly water changes and his level stay the same..what should i do

[Pufferpunk]

What are your plans for those fish? The synodontis prefers opposite water conditions (soft, FW) than the F8s (hard, BW).

[warlord238]

i guess its not a featherfin cuz it looks nothing like the google pics and was sold to me out of a BW tank and i wont be doing this tank water conversion untill i find a good enouh home for the lil guys that arealready in the tank