The Puffer Forum

I'm getting ready to order what I need to set up my gsp's 55 tank to brackish. I want to do this the cheapest way possible for now and for in the long run. The tank has CC substrate and a tetra 60 filter. This was 55g tank was a $99.00 special (very good deal). I know they need about 1.015 salt. From reading here I learned marine is cheaper because you can do less water changes if you have the tank set up right.

What changes would I have to make right now to go full marine as far as equipment needed. Do I have to run a sump to do less water changes? Do I have to have live rock?

If buying everything all at once would be to much at this time for full marine is my tetra 60 filter effecient for a brackish tank? I will be ordering the salt water mixing kit from dr F&S witch includes pump, heater, refractometer, and other misc items. They recommend RO water to use in the tank, will it be a problem to use tap and prime for either set up?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

The BIG purchase would be protein skimmer and live rock. a good protein skimmer runs between 150-200 dollars, and live rock usually is between 4-7/lb at a LFS but sometimes you can go onto places like reefcenteral and find people local that will sell cheaper. but yes once you have a solid marine tank running it should sustain itself better than a brakish tank requiring less water changes but any water changes with marine do require more salt, so i think brakish would be cheaper to run but marine give you the posibility (now i know someone will prob say im wrong but i know it has been done) (idk if you only have one GSP in the 55 but that would be even better for this scenario but 2 might work also) if it were full marine you could try some other marine tank mates and see if your gsp would go for it, i know some people have had luck with maroon clowns and some other various fish. so if you have the money i think it's definitly better than brakish. also gives the possibility if you can afford the lighting to try some of the cheaper and tougher corals and see if your puffer will leave them alone.

as far as the RO water goes i think the RO water would be better but i dont use it and IMO using tap water and a dechlorinator of some kind is fine! people have used that for years and never had problems, i mean if money isnt a problem then sure use RO but if you wanna keep it cheaper grab a cheap bottle of Amqual from DR.F&S for 5.99 and thats like 1000 gallons.

I have seen some cheap skimmers like this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=12703

I'm guessing they are not what is need as it says surface skimmer and cheap. Good I don't have to use ro water for either tank. Maybe in the future who knows. So lr is a must in a marine tank? If the skimmer is 150.00 I'll have to wait on that more and likely.

I do house 2 baby gsp's in the 55g. No plans to add anything else. Perhaps I will up grade the tank in a year or so. I still need to know if my tetra 60 going to work ok in brackish.

I know to add .02 salt a week to up the salt. Should I go to 1.015 asap w/ gsp a little under 2 inches?

That's a FW suface skimmer, it removes annoying oily slicks from the top of the tank water, increasing aeration and improving the look. I have that one on my turtle tank. A GSP under two inches will do fine at around SG 1.008 I think. Yes, LR must be in a marine tank, I had no dieoff starting adding mine at SG 1.018, but that's about the limit. A skimmer starts working properly at about that SG as well.

Yea if i were you i would leave the SG around like .010 or se until they get a little above 2 inches then raise it to about .015

then if you decide to go marine i would get it to about .018 like nick said and start adding the LR. and yes skimmers are really expensive and most people will say you have to buy the expensive, ive never had personal experiance but everyone ive talked to has said the same thing "buy the cheap one and in under 6 months youll wish you had just bought the more expensive one" so i gotta trust them when i switch my tank to marine.

but yea the tank should be fine at .010 for a while and that would keep water change cost down not using as much salt too. but yes the tetra 60 will work fine in a brakish tank but if im not mistaken the carbon isnt as effective with salt in the water or isnt needed or somthing along those lines so just put carbon in one side and some kind of bio/sponge media in the other side (i am thinking that the tetra 60 is the one with two filtration chambers right?)

Be careful with what skimmer you get, the cheaper ones are crap, and you'll end up having to replace them anyway and spend even more money. Much better idea to get a good one right off the bat, you'll end up saving yourself money. I have an AquaC Remora Hang-on skimmer, I love it. It makes my life so easy. It was easy to set up, I didn't have to do anything special, it just worked amazingly right from the start, no annoying bubbles or anything. I'd highly recommend it.

In my opinion it's easier to slowly work your way up to full marine, that way you can buy all the parts in pieces. (buy a skimmer one month, then the next month or so start buying/curing live rock).

I will have to do marine gradually. I spent to much today on decor for a new 20g tank and still need my other stuff from dr f&S. Yes cobra the tetra 60 has 2 filter chambers.

zombiefetus how long have you been running your AquaC Remora Hang-on skimmer?

I have heard wonderful things about the remora skimmers.

StormySkiez wrote: zombiefetus how long have you been running your AquaC Remora Hang-on skimmer?

It's been about three months. Before that I had a SeaClone for a few months T_T I hate that thing so much. I got one new for like $65 and figured I could just put some adjustments and have it work. I got it to work for about a day the whole time I had it. I hate that stupid piece of junk so much. Eventually I'd had enough and bought my Remora used off e-bay (a good way to save money on skimmers) all I did was set it up and turn it on, it's run perfect ever since, it's easy to clean too. I absolutely love it.

Remora will be on my list for a skimmer. Thanks zombie and all.

I have 2 GSP's in a 55g as well. Do I have to go full marine when they mature or will they be fine @ 1.008 to 1.012 for their whole lives?

It's generally believed that past 4 inches, they do best at more like 1.015 or 1.016, thereby making it much more affordable to go to 1.018, just below marine where a skimmer and LR will work.