Converting Fresh Water tank to marine setup

[AltisD]

Hi All Expert, 

I have been in FW keeping for many years and now would like to explore the possibility of converting one of my 3 ft FW tank to marine.

It is a solid 8mm thick all round tank with full euro-bracing tank. Hence the idea of getting hang on overflow box is out. 

How can I achieve the filtration if I do not want to create a sump? How and what type of Skimmer should I get and what about the filtration?

What lighting and how many wavemaker? Do I need a chiller as I plan to place this tank in my living room which is not air-con, normal room temperature.

I would love to have corals and some fishes in this setup plus cleaning crew such as snail, hermit crab and shrimp as well.

Any advise will be much appreciated. 

I have look around for those all-in-one marine tank setup such as the innovative nuvo 20 marine tank but think I am better off setting up my 3 ft tank.....Thanks in advance.

 

[SJ]

U was at FnM today?


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[bsjz]

If you plan to keep corals i would say that chiller is a must (even if you can maintain temperature with a fan you never know what singapore's weather can give you)
For skimmer i think your option will be for a hangon skimmer if you dont have a sump(not sure if there is a hangon skimmer strong enought for a 3ft....most hangon skimmer are used for smaller tanks)
For filtration you wont have much option if you dont have a sump....the only thing i could think of is a cabister filter(highly not reccomended)
For wavemakers i believe 2 proper sized ones will do the job.

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[bsjz]

Overall my suggestion will be to get a tank with a sump....it will make your life easier

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[bsjz]

These are just my personal opinion.....its not impossible to maintain a reef tank without a sump but it just make things easier if you have one.

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[hijackng]

Old school reef keeping
Yes, It is possible to keep reef tank without sump and chiller!
However, u had to understand the concept of reef keeping and limited to hardy corals.
IMO, Heat is the main concern.

There are few things had to be in control in your tank.

1. Ammonia, Nitrate and Phosphate: use only biological filter, like "CURED" LIVE rock or MarinePure inside tank.
No electricity driven filtration to minimise heat.
Minimise number of fish.

2. Heat: use appropriate number of fan to lower temperature. Too many fan is noisy and water evaporates to drastic. Check salinity frequently and refill evaporated water with rodi/distilled water.

3. Water movement: use appropriate size/number of DC wave maker. Too large or many wm produce heat to water.
Wm is a must to help move water around live rock/marinepure for biological filtration

4. Light: may want to use low heat Led light,

5. Waste export: Use wooden airstone driven skimmer. No heat. You may want to hang a small basket of Cheato under the light for nutrient export.

Hope my input help u start your first reef tank.
And may one day become a true reefaholic



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[hijackng]

Oh.. One more thing.

Biological filtration: use A LOT of cured live rock or A FEW Marinepure BLOCK (8"x8" type), this is for hosting plenty of both Nitrification and De-Nitrification bacterial



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[Cliff]

Hi,

I'm selling my 3 mths old 20 gallon ios tank fr FnM with cabinet n Teco Chiller in 2 weeks times if u can wait. As I'm waiting for my new tank to be ready to transfer my coral n fish.

Includes Equipment, Rocks n Sands


Sms me 8268 3232 for more detail


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[AltisD]

On 8/4/2017 at 7:05 PM, SJ said:

U was at FnM today?


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Yes, I visited it last week to find out more information.....haha

Pardon for late reply

[AltisD]

On 8/4/2017 at 9:07 PM, hijackng said:

Old school reef keeping
Yes, It is possible to keep reef tank without sump and chiller!
However, u had to understand the concept of reef keeping and limited to hardy corals.
IMO, Heat is the main concern.

There are few things had to be in control in your tank.

1. Ammonia, Nitrate and Phosphate: use only biological filter, like "CURED" LIVE rock or MarinePure inside tank.
No electricity driven filtration to minimise heat.
Minimise number of fish.

2. Heat: use appropriate number of fan to lower temperature. Too many fan is noisy and water evaporates to drastic. Check salinity frequently and refill evaporated water with rodi/distilled water.

3. Water movement: use appropriate size/number of DC wave maker. Too large or many wm produce heat to water.
Wm is a must to help move water around live rock/marinepure for biological filtration

4. Light: may want to use low heat Led light,

5. Waste export: Use wooden airstone driven skimmer. No heat. You may want to hang a small basket of Cheato under the light for nutrient export.

Hope my input help u start your first reef tank.
And may one day become a true reefaholic



Sent from my CPH1611 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for kind inputs and idea....I will probably want to start off right....being with FW tank for years with monster fish....know the importance of good filtration and learning more on the SW addition of phosphate and calcium.....I do have quite a few bit of Marine pure media that I can transfer from my FW tank to SW.....however not sure if I need to pre-treat these media or I can simply put them into the SW tank?

Thanks in advance. 

[AltisD]

On 8/5/2017 at 11:32 AM, Cliff said:

Hi,

I'm selling my 3 mths old 20 gallon ios tank fr FnM with cabinet n Teco Chiller in 2 weeks times if u can wait. As I'm waiting for my new tank to be ready to transfer my coral n fish.

Includes Equipment, Rocks n Sands


Sms me 8268 3232 for more detail


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Hi am interested...do ctc me on 90061188, cheers!

[nyeehsien]

maybe glass not thick enough


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[Naughtyfish]

Thanks for kind inputs and idea....I will probably want to start off right....being with FW tank for years with monster fish....know the importance of good filtration and learning more on the SW addition of phosphate and calcium.....I do have quite a few bit of Marine pure media that I can transfer from my FW tank to SW.....however not sure if I need to pre-treat these media or I can simply put them into the SW tank?
Thanks in advance. 

What's Monster fish ? Anyway my bf used to have a freshwater tank which he covert to marine tank, just like you, soon he started hanging Reactors, skimmer, hang this Hang that, such an eyesore, in the end bought a new tank set with sump. I say, if possible do it write from the start get a tank with sump, it pays for itself in the Long run. However if you have to really settle for sumpless, must gets FOWLR: refractometer, hangon protein skimmer, wavemaker,liverock for denitrification , but if you don't mind the eyesore or have a place to hide marine blocks, they're really good for hosting beneficial bacterias, LPS/ soft coral: refractometer, liverock, hangon skimmer, phosban reactor, biopellet reactor, chiller , wavemaker, test kits : kH, pH, nitrate, phosphate at least . Good luck


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[AltisD]

On 8/8/2017 at 11:15 PM, Naughtyfish said:

What's Monster fish ? Anyway my bf used to have a freshwater tank which he covert to marine tank, just like you, soon he started hanging Reactors, skimmer, hang this Hang that, such an eyesore, in the end bought a new tank set with sump. I say, if possible do it write from the start get a tank with sump, it pays for itself in the Long run. However if you have to really settle for sumpless, must gets FOWLR: refractometer, hangon protein skimmer, wavemaker,liverock for denitrification , but if you don't mind the eyesore or have a place to hide marine blocks, they're really good for hosting beneficial bacterias, LPS/ soft coral: refractometer, liverock, hangon skimmer, phosban reactor, biopellet reactor, chiller , wavemaker, test kits : kH, pH, nitrate, phosphate at least . Good luck


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Hi I keep Aro, 1 Red about 19-20", a few kkp, 1 14" Fork Bar IT in my 6 ft tank. Another 2 18-19" XB and IT and Black Wolf in my 4ft FGT and another smaller Red Aro 9-10", about 10-12 smaller 3 bar IT, 1 small pure BD and 2 BD Hybrid, a few ATF...Both 5ft and 6ft tank have 13-14" Feifong....3ft tank have close to 15 pelco, various L number and a moonlight catfish.....the other 3ft is housing a shortbody Kong Ming and sucker fish, this is my grow out tank or hospital tank (spare tank). 

Thinking of clearing some of my stock and fist tank to make way for this upcoming Marine project.....still learning and reading up on Marine now.....most likely will prefer to head towards a new 3ft or 4ft tank with sump after hearing so much from all kind Shifu here and after reading up more on the internet......hiaz....this is really poisonous even worse than FW aquarium! Hopefully I can start off my project soon but first need to lelong my FW stock and tank away first....hahaha, if not CO will sure be very very very..........hiaz....

 

[alons]

On 04/08/2017 at 7:31 PM, bsjz said:

Overall my suggestion will be to get a tank with a sump....it will make your life easier

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Totally agree, proper filteration is a key success factor + you have a bunch of equipment in the sump.

Tank, sump, proper piping, good return pump and good skimmer are basics to start off on the right foot.

Not related but relevant, I'm selling a kick-ass 4 feet tank, PM if interested.