hustler Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Ok so Ive been avoiding even looking in the section like the plauge..... Every time im at the pet store i stomp right through the salt section just like when the wife comes and trys to stop at the kittens.... Were not salt people i say..... life is complicated enough..... But doing exotic freshwater for 15 years plus the question does start to widdle you down lol.... And when i got my 300 set up thats all anyone asked.... Is it salt? will it be salt? blah blah blah.... So now im sitting here... watching youtube videos of how too reefs, seeing all the lion fish, and panther groupers and crazy corals and I feel a little like one more video is going to push me over the edge. I know there is ALOT to do when it comes to salt but for the average freshie how hard is it to make the switch? My 300 has a giant sump with room for a skimmer, I have an RO unit and the tank has been nothing but perfect since the week I filled it as far as PH and ammonia ect Is this a cross over worth doing? lol Is this just evolution and Im trying to fight the current Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoD Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 not at all. i thought it would be hard so i started with a 55 gallon saltwater...... after a month i realized how easy it is, i went to a 180 gallon and its been going good so far. its just more expensive than freshwater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 biggest piece of advice i've seen when people ask about going salt is 'invest in a good hydrometer!'. if you do cross over to the dark side, that will be one sweet tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted May 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Im really excited about it alot of square footage to work with but some of the set ups ive seen are just insane...... small computers running things ect ect And one gent i was talking to about livestock actually laughed at me when I told him how cool it would be to get into sharks..... Just like freshwater monsters.... big empty tank with one big meanie swimming around lol. If i do make the jump Ill have to go reef and stick with the community mentality for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoD Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 biggest piece of advice i've seen when people ask about going salt is 'invest in a good hydrometer!'. if you do cross over to the dark side, that will be one sweet tank! thats an oxymoron, good hydrometers dont exist. for a reef you need a refractometer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Ram Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Biggest issue is going to be cost! Stocking it that is. Also the cost of lighting that size of a tank especially if you intend to have a reef setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted May 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Yeah the startup dosent look too fun.... 300 lbs of live rock alone.... and Ill have to go metal halides with the 30" depth. The fish are pretty cheap tho Fingers crossed Ive dealt with some locals that are salties so i get to share some beers and pick brians again soon...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 The honest-to-goodness hardest thing for you will be patience. Set up takes longer to complete cycling than freshwater, and you can't overstock, and then just overfilter it for a while like you can do with fresh. No cheating allowed, unless you like $200 tanks crashes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoD Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 dont bother with 300 pounds of liverock...... buy maybe 100 pounds of LR and then do the rest with base rock...... it'll all be the same after a couple months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Where would a guy find cheap base rock without shipping it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoD Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Where would a guy find cheap base rock without shipping it? red coral has nice rock i think its like 3.50 a pound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Sounds like you will soon have a awesome 300 gallon sw You will be fine, you are a better than average fishkeeper at least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgd Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I learned the hard way when I tried salt. But most people say it's easy if you do it right from the start. Unless you're Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, don't buy your live rock from a LFS. Buy it from canreef.com in the biggest lots you can. Usually you can get it for $3-5 a pound, especially if you buy bulk. Base rock will run you the same price from a LFS and I don't know where else you'd get it, so I'd just go all live unless you can get a few hundred pounds of base for $1-2 per pound. You need lots of flow. What you think you need plus a bunch more. Wave makers are nice. I would splurge on a good controller to take care of everything for you. You also want the ph monitor, temp, and ph controller for your Calcium reactor if you're growing SPS. I think it would be a lot cheaper to run a calcium reactor than dosing pumps with solutions. Don't skip the skimmer and get a good one. Very important unless you want to do lots of water changes. And you don't want to be doing WC on a 300 gallon more than once a month or so. Metal halides could be cheapest, and I'm not sure I would get a real fixture for a tank that size. I would Retro a hood or something with external ballasts and a few fans. If you buy used, $200 or less per 250 watter. Maybe you could use 400 watts, I'm not schooled in that department. You'll also want to run some actinic lighting to make those corals pop. I don't know the depth of your tank, but if you only want to grow softies, t5ho might work well too. Once again, reef lighting isn't in my department. Evaporation could be an issue with how dry it is in Alberta. You'll want a R/O unit with a large reservoir and an auto top off. Tunze seems to be king in that department. You don't want to go straight into your sump from your R/O cause it wears out the membrane much, much more quickly. I'd buy salt in bulk, and buy it whenever you see it on sale, or someone selling off a bucket of it. And a refractometer is key. Hydrometers can be very inaccurate. Hope this helps, and I apologize if you knew a lot of this already, I just wrote down everything I could think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 PM cale262 on here...he's in Beaumont, and has live rock for sale. Great guy too....just don't let him talk you into some tires while you're there. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2NUTZ Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Aqua Giant has awesome base rock for about $1.50 a pound. Nice shapes and large pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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