[sailfish]

Hello everybody

I am sorry for how long this may be. (need all the help i can get)

I have a 75g & 55g FW with african cichlids for 2 years. I want to change the 75 to SW. I have a fluva 404, pingwin 660 170GPH, cheap power filter for polishing enough flow to filter a 60G, and crushed coral.

I want to convert the 75g to SW fish only tank (power bills in mind HA HA). What is the most economacial way to do so. I do not want to fill my tank with live rock. I also do not like water noise it keeps me awake at night, & heard skimmers are loud (water noise).

I also would reather not drill tank. Can a fluva 404 work?

I was told that my filter plus a UV light would work. Buy one guy & another said it won't. Will it?

I was recommended 2 emperor 400, & that has water noise and visual problems.(show tank)

I was also suggested by a professional who rescues fish (I have given him some) and does this for a living (maintiance & ponds) about a method called Jabare, I believe. Has anyone heard of it? If so were can i find out about it? Suppose to have virtually no maintenance.

I have been reading as much as possible, but want real experiance. I can post fish i am intrested in if All Help GREATLY APPERCIATED

THANKS sail

[patandreba]

I have ran a 55 gallon s/w with a fluval 404 with not too many problems, but I pretty much gutted it and filled it with ceramic rings, the foam inserts will cause you a never ending battle with nitrates. Some people say that high nitrates aren't much of a problem with fish only tanks, and I have known this to be true if the fish have been in the tank for a while, but seems to stress them out if you try to acclimate new fish into a tank with high nitrates. The fluval Is only rated at a little over 300 gph, and that is probably at a pretty low head, so you wont get much turnover, and without live rock, you wont be able to stock very heavy at all. Bio wheels are ok, but by their nature, unless they are in a sump, will cause a lot of small bubbles in your tank, and probably a lot of deposits on your lights and anything else close to the surface of your tank. This is just what I have experienced, but there is a heck of a lot of people here with more knowledge than myself so maybee there have been different experiences than what I have had. Good luck with whichever route you take though, as I have never regreted switching to salt water fish, all others deffinately are pale in comparison.

Pat

[vtec si]

It should work ok if you take out the current filter media(sponge thingy) out and replace it with ceramic bio media. But I am a big no make that a HUGE fan of skimmers and you can find a quite one! IMO a SW set up should have one. Again JMO!

Good luck,

Martin

[The R/C Man]

sailfish,

Welcome to Reefland!

Personally I wouldn't run a salt water tank without a skimmer. They remove inorganics from the water column and are a necessity. I have never run a fluval canister filter for a SW set up. However I do know that they are nitrate traps and need to be cleaned constently. I would lean towards the live rock for your biological filtration. Basically you can run the tank with just a skimmer and live rock. Hope that helps.....

[GoinSalt]

Just from personal experience, you'll want a skimmer -- TRUST ME! I learned the hard way. Had tank up and running for about 8 months when it suddenly crashed. Lost all my livestock -- about $300 worth.

With no other problems -- aside from crazy high water parameters that I'm sure were due to the crash -- the only thing I can think that caused the crash was a buildup of inorganics.

I too went from FW to SW. The initial investment is a bit pricy but well worth it. Just stay religious on your water changes.

Nate

[almostdiva]

Nate,

I have a 55 also. I bought all my stuff used from a local store going out of business. When I started, I knew NOTHING -- just had a friend with a saltwater tank and knew I had to have one.

I can't speak to your fluval, because I don't have one. I have a converted wet/dry filter that I have replaced the bioballs in the media chamber with live rock and sand. I DO want to HIGHLY recommend that you get a skimmer. When I started, I didn't have one, and I have been running one kind or another now for several years. Your water quality is much better and you and your fish will be much happier. The best bang for your buck in this tank size in my opinion is what I'm running now -- an AquaC Remora. Pay the extra for the Mag pump. It's very quiet, has a very low profile and it WORKS. I highly recommend it -- regardless of whether you ever decide to add corals or not. Even for Fish only, I would get one.

Rebecca

[LiquidLunch]

You can buy a RemoraC skimmer for $150 on ebay. You can gut your Fluval404 and use it to drive a UV if you really wanted to. I ran a Emporer25watt UV with a Fluval303 in the past and had great results. A word of caution though, make sure your flow rates are suitable for the UV. If too fast, it will be less effective or not effective at all. I plan to run a 403 motor on a 404 cannister housing(yes,it fits perfectly) w/ an Emperor25watt in the next few months. I went through the added hassle of this to achieve the right flow rate and to have a larger water volume w/ the 404 housing. Buy some live rock too.

Originally Posted by sailfish

Hello everybody

I am sorry for how long this may be. (need all the help i can get)

I have a 75g & 55g FW with african cichlids for 2 years. I want to change the 75 to SW. I have a fluva 404, pingwin 660 170GPH, cheap power filter for polishing enough flow to filter a 60G, and crushed coral.

I want to convert the 75g to SW fish only tank (power bills in mind HA HA). What is the most economacial way to do so. I do not want to fill my tank with live rock. I also do not like water noise it keeps me awake at night, & heard skimmers are loud (water noise).

I also would reather not drill tank. Can a fluva 404 work?

I was told that my filter plus a UV light would work. Buy one guy & another said it won't. Will it?

I was recommended 2 emperor 400, & that has water noise and visual problems.(show tank)

I was also suggested by a professional who rescues fish (I have given him some) and does this for a living (maintiance & ponds) about a method called Jabare, I believe. Has anyone heard of it? If so were can i find out about it? Suppose to have virtually no maintenance.

I have been reading as much as possible, but want real experiance. I can post fish i am intrested in if All Help GREATLY APPERCIATED

THANKS sail

[sailfish]

Thanks for all the advice I will soon make my decision and will let everyone know how it goes.

joe

[MarinePig]

Get a skimmer. Don't dare go without one. My two best investments have been that and a RO water filter.