• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Fresh to Salt without changing the water???

If it were me, I would drain the pond completely and give it a good cleaning and start from new.

But, I would also reccomend that you perhaps start a little smaller then 2k gallons, get your feet wet and become more familiar with salt. That way, if something goes horribly wrong, your heart and your wallet arent broken.
 
I have to agree with the Canuck that the OP prolly bit off more than he could chew.

skimmers can be made and actually have to be for setups this size they aren't actually as complex as they seem. guesitmate for one made using a 5000gph pump and 2 55g barrels, pvc, fittings, and small air compressor, would come to 450$

some ideas below
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diyskimmerplans/DIY_Protein_Skimmer_Plans.htm

the salt is much cheaper than quoted as well if you shop around and find local dealers that aren't chains. hence my quoted 15$ per 150gal tub. That's from a local dealer and yes it's marine salt. total system would be 2600g so you'd need 260$ worth to start


pumps are cheap, dirt cheap compared to everything else. my 6600gph anjon monsoon pump cost me 150$, so I'd say 3 would be plenty of flow.

add 300$ in piping, fittings, and glue

ad another 100$ for an algae scrubber

live sand can be picked up locally for .25 cents a lb. So put that at 600$ at least.

live rock can be picked up for 1$ a lb (it will not be cycled that will greatly add to the setup time) here's the trouble, I woudn't go any less an 1lb per gallon including the filter area so this is the high one at 2600$


filter, intex 8' pool 69$, 15x15' 45mil epdm liner 70$, 3 55g barrels for filter media (one per pump) 60$ for all three. filter media, maybe 100$ max? bioballs are a waste, brushes are cheaper mesh filter media is like 10cents per square foot and you can always improvise with pea gravel and etc.

then you're looking at lighting if you go t8's or t5 prolly 400$

so my diy (in place of buy it all retail and bend over) guestimate is 5459$ initial setup cost without fish

1000$ a year in upkeep.

well out of the OP's price range I'm gathering.


edit: re-read the canucks post and noticed the only thing that he ahd that much more expensive than my above quote was the skimmer. lol Post edited to match also pump semantics might be off, might need 6 to get the water from the pond to the filter pond and back, add 450$ lol now 6grand.
 
I am also gonna side with the Canuck, I would leave the water in the pond, and 86 this idea.....save yourself from becoming obsessively involved in a money pit.
 
If you have patience you don't need $2600 for live rock. You can culture your own but that will take time. Same with live sand.

Where are you getting $15 for a 150 gallon tub? I'd kill for that deal. The cheapest I've ever seen it in the north east was $50. If you can get it for that then yeah the cost of salt stops being the issue.
 
Since it's way harder to do a 1,800gallon am
just going to do my 670gallon pond so I can still keep a lepord and a cali roundray going to spend about $200 on the salt witch is more reasonable and then I can have more money for live sand I already have the live rock and with that pond I have filter.
 
Would a protein skimmer be really nessasary with a fish only? And I could do water changes 2-3month right ? Cause I would have to take out 100gallons each time.
 
vladfloroff;4329892; said:
If you have patience you don't need $2600 for live rock. You can culture your own but that will take time. Same with live sand.

Where are you getting $15 for a 150 gallon tub? I'd kill for that deal. The cheapest I've ever seen it in the north east was $50. If you can get it for that then yeah the cost of salt stops being the issue.
Click to expand...


salt is from a local wholesaler. I'm sure there's more out there like him. the 2600$ is for culturing your own. unless you guys have better deals on live rock than we do in AZ, here it's 1$ per lb for uncultured, 2.50-3$ per lb for cultured.
 
You mean cured live rock not culturing your own. I was talking about lime stone blocks (not live) that you seed with 100 lbs of live rock. This process however takes about 6 months. They do the same thing with mari-cultured live rock, even occasionally seen cement used.

I haven't been able to find any real whole sale place that deal with the public up here. The ones that do are just big pet stores.

Just to add yes you really need a skimmer, it saves you lots of hassle.
 
Zfishies;4329918; said:
Would a protein skimmer be really nessasary with a fish only? And I could do water changes 2-3month right ? Cause I would have to take out 100gallons each time.
Click to expand...

if you do the algae scrubber and have "filter feeding" corals in the sump then some would argue no.

I would argue either way for you yes. they aren't hard to make, but you will need a pump, and air pump (though many use a suction based airline from the water pump something of this size i'd dedicate a cheap compressor to it's use)


look at the above design it's quite simple bottom 55g acts as the longer tube and you'd cut the top one in half to form the collection cup. water inlet and outlet as seen in the link above. and the air lin coming in the bottom and going out the top with holes in the line as it passes through the bottom 55g.

it could be cheaper than the 450 guestimate depending on how skilled you are and how well you bargain hunt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top