malawi to marine

the lastdon

hi, ive kept malawi cichlids for almost 8 years, and am now thinking of converting to salt water. can anyone give advise as to what i will need to add in order to do so. and a ruff idea of what each item would cost.
at present i have a rena 4ft x24x18 with a rena xp3 for filtration.
playsand as a substrate with a few bits of ocean rock dotted around.
the lighting is standard for tropical setup with no plants.

iam a total newbie to saltwater so any advice would be great thanks.

Pasfur

Long story short, the only thing you have to keep is the aquarium, stand, and lights. The freshwater and saltwater hobbies have almost nothing in common. Having kept malawi cichlids, you will have some familiarity with buffers and testing pH, but other than that you have to learn everything from the beginning.

I suggest reading the threads to learn the basics. The video and pictures area will help tremendously, especially the "builds" topics, which highlight an aquarium setup from beginning to end. The saltwater aquarium differs completely when it comes to filtration and upkeep. Read, read, and read some more!

onefish2fish

welcome to the forum.

i agree with what has been said, and cannot stress on the reading. please also feel free to ask any questions.

ThalesthePearsei

I would advise to not use sand. Any kind of sand. Sand is impossible to keep clean, and any time you move anything around in the tank, sand will be kicked up everywhere- all over your rocks and coral and can make it difficult to see into the tank when too much gets kicked up when you are doing a bit of reconstruction. I had a very difficult time with it. I would go with a aragonite if you are going for the more sandy look.

the lastdon

thanks for the replys, i asure you i have every intension of reading up, an have been doing so.my main concern was the cost, an after research am affraid it all sounds a bit to costly for a newbie so. am going to start with a nano.
my lfs sells pre treated water which is the way am going to go.
AFTER MORE RESEARCH ;)
thanks agin

onefish2fish

glad your doing your research, just to warn you a nano can still be costly. look in your area for a local reefing club for a great place to learn and pick up equipment.