Moving in to Saltwater

[fmjnax]

Hi all, new to the forum. My wife and I have been talking about getting in to the saltwater reef hobby, so here I am. I apologize in advance for the lengthy post.

We currently have a 75 gallon Texas native freshwater tank that we are looking to convert over to a reef setup. I'm doing my research and trying to figure out what I need to get this going. I'm going to list what I have and what I believe I need, so if there is anything to add and/or correct, please let me know.

What I have:
Tank: standard 75 gallon glass aquarium. It is NOT "reef ready" and not drilled (and I don't believe I want to attempt to drill it).

Substrate: Large river rock mixed with medium size pond stones

Filtration: Currently have an Eheim Ecco 2236 and a Rena Filstar xP1 plumbed together with a custom PVC (in the ballpark of 350-400 gph, according to product specs and factoring in flow restriction)

Lighting: Currently just a single F48T12 (don't need much light in a Texas native setup)

Other: We have a 29 gallon and a 20 gallon breeder set up as feeder tanks and we are thinking of using one as a sump

What we need:
Tank: The tank is obviously fine

Substrate: The rock will have to go. I'm not sure if I should go with Live Sand, Aragonite, or Crushed Coral. I'm thinking a 2" bed is good. I'm also not sure how many pounds it will take to make a 2" bed

Filtration: We're wanting to go with a sump system. I'll use either my 29 gallon or 20 gallon breeder. I'll silicone in some baffles to make probably a 4-chamber system. My question here is regarding flow. How much flow is ideal (so that I know what size mag pump I need to look for)? Also, would it benefit any to make use of my current filter system along with the sump?

Lighting: I know I'm going to need start my lighting over from scratch. It's all in a custom hood I built, so I'll be doing it all DIY. This means sticking with fluorescent lighting (no MH or PC). I remember reading something about actinic lights, but I cannot remember. We want to grow some coral, if that changes anything.

Other: I know I'll need marine salt and all the testing kits. I'll worry about the salinity closer to start-up time. I'll be building an overflow box to feed the sump, so no problems there (I already have some plans for it). I know I need to look at power filters to create current. How much flow should I look at? In terms of heating/cooling, what do I need to look at? The house stays constant at about 72-76 degrees year-round. The tank is not exposed to direct sunlight. We'll start off with about 35 lbs of Live Rock and build from there. How many pounds is ideal for a 75 gallon setup? Is there anything else I'm missing?

Thanks all!

 

[wontonflip]

For starters, welcome to the site! :D

Don't bother with crushed coral....it's a nitrate factory. Stick with Aragonite (live sand is just any sand that's already got the bacteria necessary to break down ammonia). Using live sand tends to speed up the curing process. You'll have to get rocks, as well -- base rock is fine, but for an even faster cycle, use maybe 60% live rock, 40% base (or any combination, really). Typically they suggest 1-2 lbs of rock per gallon.

Lighting depends on if you plan to keep corals. If you don't want MH or PC, there's also t5's for corals. I, myself, have a fish only tank, so I am not concerned w/ lights. If you want corals, you'll need the stronger lights.

Use rodi or distilled water to lower your chances of an algae breakout. I don't know what you mean about power filters, but your live rock and live sand is your filter. Most of us have skimmers to pull out the muck before they break down, but others have success without it.

I keep my tank at around 78 degrees. That should get you started ;) Start a build thread!

 

[fmjnax]

Thanks wonton.

Sorry, I meant powerheads, not power filters.

MH or PC's aren't necessarily out of the question. It's more important to us to be able to have corals than to not have MH or PC, so if I have to use them, then I will.

I forgot to mention that I do have heaters, so keeping the tank at 78 degrees shouldn't be hard at all; especially with the high lighting I'm sure we will have. Heck, based on that alone, I may not even need heaters (how common is the use of chillers, btw?).

 

[wontonflip]

(how common is the use of chillers, btw?).

We have people here who live in the Arizona desert and I don't believe they've had to use chillers. They just have a fan blowing across the water surface to offset the lighting's heat.

I believe a return pump rated at least 750 gph is good, taking into account your head loss. I have a pump rated for an 180g tank for my 125g based off the height/distance/bends that the water has to go through.

So with a MH, you can pretty much keep anything you want in there, even clams. But t5 would be suitable for many corals. Lighting experts will chime in soon :D

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.
Wanton has you covered... :)

 

[Fireplug]

No crushed coral. I just removed mine and went with sand.....It was a nitrate nightmare.

 

[Northstar24]

Welcome to the site. I would suggest picking up a copy of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner - its pretty much the bible of saltwater, and it will give you a good foundation of knowledge

As far as the sand, stay away from crushed coral. A good estimate is that 1 lb of sand per gallon will give you a bed of 1 inch. Depending on how much room you have in your canopy, you could use a T5 setup and keep corals, but I would guess you'd want at least 4-6 bulbs. Since you're going the DIY route, you could also look into LED's

For flow in the tank, you're looking for at least 10-20x the volume of the tank per hour, so you would want 750-1400 gph or more. You dont have too much flow until your sand is in suspension.

You'll need 75-100 lbs of rock, I would start with 40-50 pounds of dry rock, and 25 lbs of some high quality live rock - either from a LFS or a local reefer