Converting 45 gallon Tank
- Thread starter aharden61
- Start date
Cabin3tGuy
New member
At minimum most setup need at least a Protein Skimmer, Powerheads for circulation, good quality aragonite sand, and some kind of High output lighting in a spectrum you find appealing
1st question ...
Are you planning to use live rock to use live rock in this setup?
This usually comes down to a budget issue in most cases because cured live rock can be very expensive as part of an initial setup
you can get dried live rock as well ... its a fraction of the cost and provides the same benefit to your setup as cured live rock but it doesn't look the same obviously
If youre not going to use any liverock then I would invest in a sand bed filter or wet/dry sump to help break down nitrates and make you're life a lot easier
After that most other equipment you get is just to perform a task to make the tank easier to maintain ( ie: ATO's, controllers, probes, etc )
Something else to think about ... What kind of fish did you want to keep?
Most would consider a 45g a Nano tank and they are kinda small for a non reef / fish only tanks ...
In the size tank you have you will be very limited as to what kind of fish you "should" put in it unless you completely disregard the recommendations on the amount of space the fish need ... some tank raised or smaller fish might be a good fit but most saltwater fish are wild caught and will quickly outgrow your tank as they don't grow to the size of the container you put them in
In almost every instance involving saltwater the tank itself it the smallest investment in the whole setup so if you are going to put together a completely new setup you may want to evaluate the size of the tank if you were thinking bout keeping larger fish ( ie: tangs or angels )
1st question ...
Are you planning to use live rock to use live rock in this setup?
This usually comes down to a budget issue in most cases because cured live rock can be very expensive as part of an initial setup
you can get dried live rock as well ... its a fraction of the cost and provides the same benefit to your setup as cured live rock but it doesn't look the same obviously
If youre not going to use any liverock then I would invest in a sand bed filter or wet/dry sump to help break down nitrates and make you're life a lot easier
After that most other equipment you get is just to perform a task to make the tank easier to maintain ( ie: ATO's, controllers, probes, etc )
Something else to think about ... What kind of fish did you want to keep?
Most would consider a 45g a Nano tank and they are kinda small for a non reef / fish only tanks ...
In the size tank you have you will be very limited as to what kind of fish you "should" put in it unless you completely disregard the recommendations on the amount of space the fish need ... some tank raised or smaller fish might be a good fit but most saltwater fish are wild caught and will quickly outgrow your tank as they don't grow to the size of the container you put them in
In almost every instance involving saltwater the tank itself it the smallest investment in the whole setup so if you are going to put together a completely new setup you may want to evaluate the size of the tank if you were thinking bout keeping larger fish ( ie: tangs or angels )
Last edited:
Cabin3tGuy
New member
The powerhead/undergravel thing is for freshwater setups with idea being that waste gets trapped underneath until you can break the setup down and clean it out ... Once a saltwater tank has cycled and the water matures you don't want to ever have to break it down 100% to clean it unless something catastrophic happens that requires you to start over from scratch ... the sand works as a biological filter on its own so you dont want to create a place where waste and gas can build up in under the bed
My advice is just put the sand directly on the bottom of the tank and maybe save the powerhead if you have a way to mount it ( most LFS sell generic magnets that adapt to several companies equipment for mounting )...
Without knowing the size of the powerhead I would guess that 1 pump alone wont be sufficent ( 2 koralia 1's or maybe even Koralia 2's for a little more flow would be good ) especially if you plan to add a few corals ....
Im going to stress this point ... really think ahead about what corals may end up in the tank long term because you want to make sure you budget for the proper kind of lighting upfront ... there is no real market for used aquarium fixtures so buying something you cant use later on kinda feels like wasting money
Just something to think about .. WTMRAC is having its annual Frag Swap in September and that might be the perfect place to get some more advice and maybe get some good deals on some used equipment ... I see your in Jackson but it might be worth the drive up to Memphis
My advice is just put the sand directly on the bottom of the tank and maybe save the powerhead if you have a way to mount it ( most LFS sell generic magnets that adapt to several companies equipment for mounting )...
Without knowing the size of the powerhead I would guess that 1 pump alone wont be sufficent ( 2 koralia 1's or maybe even Koralia 2's for a little more flow would be good ) especially if you plan to add a few corals ....
Im going to stress this point ... really think ahead about what corals may end up in the tank long term because you want to make sure you budget for the proper kind of lighting upfront ... there is no real market for used aquarium fixtures so buying something you cant use later on kinda feels like wasting money
Just something to think about .. WTMRAC is having its annual Frag Swap in September and that might be the perfect place to get some more advice and maybe get some good deals on some used equipment ... I see your in Jackson but it might be worth the drive up to Memphis
