Converting a freshwater tank to a saltwater

[andrewnstarlet]

I have an empty (fishless) freshwater 55 gallon tank. It has crushed coral substrate, 50/50 lighting, an emperor penguin 400 with bio wheel hang on the back filter that says it is good enough for saltwater. Also I have two penguin 1140 powerheads and a submersible heater large enough for a 55 gallon tank. I am wanting to convert this setup into a saltwater fish only tank, at least to start. I was wondering what the bare minimum I would need to buy and do to make this conversion. I was planning on only putting in some damsels and a clownfish to start with. Then maybe down the road I would add something else. Any help on the required equipment and cost would be much appreciated. Thanks

PS. The setup is behind a bed against a wall so space is limited on any external equipment.

 

[Shooter7]

First off,

[welcome]

There are many directions you could go with on this. I would simply say that while you're contemplating doing this, you take some time to at least read the thread I am attaching a link to at the bottom of this post. After that, I would go to the stickies at the top of this forum and look at the one that says "look here before posting" or something along those lines, and look at the many threads linked within. Hopefully, after that, you can make up your mind on what you need.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848

 

[TekCat]

Very good link Shooter7 recomended, I think it is a must to read!!!

Since you've mentioned that you are planning FO setup, right here I'd like you to consider FOWLR. LR will be you biofilter plus they look kinda cool And you wont need that biowheel. Instead plan on getting a good skimmer.

I wouldn't start with damsels, they are agressive and will claim entire tank as their territory. So, new fish will suffer. The better way would be adding first least agressive fish, and work toward most aggressive as last addition.

 

[joe90usa]

FO = Fish Only
FOWLR = Fish Only With Live Rock

I would also recommend going with Live Rock in your tank. It will make your display much more interesting as well as acting as your biological filter. You can check out the vendors forum here for places to shop for live rock.

Check out gobies, blennies, and chromis for starter fish, but you might want to have a final idea of what you want in livestock before you begin so that you can plan out a tank that is compatable.

I've been running my 55 gallon FOWLR without a skimmer and it's been fine, but I am now going to be adding a skimmer to get the added benefit that it provides. It should improve my water quality and even give me the option of stretching out my interval for water changes if I want.

Feel free to post any and all questions in this forum.

One last thing...if any of your equipment is older and needs to be swapped out, doing it before you get your tank up and running is the best time to do that.

 

[andrewnstarlet]

another question

another question

Thanks for the advice I will take it all into consideration.

I was also wondering if a sand substrate live or not is required or if I can stick with just the crushed coral. Thanks.

 

[TekCat]

IMO, don't use crushed coral. It is too coarse and will trap detrius, this in turn leak nitrates and phosphates, and that will produce healthy crop of green hair algae, cyano, etc...
Fine sand (aragonite) is a good way to go. Don't spend money on so-called live sand (packed in plastic bags). It only contains bacteria. You LR will seed your sand bed with bacteria in no time. Then, to add bio-diversity to your sandbed, get a cup or so from as many established tanks in your area as possible (Even from LFS).

 

[andrewnstarlet]

I have heard somewhere that LR needs special lighting to grow and survive. Is there any truth to this and if so what kind of lighting is needed. I have 50/50 lighting with 6500K. Is this good enough or do I need more K or just different lighting all together.

Thanks

 

[sleepercivic88]

The photosynthetic organisims will die off and be replaced with non photosynthetics. You dont need as much as you do in a reef 2watts per gal should be enough to get you going as far as benifitial agea growth

*I was too lazy to spell*

 

[MadSkillzMan]

you wont be using floss in the HOB filter, thats just a nitrate factory

you could do as i did, and fill the filter with chaeto algae and put a light on it , making it a small refuge that provides nutrients and takes care of nitrates

and a definite +1 on getting a skimmer