Converting from FOWLR to Reef

[stevetcg]

Good morning... long time lurker, first time poster.

We have been running a FOWLR for quite some time now and were really interested in moving towards a reef. Before we dropped thousands on a new tank (which we plan in the future) we wanted to get our feet wet and convert our existing tank into a reef.

The tank:
55g (48x12)
60lb LR
40lb LS
~500gph sump filtration (custom) with Marineland 150 (model escapes me atm) skimmer

The residents:
3 Bangai Cardinal (2 paired, 1 hanging out of the way)
Occilaris Clown
Tomato Clown (in QT)
Rock Beauty Angel
Koran Angel (juvi)
Sailfin Tang (juvi)
Valentini Puffer
Fiji Orangetail Puffer
Blue Damsel

Blue hermits, turbo snails, 2 chocolate chip stars, a horseshoe crab who we havent seen in months, a black longspine urchin (looks like it... not the super poisonous one though)

We are well aware that the Tang and Koran will quickly outgrow our tank and the next tank we set up will be large enough to handle them. Our LFS will also be happy to trade them in for us should we decide.

So the question - could someone recommend some general or specific species of corals (soft corals, zoas and mushrooms preferable) that would work with our current residents or trading in/transplanting minimal amounts?

The only thing that is hard and fast is the clown and bangai, but they are considered reef safe as I understand.

Thanks for any pointers/help

 

[dots]

First and foremost have you ever used a copper based product to treat ich in the tank?

 

[stevetcg]

No. Im treating the tomato clown in a seperate tank with copper right now but the reading in the main tank is 0 (tested it just cause I had the test)

 

[dots]

Please list the lighting

Basicly, if you kept FW before SW fish you know the degree of difficulty went up, the knowedge needed increased, and the tolerances for error and lack of attention decreased equally. Moving from FOWLR to a reef type set up is the same, and a reef type setup could be subdivided into three categories of lower flow/ light sorties and mushrooms, med flow/ med lighting LPS, and higher lighting/flow anenome, clams, sps. Granted some overlap occurs, but this is a good guidline.

With each of those sub categories, the care can be more complex, knowledge required, as well as degree of error is raised much like described above.

The problem lies is when one is either not honest with themselves about what they want to keep, or change thier mind.....and do not have the needed equipment or knowledge.

Considering the reef tank as a dynamic 3d puzzle where all the pieces need to fit together to work is how I like to view it. For instance I know your puffers will give clams, snails, sps potential probllems....I digress

I know I haven't answered hour question directly, but I have found it to be the reefer, not the equipment which we usually focus on, to be the determining factor with this question as there will more than likely be more commitment because of the change.

So what is your ideal vision for this tank? Hat do you want to see? Let's start there and work backwards.....

 

[dots]

Sorry for the typos, but it was done from an iPhone.....

Welcome to ReefCentral even if you have been a visitor for a while. The more you involve yourself within the forums and the community, the hobby will be far more enjoyable and rewarding.

 

[CRASHJT]

I agree the puffers will most likely have to go as well as possibly the angels maybe try something cheap at first to see how they do but be prepared. fish selection is narrowed drastically when you have to worry about what their going to eat.

 

[dwculp]

It sounds like you have almost everything in place to go from FOWLR to a reef very easily. Although there are many differences between a FOWLR and a reef, the biggest in my opinion are:

1. Lighting - You will need to get more intense lighting, I assume you are currently lit with normal fluorescent tubes. You will want to get PC lighting at a minimum, with T5 or MH lighting being much more optimal. This post cannot go into great detail on lighting requirements, a little research and a few more questions should lead you to good ideas and recommendations.

2. Water chemistry - FOWLR tanks are far more forgiving of water chemistry than a reef tank is. Most FOWLR tanks require little or no supplementation to replace calcium, alkalinity and other trace elements as there is not a lot in the tank that uses these elements. You must watch your water chemistry closely, and a supplementation routine with two part Calcium/Alkalinity supplements or dosing kalk goes a long way towards helping to keep those items in check.

3. Water quality - We should ALWAYS strive to have the best water quality possible in both a FOWLR and a reef tank, however, corals and other inverts are usually much more sensitive to water quality and you need to keep a closer eye on your parameters and make sure you keep them in check. Reef tanks are much less forgiving on water quality thank a FOWLR tank. A regular water testing and water change regimen goes a long way towards success. In addition, using a quality skimmer and not using "bio-balls" or other "bio-wheel" type filters can help keep the nitrates in check.

4. Livestock selection - FO and FOWLR tanks afford you a very wide degree of freedom when it comes to choosing the livestock in the tank, this is not quite true with a reef tank.

I hope this helps you out, I would go into more details, but I have to get off to work!

 

[potterjon]

I would go ahead and lose the angels. It can be very difficult to get a fish out of a reef tank without breaking corals in the process. One .wrong fish can wreak so much havoc on a reef tank it just isn't worth it, IMHO.

 

[stevetcg]

I should have mentioned lighting. CUrrently I have standard lighting but have been doing extensive reading and plan on moving to a 4 bulb T5 before making the move to reefing. My LFS referred me to this site and specifically Grim Reefer to figure out my lighting. I believe I will be going with one of the Nova Extreme fixtures but that is open to change.

Water quality is 0/0/<15ppm and improving (got new skimmer). Salinity is stable at 1.024 and pH is 8.1.

As for time committment - I work from home and have 2 very young kids, so I dont get out much. Honestly, the MORE time I can put into the tank the better. I research exhaustivly and obsessivly learn as much as possible about anything that interests me.

As for what I want to keep... something colorful. I dont have any particular interests - just taking the next step into aquatics. Ideally I want my bangai to breed and I want to find a host and friend for my occelaris. A bubble tip might be too much but ive read they do well with most of the mushrooms. With there being so many possibilities and things to learn, for me, ANYTHING is new and wonderful. I spent days just watching my hermit crabs.

 

[CRASHJT]

I have a BTA and in my opinion he is very easy I have 6-65w pc lighting he is set torwards the top seems to like a fair amount of waterflow other than that i feed him a piece of clam strip every so often hes growing fast so I think hes doing well