Converting my 180 to FO SW

Converting my 180 to FO SW

Ok called Petco. Looks like that sale starts Sunday! If the person was actually in the know and it is legit, I will be picking up a 55 gallon on sunday to use as a sump.

Already ordered all the stuff needed to convert it, will get the glass cut Monday and will silicone it all in place.

Ordered one of those 8X8X4 Bio blocks also. Man that thing is awesome.

I know you are all apparently against this, but yeah I am not doing LR. I called and actual LR in the only local store to me is 7 bucks a pound and I just don't like the look of it honestly. But I will put decor in there for the fish to hide in, it just wont be painted cheap stuff.

Can I put old dead corals as decor? The LFS has that stuff in the tank, they are just there for show they aren't alive.

The fish list is totally debatable, I am not really SOLID on anything besides I need that Coral Beauty Angel, and the wife wants a Dogface Puffer. Anything from that point on is up in the air.



One marine pure block is not gonna cut it as the only biofiltration. You are gonna need to get 2. Minimum. The dead coral will be fine but if you are hoping it will stay bright white, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it won't. I also wouldn't pay $7 a pound for liverock. Check on Craigslist and the local reef club and see what they have. You could also get some inserts made, but those are costly. I love puffers, they are my favorite fish, but they take up a huge bioload. Very very messy. I would set up a massive Refugium in that 55 and get a very oversized skimmer since you are not doing liverock. Also, old dead coral is pretty much what liverock is [emoji6]
 
One marine pure block is not gonna cut it as the only biofiltration. You are gonna need to get 2. Minimum. The dead coral will be fine but if you are hoping it will stay bright white, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it won't. I also wouldn't pay $7 a pound for liverock. Check on Craigslist and the local reef club and see what they have. You could also get some inserts made, but those are costly. I love puffers, they are my favorite fish, but they take up a huge bioload. Very very messy. I would set up a massive Refugium in that 55 and get a very oversized skimmer since you are not doing liverock. Also, old dead coral is pretty much what liverock is [emoji6]

Thanks for the heads up! I will order another one of those Bio blocks, and yes I am designing the 55 sump as a three part sump. Filter socks for inlet, skimmer will be in there. Then the refugium and then output.

Would you say putting a 5-6" sand bed and then the bio blocks in there is a good idea? I see a lot of people doing a DSB in their refuge spot.

I understand that the LR is basically dead corals, but it seems a lot different. I don't know. What would you decorate the tank with for them to have hiding spots? Please don't say Live rock.. There has to be someone here who has done a FO tank without LR and used something for them to hide out in LOL

Edited to add...

Got my BRS 4 Stage Water saver plus 150 GPD value RO/DI system up and running today. It is actually filling bins right now. The thing I find interesting is that with the sensor on there it obviously shows 0 TDS for output as the RODI is doing its job, but it only shows 15 on input... I know my water is weird, as it has almost no GH and KH but I guess it really is clean too? If that is the case I guess the filters in there will last a long time no?
 
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Thanks for the heads up! I will order another one of those Bio blocks, and yes I am designing the 55 sump as a three part sump. Filter socks for inlet, skimmer will be in there. Then the refugium and then output.

Would you say putting a 5-6" sand bed and then the bio blocks in there is a good idea? I see a lot of people doing a DSB in their refuge spot.

I understand that the LR is basically dead corals, but it seems a lot different. I don't know. What would you decorate the tank with for them to have hiding spots? Please don't say Live rock.. There has to be someone here who has done a FO tank without LR and used something for them to hide out in LOL

Edited to add...

Got my BRS 4 Stage Water saver plus 150 GPD value RO/DI system up and running today. It is actually filling bins right now. The thing I find interesting is that with the sensor on there it obviously shows 0 TDS for output as the RODI is doing its job, but it only shows 15 on input... I know my water is weird, as it has almost no GH and KH but I guess it really is clean too? If that is the case I guess the filters in there will last a long time no?



No I wouldn't do a dsb with the blocks. I would blocks either in a large fuge on the bottom or in a compartment to themselves. After the fuge and before the return. So I would probably do 4 compartments skimmer-blocks- dsb fuge with macro- return. You could probably switch the fuge and blocks if you wanted, I doubt it will matter. I know you can order fake coral inserts for tanks. I would look into that. I don't have much input besides that because I have always just done liverock because I really enjoy natural tanks( all my fw tanks are planted with driftwood and rocks and stuff). For example, fish tank kings( on Netflix, living coral is company maybe) and atm make inserts. But they are pricy. Have you been to your lfs and asked them about it?
 
Converting my 180 to FO SW

Asked my LFS about what?



About decor for the tank that isn't live rock. I'm pretty sure that my lfs has a catalog of fake marine decorations that they can order from. They come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, etc. do you have any sort of inspiration photo of what you like? It's really hard to help when we don't know what you are looking for

Here is a site to look at. It's living color,
Not living coral( I was close haha) http://www.livingcolor.com/aquariums/corals-reefs/artificial-coral-reef-inserts/
 
I used Dr. Tims and six weeks later my tank still isn't cycled.

What will be your primary bacterial filter if you don't use live rock?

Did you follow the instructions correctly? I have cycled 3 tanks in less than 2 weeks. That's with using 100% dry rock. Pukani goes faster because of all the junk still on it. It feeds the bacteria.
 
If not doing live rock, the dead corals your LFS sells would work pretty well if you arrange them to provide plenty of caves, etc. Get as many marinepure blocks as you can into the sump to provide bacterial filtration, you're probably going to need it with a poop machine like a puffer. Big fish = big poop.

btw, as much as you don't want to do it, you'll likely be better off drilling the tank for the sump.
 
I actually ordered 100lbs of rock from reef cleaners yesterday. Decided it was worth having lol.
 
Lol yeah, so I do have the tank running. Put the sand in there last night, my 20 long Is almost done cycling so I can start thinking about my first few fish. They will be in there a month minimum so that gives the 180 time to cycle and setup some bacteria etc. Then as some algae grows my second batch of fish will include a CUC as well.

Thinking two normal clowns, a smaller puffer, and a dwarf angel for my first set of fish.
 
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