Looking to make a saltwater tank from existing freshwater tank

[phishman1]

I have a 45 bowfront tank that currently houses a few cichlids back in my sports watching room.

Used to have a reef tank and now am getting the bug again, my budget won't let me start over and purchase a new tank and all the trimmings to do this, and by budget I mean wife...lol.

My thought is this get new lighting of course, and powerful hang on the back filter, good heater, possibly a skimmer and go from there. My LFS has live rock, live sand etc., so that's not a problem.

Question: What sort of filter do you recommend? Is a skimmer really necessary? What sort of lighting, clip on light bar type, obviously it was be easier with a fish only tank but I enjoyed my reef from the past so want to go that way for now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...thank you..

 

[Timfish]

You do want to get good lighting. Skimmers are not necessary. Neither are external filters for that matter but the added circulation is typically beneficial. Here's 4 of my skimmerless systems:

90 Gallon Mixed Reef
https://youtu.be/4t8IjelZwUk

GRJ 500 gallon
https://youtu.be/_Uf5IyXvajg

Mixed Reef started in 1997, 10-07-19
https://youtu.be/dh_nLhj1QXc

220 Rimless 450 view
https://youtu.be/aCRYfIZs8N8

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Canister filters are great for their versatility. You can put different media in them for the situation at hand. Skimmer isn't required but it will allow you to do fewer water changes. Without a sump, I wouldn't bother. A medium depth sand bed and some live rock should take care of biological filtration.

Budget lighting doesn't quite cut it for reefing. Your best bet is the Chinese black box LED fixtures sold on Amazon. Good bang for the buck, but not fancy.

I've bounced back and forth with fresh and salt water versions of my one, 180 gallon tank. Now I've combined what I learned on both sides, with a marine planted tank. I think its fun to mix it up, and I'd encourage more folks to do it. Good luck!

 

[vlangel]

I have a macro algae/coral combination tank. Until a year or so ago it was an AIO with only a powerhead and Aquaclear 50 hob filter. My tank is tall so had a fairly deep sandbed for denitrification. The live rock provided nitrification and a 5 gallon water change every week kept parameters in check. My tank is a 56 g so you could probably do a 3-4 gallon water change. I have since hooked it up to a basement sump and fuge but it did well as a AIO.