Need help going from reef to F/O

[unclemuskie]

Hi all I have a 125 that I am thinking of changing from reef to fish only to simplify things,but I have a few questions with it and was looking for advice or ideas before I do this.I know that all fish and corals will have to be removed first.
1.The tank has about 180-200 pounds of well established live rock.I would like to keep some of the larger pieces for aquascaping and filteration instead of going all fake coral.Can I do this?? What kind of tank cycle will happen by removing alot of the bio-load?
2.My sump is currently set up as a refugium.Will I have to switch back to the bio-ball tower that I had earlier?
3.If I decide to downgrade my lighting(2 250w metal halides) will the remaining live rock still function?
4. Should I clean or change out my sand bed once everything opens up or will this cause me more problems?
5.Salinity?

 

[sjm817]

The only thing I would change is lighting. No need to change filtration/LR/sand/fuge. That is all good stuff reef or not.

 

[unclemuskie]

what about bio-load

what about bio-load

The decision to do this is to simplify which means less water changes and to create space by removing alot of the L/R.I would also like to eliminate the light over the fuge.( homemade setup)

 

[sjm817]

Can you move the LR from the display to the sump? Have a dark sump with just LR for filtration.

 

[unclemuskie]

Use L/R in the sump instead of bioballs.Could be done and would this work just as good or better.And what about the cheato in my fuge now???

 

[sjm817]

You posted that you wanted to get rid of the light over the fuge. You cant grow macro without it.

 

[unclemuskie]

So the cheato must go and thats ok.Then a sump full of L/R would be sufficient?

 

[sjm817]

I think that would be a good plan. You can reuse the LR you have. Since you will have the same amount, the tank wont go inti any sort of shock. It is a good filter and doesn't need any light.

I'd get rid of the halides and get some NO T8 fluorescents in a decent color spectrum to cut down on power use and heat.

 

[unclemuskie]

thank you very much for the suggestions.