hanging my freshwater to saltwater HELP

[Steve_the_nucks_fan]

Hey everyone so i have a 96.5 gallon tank currently set-up has freshwater but i'm looking to turn it in to a saltwater tank. getting bored of freshwater fish lol.
I'm just wondering if someone can give me some idea to go about setting it up and what else i need to get started?
I currently i have a flu val 404 filter, a 250 watt heater, twp air filters, and to lights.
i'm just wondering what else i need and how much of it i need asap to get the cycles going?
if anyone has any tips that would be great and if you have anything for sale let me know that has well. thanks so much.
you can email me at s_ferriss@hotmail.com

also if you can help with coral, rock, sand and fish selection that would be great also..

[RuGlu6]

I am in port moody, you are welcome to come over and learn from my mistakes LOL.

It's easy ... just get some salt, mix it, add about $5000 and bang you have a reef tank !
...Just Kidding.
There is a lot of info for you to consume.



You will need: a skimmer , lights, rock, some live sand or bare bottom is also an option. you can use fluval for carbon and phosphate removal media (Without sponges (!), return pump, internal flow powerheads, sump, timer or two, overflow box, salt, hydrometer.

If you decide to go with out a sump then you can skip return pump, sump and overflow box, but then you will need a hang on the back skimmer and other then Deltec MCE-600 i am unaware of any that will do half decent job.

[Kryptic4L]

i for one am cautious of former fresh water tanks, as some have had copper treatment's.

#2 the tank is the cheap part of everything, I would recommend if you can afford it to get things high quality and build it right the first time, as it will cost you way more money once you get into it to replace everything. I would call this the FOWLR effect, im pretty sure most people who start off as fowlr end up reefing.

your air units can come in handy for mixing new baches of salt to airate and raise ph to match tank.

I would be curious as to what these light's are, if you want to keep coral they may be insufficiant.

it would help to plan some of the item's you would like to keep ahead of time
aka the must have list. As this can help guide you build your ideal tank the first time .


I would also recommend the use of a sump, ive been reefing for a couple of years now, and I just got my first set up wth one. Wondering why i have never had one of these in my life


if you choose to go hang on back method, and are too flipping excited and want something in the tank I would get the live rock or base rock, some salt the powerhead and heat to temp. to get things cooking.

[Steve_the_nucks_fan]

Thanks for the insight. I don't know if I should try and sell my current tank and everything I have for it and start fresh or keep the tank and swap it to saltwater. I like the size. My tank was setup has saltwater with the previous owner. And would assume the lights will work.
I would like to get the cycles going to get the water where it needs to be for adding wish so if you have any addvice on this please let me know. And if you know any where I can get supplies for cheap that would help also. Thanks for the feed back everyone.

[e46er]

JL aquatics has great prices

[Steve_the_nucks_fan]

I was looking at this skimmer.
If you have any thoughts on it please let me know thanks.
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...teinskimmer150

[Ian]

if you are sure that no copper has been added to your tank another option would be to use it as your sump and buy a larger tank that you could use as your display tank....you will want a larger tank about 5 seconds after you are happy with you salt water tank anyhow

[Steve_the_nucks_fan]

ya that would be a good idea but i dont have room for a bigger tank unless i get a corner unit that is tall. so i will have to be happy with what i got till i buy my own house and have more room for something bigger lol.
And i'm just wondering about the copper thing.. how do you know if you have copper in your tank? i have never added any scince i've owned it which has been 2 years.. thanks

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Steve_the_nucks_fan

I was looking at this skimmer.
If you have any thoughts on it please let me know thanks.
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...teinskimmer150

When you look at any skimmer the main thing to look at is how much air it mixes per hour. if manufacturer is not stating that spec don't even look that way. Also anything that produces less then 600 liter per hour of air will not worth you money and you will be selling it on here in no time.
second thing is how quiet it is
How easy to clean (if you will need to spend more then a minute to get the cup off of the skimmer you will neglect it)
then the price
basically anything that is less then $500 retail is arguably useless

[originalozzyo]

I had no problem starting out in saltwater using a old freshwater aquarium, although the one thing i did regret was not knowing about getting a tank drilled to have an overflow built in instead of using a siphon over flow = prone to flooding many times
Set a budget of what you can spend and then shop around and price out what you can afford and what style of tank your ultimate goal is