I'd like to try

[sb0169]

Hello, My name is seth. I have had a very well established cichlid tank for years. That is until this month. My wife and kids were moving to a new house across town. We hadn't moved our aquarium to the new house when a storm took out power at the old house. Lack of heat killed all my fish. I moved my tank and re-set it up for cichlids. I had to do a 3/4 water change to make the tank manageable in the move. At any rate, I have a full tank(of water) at 8.2 ph and 0 ammonia. I was going to buy fish when my wife said"Hey, you always wanted to do a reef tank". So I am now running a fishless tank. I have a 46gal. bow with about 3 in. fine crushed coral(sand sized to 1/2 in.). I would like to convert to a reef tank. What next? Can I convert to salt water using the same substrate? If yes, what do I need to do? If no, well then... what do I need to do?

[demonsp]

Crushed coral is old school. You need to research the whole system from substrate to lighting to equipment to all the stock you want. This will make the journey much easier and rewarding.
For a reef tank you want RO/DI water , LR , and SB combined with the proper CUC and water movement. As well with the lights you use as many coral use light as food. And a good light can cost hundreds and maynot even perform as you liked.

A reef setup can be costly upfront and is nothing you want to rush.

[BangkokMatt]

[welcome]
Unfortunately you need to empty your tank and give it a good clean. Then start from scratch.
You can get an idea of how to start by reading this
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1031074

[Ehaze]

Get aragonite sand (reef grade or sugar sized people will tell you sugar sized will get blown around too much, but it need "life" and it will stay down good), crushed coral is baad(ive heard this many times. people with super high post count told me that it will cause amm/ nitrate probs down the road.)

You will need very strong light MH 150 x 2 or T5, other lights can work.
You need a skimmer (for some corals), i got a NW-150, the pump went out in 3 months... cheap is not always bad, but in this case it was.
Do you have a overflow for a refuge?
you will need LOTS of live rock,
hydor like powerheads to move alot of water not just in a stream.
a good return pump.
RO/DI unit, or your gonna waste a ton of cash buying the Conditioners
Salt
tace elements, saltwater testing kit, calcium, iodine...

your gonna have to spend about 1000 for cheap ghetto rigged system or 2000+ for nice stuff. just for equip/sand/LR

Livesock... it gets up there, trust me. people are very helpful on this forum.

Welcome

[sb0169]

I know crushed coral is old school, and I have a source of RO/DI water. I do like the ph levels that I can obtain from the calcium of the coral, but would like to add another couple inches of good sand for better beneficial bacteria growth and natural filtration. I also have a good powerhead for water circulation and a protein skimmer. Lighting... That's next. I'm in absolutely no rush, and realize this is an expensive hobby.

One more strange question... I live just a few blocks from the Puget Sound in Washington State... Is is possible to use natural sea water from this source?

[demonsp]

You dont want to mix the CC with sand and CC is a nitrate headach in the making.
You want 2 powerheads for cross flow. And water changes will help mantain calcium and other readings. This is why changes are imprtant. Down the line you may need addon like calcium reactors but not needed now.

And i dont understand your quote- I do like the ph levels that I can obtain from the calcium of the coral-

And you could use natural sea water but never any close to shore. You want from miles out for cleaner water.

[demonsp]

Heres some good reading.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/startinganaquarium/tp/topmistakes.htm

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature/view

http://saltaquarium.about.com/blqalrturningwht.htm

[BangkokMatt]

Not a good idea using crushed coral. Its best to get it right from the outset. Go with the aragonite.
As for using NSW - you will get differing responses. Personally I wouldn't use it for fear of bringing in parasites and weird stuff. But people do have success with it. Anyway, its not an option for me so I dont need to consider it too much.

[steven_dean17]

Seth, I would jump at the chance to use fresh, clean, and perfectly natural sea water. You will never be able to match manmade to natural. As long as you get it from a good source point(not next to a drain, ect.) you will be good to go. I can only imagine how much money I could spend on corals if I didn't have to buy/make my water. You can get your sand there too. Now, forget everything you know about Freshwater keeping, about the only thing that is the same is the fish all have gills. It's alot eaiser to rethink it as apposed to loosing it. Read, Argue if you think your right, and don't forget we all share the same goal, having a killer system. You might get crappy info at first, but someone will almost always correct the bad information and give you "take it to the bank" advice. Good Luck, and have a happy fraggin day.

[sb0169]

Can I collect live rock as well? or is the water temp all wrong?

[demonsp]

Do you mean add more LR?

[steven_dean17]

The rock might be a little iffy thats were I would think you would find the bad stuff(mantis, crabs, ect.) However if you were really careful, them maybe. You can get your fish, snails, and many other things there, just make sure you QT everything before putting it in the display tank including any rock. Now don't get too excited, remember, take it really slow and read, read, and read some more.

[sb0169]

I meant can I collect live rock from the puget sound, or will the warmer water destroy it?

[sb0169]

like I said, ive got time. Just trying to use available natural resources if possible.

[demonsp]

Removeing Reef rock is illegal and unresponble reef keeping. Plus if its not placed in the tank then it just becomes base rock.

[sb0169]

good info. didn't know that. thanks lance

[demonsp]

NP. Its best to get the money together and have all the supplies from Substrate to lighting. You cant just add little by little and hope for a smooth ride. After the initial start up cost then the rest isnt so bad. Fish from 10 to 1000.00 sands. Coral frags can be traded or but small.

[steven_dean17]

I agree totally breaking pieces of reef off is illegal and not responsable. I was not suggesting this practice. Please by all means check you local laws.

[Altpers0na]

they have natural reefs in the puget sound?

i dont think your asking about breaking off reef rocks, but about ocean rocks..

i wouldnt do it, not as much for the legal issues, i dont think cold water rocks are going to be a legal problem.

reef rock is what you want....

i am constantly thinking , oooh i could put that in.... then as im about to do it, it dawns on me that 'it' could kill everything... just because i dont know where it has been or been in contact with...

for example , were i live, we have sand stone, lots and lots, mountains of sandstone...

the lake i like to swim in has lots of sand stone...

being sand, and sort hard, stone like, i think hey, this stuff would be great....then i think, how much fuel leaks into this lake, i know i wont actively drink the lake water... not on purpose... so no sand stone in the tank, and no curing concrete in the lake... or the creek...

so thats the process i use to keep my tank stuff alive... i start thinking about it, then i get spooked...

the links given have lots of info...

i think its a lot simpler than all that...

tank, sump, pvc, pvc glue w/ purple primer.

pumps and power heads, big ones.

lights. bright lights, really really bright. halides, vapor, or t5, aim for at least a couple hundred watts at least, if not a full kilowatt...

lights, color is a factor. 6.5k is ugly, 20k is blue. good luck finding the color you (and the corals if you have them) will be happy with...

lights, the bulbs will need changed 1 - 4 times per year. buy good bulbs...

no fish , or coral or anything neat for 1 - 6 months... when setting up a new tank...

all the cool fish are mean, or hard to keep alive, or need a huge tank. these are not exclusive conditions...

same for coral.

when you see a piece of equipment that, new, has a great price
and claims to keep up with the competition. its junk.

same for coral. think twice before putting a 'free' organism in your tank... why didnt they want it?

get a skimmer. debate its usefulness after its been running for a couple months... get a good skimmer. but dont over skim.

the rock and sand are alive, bacteria, fungus?, algae, bugs, worms... spiders... most all of them are good, maybe not the spiders...

the learning curve is steep for salt stuff. read every sticky in every forum.

when you see contradicting info, that means that they dont have a 'right' answer. the corals maybe set in stone, but most stuff on here is not..

thats my 3c, i know i forgot some highlights, but im still reading stickies so my 3c comes with some grains of salt...

o ya, buddy up with your lfs, if not already.... and find a group on here for support...


gluck...