A question about converting to saltwater.

[Beta]

I currently have a 125 Gallon freshwater setup. It includes a Emperor 400 HOB filter, a Sunsun 525 GPH canister filter, 500 watt heater, regular fluorescent lights and sand substrate. I have had discus for around three years with this set up with no problems, but I would like a change. I was thinking of moving to saltwater, and while I consider myself pretty well versed when it comes to fresh water, I feel like an idiot when it comes to Saltwater. One thing I do know though, is that I have a lot of research to do, but, I was curious if some one could guide me in the right direction? I would like to have live rock and live coral in the tank (Didn't know if this was pertinent to the lighting.) What new hardware would I need to buy? I was thinking probably new bulbs? I would like to use the filters that I already have as well, but would this be possible? Would I need to add a protein skimmer? I do have a powerhead, I think it is maybe around 550 gph (It came with the tank, and I never used it with the discus, so would need to check to be positive on this size) are these necessary as well?

Sorry for so many questions, like I said I would like to investigate, but it seems a bit overwhelming so I was just hoping for maybe someone to let me know what I can use that I already have, and what I would absolutely need to buy.

 

[woody390]

right first of good luck with this is may seem hard work when you start but in my opinion it is wellw orth it. you will probably need around 125 pound of live rock as this will do a lot of the filtering for you in the fact that it will convert all the ammonia to nitrogen. I would personally look into a sump on a tank like that as it would be a good place to store all the equipment and to do all your water changes it would also allow for a place for pods to breed and you could add soem macro algae to export excess nutrients. for corral I would suggest having the tank up and running for about 6 months to get it well established before adding any and yes you would need to increase the light from standard lighting and bu how much would be dependant on the type of corals you would like to keep so may be worht having a look at that, some just new bulbs might not be enough dependant on the lighting system you have. I would say a definite yes to a skimmer as it would be very helpful again in exporting excess nurtients. with regards to the powerhead you water to try and keep flow around the whole tank so there are no dead spots and you want it to be powerfl enough on all you powerheads (and the flow from your sump if you set one up) to turn your tank over somewhere between 10 and 20 times per hour so between 1250 and 2500 gph turn over. I would also not bother with running any filters on it as these require a lot of maintenance to stop them becoming nitrate factories in your tank and they are simply not needed.

 

[Beta]

Thank you very much for your response! I planned to use the two other filters for mechanical and chemical filtration, you don't think this is a good idea? Paired with the Skimmer. Or would this be what the sump is for? Sorry I have never really used a sump before but plan to investigate those as well.

 

[woody390]

Yeah deco have a look into sumps, I know of people who do use filters but you don't actually need them and just means more maintenance in my opinion and yes you can put this stuff in a sump. Sump is something most people like and something that is worth thinking about before you set the tank up. Have you thought stock at all yet?