10 gal. upgrade to 45 gal. questions

[themartins]

We are looking forward to upgrading the 10 gal. to 45 gal. soon. We're just waiting for the FW fish to go to a good home.

1. The 45 gal. is 36" long X 24" deep, what do you suggest for lighting?

2. Sand: We have fine grain sand outside around the house. Can we use that in our upgrade or should we purchase bagged sand? How much sand will we need?

3. Do you have any favorite fish or coral suggestions for us? Any fish suggestions will just have to play well with our pair of o. clownfish.

4.) Do you have suggestions on where to purchase base rock that will stack together nicely?

 

[Huffers]

Others will help with your question in regards to lighting however I would def encourage you to invest in plenty of live sand and live rock. They will make a world of difference when it comes to the success of your tank.

 

[Mrc8858]

I wouldn't use sand from outside. You can get pool filter sand for cheap and a lb/gallon is usually good for sand unless you want a dsb (deep sand bed). As for lighting imo I would either get a 6 bulb t5 or a taotronics led system for that tank. Coral wise I'm a big fan of acans, favias, favites, plate corals, and any colorful branching sps. Hope that helps a little

 

[Mrc8858]

Others will help with your question in regards to lighting however I would def encourage you to invest in plenty of live sand and live rock. They will make a world of difference when it comes to the success of your tank.

Live sand most times is no more beneficial then a bag of play sand but there are some companies that will ship real live sand but all sand becomes live. As for the live rock some of the hitchhikers are very beneficial but it can become very pricey. 25% live rock to 75% lace is more then enough to keep a healthy happy tank and will save you probably around a hundred bucks

 

[themartins]

Thank you for the help and info. We're looking to begin this upgrade as soon as we find a good home for the FW fish.