New to salt water

[stephen86]

Hi can anyone give me a list of equipment needed and what would be best to start a sw aquarium please? I have a 5 foot x 2ft x 2ft tank with sump and an external filter and wave maker

[Redwolf91]

Need to know what you are trying to end up with, fish only, corals, or full reef, you have a decent start already, what is the sump size, and what's the external filter?

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[stephen86]

Sump is 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5 ft. External filter is a jbl cristalprofi e900 also av vecton 600 uv on tank too. Would like to have live rock with corals and fish

[Ingy]

Originally Posted by stephen86

Sump is 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5 ft. External filter is a jbl cristalprofi e900 also av vecton 600 uv on tank too. Would like to have live rock with corals and fish

That's a decent sump for a 135-140 gal tank. You're going to have a sweet setup once it's all done.
I would loose the canister filter and get a return pump. A mag12 or 18 will probably be needed. Is your tank drilled? If it came with a canister filter it might not be. I would drill it if you can. Otherwise you'll need an overflow.
In the sump you will need a protein skimmer to fit in the first section of the sump.
Lights will be determined by what you put in the tank. Corals and coral friendly fish, or some of the cool fish that aren't so coral friendly.
I would loose the uv filter too. They only kill bacteria in the water column and the health of our tanks depends on a healthy bacteria population.

[stephen86]

Yea there's a weir and the tank Is drilled do you mean a return pump from the sump? If so there already is a pump in the sump. What skimmer would you use and how big?

[Ingy]

The recommended is for twice the tank volume. So a 300 gal one should do.
I have a reef octopus which I find too noisy. Don't really recommend it if the tanks in a living room.

[stephen86]

Ok what media would I need in sump?

[Bectan01]

I wouldn't put media in there. Just more live rock

[stephen86]

Ok so any filtration apart from the skimmer?

[Redwolf91]

Nice size for the sump, personal feeling is your lighting will likely be the most costly item you need, then the skimmer, I agree with the above post, 300 cap would be good

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[stephen86]

What sort of water testing equipment would I need?

[Redwolf91]

I like some kind of mechanical filtration in the sump setup, be it a sock, pad, whatever you choose. Depending on where you live, and your homes Hvac system, you'll need a heater, or chillerr, or both also

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[stephen86]

Hvac system? I've got filter socks white floss blue and green filter sponges?

[Redwolf91]

Get a master kit, that tests phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and ph. Carbonate harness also. Make sure you get a good refractometer also. You can get Hanna testers for these also, they are really accurate, but a bit costly

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[Redwolf91]

Then you want to monitor calcium, magnesium, and the other essentials.

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[stephen86]

Ok I've heard about refractometers and something to test the salt?

[Redwolf91]

Your homes climate control system... Heat, ac, etc. You want to be able to maintain the tank at a constant temp

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[Redwolf91]

The refractometer tests the salinity of the water for you, exactly right

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[stephen86]

Oh ok yea well it's set up as a freshwater tank at the moment but want to convert to marine

[Redwolf91]

Don't forget live rock and live sand also. Good luck with it

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