New.... From Canada!!

SCHMUSTIN · Apr 27, 2014

Hello,

I have been looking at saltwater for a while but for some reason never got into it. I have had lost of fresh water fish and now have a 65 gal sitting around that I now really want to turn into a salt water fish tank.

I don't want to get into coral at this point. Possibly in the future

I have been doing some reading on the equipment and it looks like I can use the filter I have. I will need to purchase a protine skimmer, light and other smaller things.

Does anyone have any suggestions. I know there is a wealth of knowledge here and I would love you people would share.

Look forward to the comments! !!

gemini9 · Apr 27, 2014

Hello and welcome to the forums. Lots of good advice here and everyone is friendly. Be sure to do allot of reading and learn as much as you can. Be very very patient because in all honesty, it can take MONTHS to get a saltwater tank ready for fish. Mine has been in the making for a month and a week and my tank still isn't stable enough for fish. Here's a good place to start reading.

How to set up a saltwater reef aquarium tank- REEFEDITION

SeahorseKeeper · Apr 27, 2014

Welcome to R2R!!!

What type of filter do you have? As far as lighting, if you just want to start with Fish Only (FO), I would just use the lights that you have for the freshwater. Once you are ready for corals, you can upgrade to LED's (my preference), T-5's or halides. You will want powerheads. I am using a jebao WP-40 and an ecotech MP 10 on my 55. I think the WP-40 is a tad overkill but I love the flow. You will also want heaters. As far as the skimmer, I would go with the Reef Octopus HOB. They are pretty good skimmers and their customer service is great.

SCHMUSTIN · Apr 27, 2014

Thanks for the advice... and I'm glad I found this site!!!

I believe I have the Fuval 90. I need to clean it up and replace the internals.

I plan on having live rock. So will I need to get special lights rather than the ones that came with the FW tank set up? Or will standard lights work?

spspirate · Apr 27, 2014

Welcome to REEF2REEF!!!

booth2010 · Apr 28, 2014

You won't need special lights, you just may not have very much coralline growth is all.

revhtree · Apr 28, 2014

Welcome to REEF2REEF! We're very glad you joined and hope that you will enjoy the forums, enter contest, start a tank thread, and just be a part of our family friendly community!

Start a new tank thread here: Member Tanks

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Thanks for joining and please make sure and post often!

SeahorseKeeper · Apr 28, 2014

SCHMUSTIN said:
Thanks for the advice... and I'm glad I found this site!!!

I believe I have the Fuval 90. I need to clean it up and replace the internals.

I plan on having live rock. So will I need to get special lights rather than the ones that came with the FW tank set up? Or will standard lights work?

Until you have corals, the standard lights will be fine. The "special" lights will be needed for growing corals and aren't necessary when you just have live rock and fish.