Alright, Well im getting a 125 tank from a person on cl, It was taken down 3 yrs ago and has been in storage. I have NO knowledge about the workings of a saltwater filtration system and how to convert it to freshwater. I know for a fact that the substrate is sand and not crushed coral. Which brings me to another question. Can i wash the salt out of the gravel?????

I have been busy by collecting kyoga flamebacks, xmas fulu's, saa nanes, harpagochromis squapinni's, and several others.


here are the pics. it is still at the persons house and i have no idea when i will be able to get it. Im still trying to figure out how to transport this beast!

hey now would be a good time to get into the saltwater hobby cuz you got all the equipment!

Now here's where you will need to make a goal for your fish tank. Ex: Will it be for cichlids or high ph fish? If it will house fresh water fish that are found in high ph (<8.0) then you can keep that sand and rock. If you will have fish that will be found at a lower level, then toss the rock and sand because I guarantee you that sand will buffer the water and keep it around 8.3.

Filtration:
That first pic are reactors. they are used to hold carbon and/or other chemical filtration. And the pipe with the valve that looks like it has been cut off is the tube that lead to a sump that I dont see in the pics. The sump is where all the filtration would be at. If it came with a protein skimmer, Dont use it at all for freshwater.

The reactors you can use for freshwater to house carbon and ammo chips. You can setup a sump by using a 10 gallon(minimum) and a return pump.

To transport, just borrow someones truck and dont make sharp turns lol.
Btw you should keep all that rock and sand just in case you decide to switch to saltwater

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36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

Hmmm ok. I'm wanting to keep African cichlids. That's It. i would love to do sw but I dont have the money
I'm going to go check It out today.

for cichlids you can keep the sand and rock. just make sure you put the sand in a bucket and rinse it out good and scrub the rock. and make sure you test the ph and hardness of the water when you fill it up.

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36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

Waste of a goopd 125g tank,using it for FW that is....If there is anything I cn do to change your mind let me know. I am the DIY of SW tanks. I can point you in the cheapo direction. Only thing that will cost you some change is the Protein Skimmer. But, good luck.

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http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

Ik I have always wanted to make a reef. But its so friggin pricey. And theres no return policy for sw fish here if they die or sick. I have fallen in love with so many polyp corals.

:/

Ok another q is if she doesn't have the sump could I make my own out of a 10 gal Tank. And for the filter media could I reuse the media(bioballs) from my Penn plex canister filters and my eheims?

All I pay each month now is just filter floss. Every three months I pay for salt and media. Not that expensive.

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36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

now u guys have me thinking of converting to saltwater. lol darn. the guy said that he never had a sump for this tank when it was saltwater. He used those reactor things and uv sterilizers. But if i do freshwater im going to make a sump right? does anyone know how to DIY?

Doesnt sound like a waste to me. I'd fill that thing up with a whole bunch of neon tetras like, 30 or so, and keep going from there. You could have a lot of small tropical fish, thats what I would do. Maybe 50 red cherry shrimp, bloodfin tetras, gold tetras and stuff like that. I like tanks teaming with fish but maybe thats just me.

Only prob is Im doin cichlids

Oh, I guess I missed that. I dont know very much about cichlids but a whole bunch of them in there wont be wastefull. What I really mean is its not a wasted tank if is full of fish, 4 fish in there would be a waste but 40 (I dont know if that many will fit) would not be a waste. At least thats my opnion.

I do however like the selection of saltwater fish out there. My LFS has some pretty awesome saltwater stuff and I've been caught drooling over some of it. Maybe sometime in the future I will try saltwater but for now freshwater is enough for me. Good luck with your tank!

I would like to make that tank into an Oddball tank with all sorts of rare and dangerous species. for saltwater, i would make it a predator tank, for fresh i would have a fresh water eel or teacup stingrays.

You can make it into a dense plant tank with discuss. Or make it into a garden of sea mushrooms and soft corals.

You should do whatever you dreamed of doing. a tank that big will help you accomplish anything.

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36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

EXACTLY! Im planning on doing a 3d background. I found a bunch of videos on utube of how to do it. Im going to have a planted african tank. lol ik, all the plants are south american. But my amazon sword is doing awesome it budded a baby sword last month and the thing is already the size of my hand! XD

very nice! You should post some pics. Using a sump is cheaper than buying a big canister filter rated for 125 gallons. plus it will hide all of your equipment plus add space for a refugium. if you ever need to know how to do any of this DYI, just look at the DYI section of the forum.

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36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR