Hello everyone this is my first post on this site. I have had a freshwater tank going for about a year and then I had to move and most of the fish died so I gave a way the remaining and went to the LFS and got a basic salt water set up. I got a SeaClone 100 skimmer, and 22 lbs of live rock. I put it all together and now starting the cycle. I am very eager to put fish in it but after doing all the reading I must wait.

Now that I am waiting for the cycle I need to find the rest of the things I am going to need in a month or so. I know that I need a new light. I say this with hesitation because it seems like everyone know what is best, but everyone tells you something different. What I have heard from the LFS is one light will do soft coral and then for a lot more money you can get a light that will be good for hard coral. What is the real deal?????

I would also like to know about how circulation pumps. I am wondering how many is good? Were to place them? Is there a goal as to what you want to hit with the blast of water?

Please Help very lost in this process,
Newbe

I am not a saltwater person, but typically sw tanks use 1 actinic (blue bulb) and one full spectrum (10k). Besides your normal filter a lot of people also include extra water movement with a koralia in tank pump.

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Well first off what would you like to keep and I dont mean next month, in 6 months but like a year down the road. The flow and lighting will depend on what you want to keep, will you need a fixture or will you be building a canopy?

you might not need all of this b/c you already have some. but i posted this b4 and took me like a hour to find all the links. So here, hope it helps. Has everything you need.

I WILL POST LINKS AT BOTTOM
1. Really what you need is a tank you got that.
2. You will need sand. I suggest sand for SW tanks, it has nutrients for them.
3. RO water, which can be very expensive. You will need to buy a purifier. for 29g around 150 dollars. I use purified water from wallmart, about 90 cent per gallon.
4.Filter. A sump is great for SW, but a hang on or canister will work fine, as long as its SW safe.
5. Clean up-Magfloat, fish safe scrubber(brush)or something.
6. Skimmer
7. Lighting-(Strong lighting for coral)
8. Flow-powerhead
9. Saltmix
10. Fish food.(other common things, net.etc.)
11. you DONT want air bubble in your tank.(No air pumps. Air is bad for SW)
12. thermometer
13. heater
14. Hydrometer
15. Water testers.
HERE ARE THE LINKS
2. Aquarium Substrates: Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Reef Sand and Reef Substrate
3. Pinnacle Series RO Units for aquariums - reverse osmosis water purification system
4.(Sump) Aquarium Filtration: All-Glass Aquarium MegaFlow Sump Filter Wet/Dry Filter
4.(hang on) Aquarium Power Filters: Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
4.(canister) Aquarium Filtration & Water Quality: Marineland Magnum Canister Filters
5. Acrylic Aquarium Algae Scrapers: Acrylic Safe Mag-Float
5. Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Scrapers, Scrubbers & Brushes
6. Aquarium Protien Skimmers: Air-Driven, Venturi-Driven, & Turbo-Driven Protien Skimmers
7. Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Lunar Aqualights Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights
8. Water Pumps & Wavemakers: Hydor Koralia Water Circulation Pumps
9. Marine Aquarium Salts for Reef and Saltwater Aquariums: Red Sea Coral Pro Sea Salt
12. Aquarium Thermometers: Submersible, Stick-On, Digital, & Professional Thermometers for Aquariums
13. Aquarium Heaters: Visi-Therm Stealth Heater
14. Marine Aquarium Salt: Aquarium Systems Instant Ocean Hydrometer
15. Aquarium Water Quality & Testing: Red Sea 5-in-1 Master Test Kit For Marine Aquariums

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Glad to be of any help-Austin.

uh. the links didnt work, just go to this post, and look at my first answer it has all the links in blue.

freshwater to saltwater

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Glad to be of any help-Austin.

I would like to make a reef tank with fish in it aswell. I know that my tank is kind of small but I am trying to get my feet wet with SW. I would like to have something that is very colorful and a tank that is in balance with itself. I really don't know anything about the lighting systems. I would like to be able to do hard coral (I do know that this means a lot of light). At some point I do want to step up to a larger tank and I would like a light that I can take to that tank. Can you think of one that would be able to do this? I understand if that idea wont work but I don't want to wast any money.

I would look into building a canopy and useing a 250 watt MH that way when you upgrade you can pull the MH out and put it over your larger tank and add 1 or 2 more depending on what you consider a larger tank. I would suggest argonite sand as it will help to buffer your PH and ALK, get a refractometer and not a hydrometer, I always recomend running a sump/fuge and never a wet dry and no HOB or canister filters, titanium heater with external control and a couple PH's like the Koralia's and you want to get about 30-50 times your water volume in flow from the PH's, with that flow and the proper amount and good quality LR along with a good skimmer that should be all the filtration you would need. I feel that the most expensive pieces will be your Lighting and skimmer and those are the things you shouldnt skimp on. When you are ready to purchase equipment please check back in for some help and suggestions before you actually buy anything.