45 gal from fish to reef what doo i need to do?

[francisco]

hello, to every body. i currently have a 45 gal fish only tank with wet & dry system . i want to turn it into a reef tank .what do i need. my lfs is giving me mixed ideas! about lights ! how much do i need ? live sand! do i need to get some i currently have sand coral. i have a protein skimmer already, tank has been set up for about 1 year,i have 4 fish a bicolor angel, clown,damsel ,and a pygmy basselt,they are geeting along great and i would like to keep them,what about live rock? how much do i need ? should i just put them all in at once ? i now have dead coral in my tank.any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[kris walker]

Sounds like a great idea. I would recommend taking out the dead coral, and replacing it with about 45-90 lbs of live rock. Make sure the lr is completely cured if you will be keeping those fish, otherwise residual lr die-off might kill the fish. I don't think 4 fish in a 45 with corals is overcrowding, but others may argue. I think it depends entirely on how much lr and corals you put in, and how big the fish are.
About lights, it depends (you will always hear this) on what corals you want. For soft corals (good ones for beginners and advanced alike), most do well with very high output (VHO) flourescent lights. Typically 3-4 Wats per gallon are used. You should contact an online store or your lfs for a light setup.
Live sand is becoming more popular with each passing day. You can develop a nice community of sand dwellers that assist in keeping the water clean. You can live without it though.
sam

 

[car guy]

you need 1-2 lbs of lr per gallon, 1-2 lbs of live or aragonite sand, and lights, you can get a power compact kit cheap. all you have to do is build a box for it, goodluck

 

[burnnspy]

Check out my Reef Basics web page on that very topic.
From feedback I have gotten from others my FO to Reef method is effective. Let me know if you have suggestions also.
BurnNSpy