Converting my tank - Am I headed in the right direction?

[waterbourn]

So right now, I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank. I have always wanted a saltwater tank and I think I have finally decided to go ahead and convert. First i have to say this community is great. I have been reading here and have learned a lot. I still have a few questions and would love to hear people's comments/feedback.
The plan is to first just have fish, but I want to plan the tank for reef. I know that down the road I will definately add some inverts.
1. After reading around, I think I am going to buy 40-60 lbs of baserock. Either hirock or reefersrock. I will add at least 30 lbs of liverock to this. I am thinking about just ordering this online, and letting the live rock help cycle the tank. Any thoughts on ordering liverock online? If I were to get liverock from the LFS instead, then do i need to buy this "uncured" so it will help cycle the tank? Is 30 lbs live enough? If i cycle the tank with 30 lbs live and 50 lbs base, how long would you wait before adding inverts? A good year to turn the base rock live or less?
2. I am still a little confused on the sand vs. live sand thing. I know that even regular sand will become live over time, so what is the advantage of even buying live sand to start with? How many lbs of sand to buy in order to get a good base in a 55 gallon?
3. I was going to go ahead and get a protein skimmer also. I have read that caralife and bakpak are both good. Any recomendations on which would work the best for a 55 gallon.
I will being hanging this on the side of the tank for now.
4. I am also wondering about water flow. The protein skimmer will provide some flow. But how much more flow do I need. Will just one powerhead work? Any brands that would be better than others?
5. To the empty tank, I add the sand first right? Then the saltwater. If I mix the salt myself, then I let it sit at least one day and then i can go ahead and add the liverock? Do I need to feed the tank so that the liverock critters have something to eat? Once the tank is cycled, how much of a water change do I need before adding fish?
Thanks so much for all of your feedback!!

 

[waterbourn]

anybody?

 

[kadella]

Not sure why anyone hasn't replied yet...usually they're very fast! I can give you a little info from what I've learned from research & other aquarists from this board, they might be able to add on more details...
55 gal is great to start with, plenty of room for a few fish, LR & corals, anything smaller, leaves more room for error.
1. LR - sounds live you have the poundage down - recommeded 1-1.5 lbs per gallon - yes you can have a mixture of base rock & LR, base will eventually become active. If you are first starting out, you can buy the LR cured or uncured, it will start the nitrogen cycle in your tank, once cycled, meaning your amm, nitrite etc return to zero, then you can add livestock. If you order cured LR online, there will be some die-off during shipping, so it will really be un-cured by the time you get it. Only add un-cured LR to a new tank. Not really sure about when to add inverts? I think they say when the tank is fully established, maybe a year?
2.Sand - I have a 55 gal & I used 50 lbs of playsand and 30 lbs of LS - I got about a 2-3" sand bed. It is recommended 2-4" I believe. It is best to use all LS or just seed with livesand as it will enhance your biological processes in tank - & the playsand will become live, so to speak, over time. If you are planning on inverts/corals, I would try to get 4" bed - someone correct me if I am wrong.
3.Protein skimmer, I have heard many good things about Aqua C Remoras and the Bakpacs, those seem to be the most popular for the 55 gal hang ons. Search protein skimmer on this board & you see some great posts. I have seen mixed results for coralife skimmers.
4.Powerhead - I would get 2 good rated PH-s - I like 1 on each side of tank- 1 near top & 1 near bottom. Ideally you want good flow everywhere especially around the LR. There is a gallons per hour conversion you can lookup to see the recommended flow. Maxi-jets are great powerheads.
5.Initial Setup- I think everyone does this different- according to Fenners's book you should mix & add the saltwater first, add sandbed, wait till temp is up & everything's settled & add LR. You really don't need to aerate the initial fill-up, I just mixed the salt in the tank & used powerheads to mix up the salt. You would want to aerate & mix your salt for at least 24-48 hours before doing a water change for best results. Use RO water too.
6. Wait to do your 1st water change when the cycle finishes and don't run your skimmer until you add livestock- I've seen folks recommend this several times.

#1 tip for success, cycle a 10 gal quarantine tank at the same time as your display tank - put a piece of LR in it or shrimp to cycle. You can buy a whole 10 gal setup at walmart for $30, just use the simple filter it comes with and maybe a 75 watt heater. It seems most people suffer losses for not having a QT tank when they need it! I would recommend at least a 2 week stint in QT before adding the fish to your main tank. Just for observation and a preventative dip possibly & treat a disease if necessary if something shows up. Good luck, hopefully some others can help! :happyfish