Help..converting to salt from African Cichlid tank

[kosarfan]

Lost power over X-mas for 5 days and lost everything that I had (about 15 African Cichlids, Pleco, cat). I have made the decision to make the switch to Salt (Fish w/live rock)...what better time right?
A few questions though. My 75 gallon setup was originally intended for saltwater. I was already running a wet/dry trickle filter w/bio balls, so I hope that the cost will not be too much.
Question #1: My tank is full of water (tap). It has been running and was cycled before everything died. Can I simply remove all of the gravel, slate rock, and limestone and add some salt and start the cycling process? Will it cycle quicker since I had the Cichlid tank running prior?
Question #2: Can I leave in my limestone? Some of it is nice and holey....I plan on complimenting it with live rock.
Question #3: I would like to have, Anenomes w/clowns, gobies, tangs, brittle stars, shrimp, feather dusters. Any other critter ideas? What substrate is best (fishstore tells me crushed coral, i think I disagree) and can I add the substrate and live rock tomorrow after I add salt today?
Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Brandon

 

[clarkiiclo]

Welcome

First of all this is what I would do. Take everything down and clean it.
The wet dry is great. But I think I would buy new bioballs and any other media. Im pretty sure freshwater bacteria will die in a marine tank.
Tap water is bad. I would invest right now in an R/O unit. There are great deals on a popular auction site. Or you can use distilled water from the store but the RO will be cheaper in the long run.
I dont know about the limestone. Im sure someone else will pipe up about that.
As for the substrate you are right dont use crushed coral. It will be a big headache.
Use a good sand. Most people use aragonite. CaribSea make a product called AragAlive. Or you can buy sand from SWF.com.
Also you will need to purchase a skimmer if your wet/dry doesnt have one.
As for lighting what do you have right now?
It will have to be upgraded to handle anemones. Most prefer Metal Halide for that.
Also what other circulation do you have? Powerheads ect....
You will need some for water circulation.

 

[kosarfan]

I do plan on buying a powerhead or two (oscillating?).
My light is the cheap run of the mill strip. Planning on buying a new light strip w/the proper tube (Metal Halide?). Can I run both strips? The cheap one that I already have and the new one?
If my freshwater bacteria dies with the addition of salt, will that help/hurt cycling of the tank?
Also, I have city water (pretty good quality) but my house does have a softener that I am bypassing. Does a softener do anything similar to R/O or is it a waste.
I was thinking of using the limestone and lava rock as base rock and then live rock for the main rock.
Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate any help.

 

[clarkiiclo]

The cheap lights will just get in the way. If it was me I would ditch them.
There are lots of good light setups that have metal halide/10k or 14k white bulbs and atinics.
Shoot for at least 5W per gallon if not a bit more.
I have heard that anemones need at a minimum 4W and most species require more.
Your city water has lots of bad things like flouride, chlorine, heavy metals ect...
If you have access to a TDS(total dissolved solids) meter check and see what it is.:thinking:
A good RO/DI will remove about 99% of that junk. You dont want it anyways.
Im sure it will be pretty high.
Again with the old bacteria I thnk I would clean the tank out and start fresh. You can always use a couple of raw shrimp to cycle the tank.
I would also get your sand and live rock at the same time.
Add the water(with salt), add the sand and then the rock.
It will help your tank cycle too. Especially if it is live sand.
Wait until the sand settles to turn on your filtration. The fine particles can tear your pumps up.:yes:
Another think to consider. Have you EVER used a copper based medication in that tank?
If so I wouldnt use it. Copper is deadly for inverts even in small doses. It gets into the seals of the tank and you cant get it out.