Semi Reef Conversion...advice appreciated

[teetee]

Hello, I currently have a 14 week old 135g set-up. It started out as a fish only tank, but needless to say I have been charmed by reef set-ups and as a result, am proceeding to convert it to a semi reef.
I say semi reef because I will have primarily fish as my feauture with some live rock and hardy inverts such as star fish, shrimps, and snails. Besides these inverts, I want to cultivate coraline algae and mushroom anenomes (the hardiest anenome of the lot from what I gather). No corals etc.
Because I started FO, I unfortunately incorporated a UGF with crushed coral. Yes, what a mistake; so, I will have to dismantle the whole set-up. Current filtration includes 3 Aquaclear 500's, 802 & 402 powerheads, a wisa pump that makes micro bubbles, & a seaclone protein skimmer (yes, I will be adding an additional, more powerful skimmer). I currently have about 25lbs of live rock for my tank and I know that it is far from being adequate for a 135g. Can I slowly add rocks to reach the the required amount?(1-3lbs per gallon). You see I currently have large beautiful pieces of real but dead coral and I like the look. I want to mix this decor with live rock,but won't have room for 300 lbs of live rock.What would be the minimum amount of lbs for my 135g? Also, what would you recommend for substrate. I am leaning towards live sand. How much would I need? What is the difference between ls and argonite. Is one preferred over the other?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post & for your advice. I simply dont want to make more mistakes, such as purchasing the UGF, CC, and seaclone. I would like this reconfiguration to be done as properly as possible. Thanks a bundle. T.T.

 

[hermit enthusiast]

If you add live rock like that then everytime you put a new piece in it will cause an ammonia spike. And the minimum would probally be 135 but it's up to you how much to put in. Hope this helps.
Peace

 

[teetee]

Would this happen even if the live rock has been cured?

 

[up north hermit]

I will share my experience with you.
I converted a 125 FO to FOWLR and inverts (and some hardy mushrooms). I added about 5 lbs. of LR per week, (once I added a 10 lb rock) and had NO ammonia spikes at all. If you do this slowly, you should have no problems. And I used only cured rock from a local fish store. (Well, local fish store for me is 200 miles!)
I also siphoned out all my CC and replaced it with LS. I did this in thirds. Took out one third and replaced with LS, waited one week--did the next third--and so on. Again, with no "spikes".
Simply put all live sand is, is sand that has live infauna (critters that can be bought, commonly called detrivore kits), and bacterias. Personally I like the smallest particle size, highly recommended for a DSB. I use oolitic sand. Here is a site that can calculate your sand bed needs:
http://wwwreefcentral.com/calc/SandBed.html
I now have a gorgeous tank, run with only a skimmer. Filtration is accomplished by a DSB and LR. Strong turnover is also recommended, via good reliable powerheads.
My humble .02
HTH
Hermit

 

[teetee]

Thanks for the help UNH, I gather you did not have to deal with a UGF. I like the idea of changing the substrate in thirds. Just curious, any info on the argonite? My LFS clerk speaks highly of this stuff. T.T.

 

[up north hermit]

Yes, it is good stuff indeed, and the price tag tell you so. You would need a quite substantial amount for your 135. Assuming you are removing the CC.
Since I too needed so much sand, I bought 50 lb buckets of oolitic from ESV in New York. Then I placed LS ontop, about 10% of the total of the SB (this could be from an existing tank, a lfs tank, or NO aragonite or Arag-Alive or any other bacteria-ladden sand to inocculate your bed.)
All said and done, it was more cost effective for me to order on-line, even with the shipping it was tons less than the lfs prices for the amount I had to have.
HTH
Hermit