Advice on turning a 90 gallon freshwater tank into a reef

[Berndogger7500]

First off, great site. I'm completely new to reefkeeping but I've already learned a lot by reading the beginner's articles and surfing around the forums. And although my head is swimming with information, I think I can manage to articulate a few good questions, the answers to which will go a long way in determining whether or not I go reef.

A little background: I've had a 90-gallon freshwater tank for a year now, housing an Oscar fish. Everything had been going swimmingly (excuse the pun) until last night, when my young 4-inch O died very suddenly after showing no sign of disease. I'm still stumped as to why he went down so quickly (water quality is perfect, I have good filtration, etc.), but nevertheless, I'm now looking into retrofitting my 90 into a reef, simply because reefs can be so stunning.

My first questions revolve around hardware: I currently use two Eheim 2028 canisters, a 400W heater, a thermometer, and that's about it. I know I'll need much more equipment to run a reef, but what, exactly, will I need? What kind of setup do you recommend for a 90? And what brands should I buy?

Keep in mind that, while I won't say money is no object, I do have a little leeway when it comes to budget.

Ok, let's break this down into categories.

Filtration: I have a feeling my Eheims are useless for a reef tank; is that true? And if I forego the canisters, what filtration do I need beyond the natural cycle that takes place in reef tanks?

Lighting: I'd like to have the option of keeping as many kinds of corals as I can. What kind do you recommend? Metal halide? How strong? Also, there is a plastic brace running down the middle of my tank (as well as no pre-drilled holes). Are these major problems?

Pumps: What kind do you recommend, and how many do I need for a 90?

Live rock: Cured or uncured? How much?

Other equipment: This includes anything from sumps, calcium reactors and protein skimmers to food, salt and testing kits. I'm just looking for an idea of the scope of extra equipment I'll need.

I know this is an intimidating list of questions, and you can be sure I'll have more, but I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to help this reef newb out.

Edit: grammar

 

[shavo]

I have a canister filter (mechanical)on my reef, You just have to change the media in them often as to not build up nitrates. I also have a refugium(Biological). The fuge is not expensive and could be a little home do it yourselfer instead of looking at what they sell at the LFS. Just get a tank and get some plexiglass cut to size and a pump and that is done. and I would defenitely reccomend a decent protien skimmer. The Pre drilled is not an issue as you can use an overflow box to the sump. As far as lighting goes, I have a really nice 3 stage unit that looks sharp and works great, however I can not house certain creatures that I could under a metal halide. I am now looking into figuring out how to get metal halides on there instead. The light they produce also looks better than my power compacts. I had a devils finger that came with one of my rocks and it never did anything in my tank, i gave it to a friend who has a 400 watt metal halide and this thing has better color and actually has grown in less than a month.
the further you get into this hobby the more you'll buy but to get away with bare minimums, basically you need good filter system and good lights.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Dogger and :welcome:

If it were me, I'd drain the tank and drill it. I'd also drill a smaller aquarium to use as a sump (you can silicone some glass/acrylic baffles into it). I'd also get myself a good quality return pump like a PanWorld or an Iwaki (Eheims are nice if you want to go submersible - personally I prefer externals).

Lighting and circulation setups will vary depending on what you want to keep. Lower wattage halides or fluorescents are fine for a mixed reef (personally on a tank that size I would prefer halides). If the intention was to keep very light demanding species I'd go with the 250 watt halides. A couple of Tunze Streams or VorTechs (or maybe a few of those Maxijet mods if the Tunzes/VorTechs don't fit the budget) would provide lots of circulation which is critical in a reef tank.

For filtration I would invest in a good quality skimmer. ASMs are a good value. If you've got the money there's plenty of better stuff out there too (EuroReef, Deltec, etc.). Between a good skimmer, strong circulation and the live rock you will have all the full-time filtration you need. I'd keep one of the canisters around for periodic maintenance (ie. detritus removal, or maybe running activated carbon, phosban, etc. as needed for a few days per month) but I would not run a canister on a reef full time. For live rock I prefer the lighter, more porous Pacific types like Fiji and Marshall. With this type of rock I would probably stick to about 75 pounds of rock or so. That will be enough for filtration/habitat and will still leave you with plenty of room for future coral growth.

Anyway, that's my $0.02. HTH

 

[SnowManSnow]

As far as the skimmer goes I can personally speak to the new octopus skimmers. I received a new one a few days ago it it is really built well. It appears like its goin to work great too! Just waiting on it to break in. I would suggest getting them from www.premiumaquatics.com.

Oh.. and make sure you get a skimmer that is rated a good bit above your tank. For instance.. I just picked up one rated for 150-180g for my 65g cube.

B

 

[mr_X]

buy an overflow box. 1200 gph. you can always choke it down if it's too much. within the next couple months you'll need a skimmer, but you are ok for now. get the biggest tank you can fit underneath your stand, glue some baffles in it, and get a return pump(i bought the cheapest one i could find and it works perfect) i think mine is a magdrive.
about 100 pounds of rock i would think. the more rock the better, unless of course it's so jammed in there it looks ugly. live rock will help with filtration, so the bigger the filter, the better off you are.
get something with dual 250 watt metal halides in it. if you can afford it, those outer orbits or somethingsimilar to that are awesome. if not, do like i did and buy cheap no frills lights with the same wattage. that center brace won't hurt anything, as long as you don't have a hot bulb cooking it :twisted:
you need a good amount of flow in the tank, so you will need some powerheads. i have maxjet1200's and aquaclear 50's. the maxjets are good.
the aquaclears are ok, except they don't have any grid or cage over the intake, and my snails keep committing suicide in them 8O
that's basically it. get it running. try to take your time with it. good luck!