yes yes, ok ill admit it i know diddly squat about marine, the amount i know can be fit on to a pin head!

Basically i have a 30*18*18 tank and want to do a reef tank, where do i begin? its fitted with freshwater gear atm so what needs to be changed?

Well thats more than I knew when I started but thats another story...it all comes to you after a little while.

A 40 gallon tank sounds like a fantastic start though. Some considerations that you might want to consider is has any Copper based medications been used in the tank previously. If so you will want to throughly clean o9ut the tank, stip the silcone off and re-silcone the tank with aquarium grade silicone.

Next consider the substrate. You will want to use a calcium based substrate with your marine tank. While this isnt totally neccessary it is well advised. The reason being, is that you can maintian the high Ph levels in your water once it is filled up. The other aspect is the fact that the substrate will slowly disolve over time and by doing so buffer the water and add minerals to the water that are vital to maintianing your water chemistry.

Not sure what type of filtration set up that you currently have but you will want to provide for more filtration capability than is normally required for a FW tank. The other thing is that between your filtration system and your powerheads if any, you will want to turn the water over in the tank at least 10 times per an hour. In your case you will need to circulate at least 420 gallons minimum through your filters and powerheads per an hour. Something along the lines of a Fluval 303 and a couple of Maxijet Power heads should do the trick nicely...just an example. A better option although not neccessary would be a sump filtration system. You may also want to consider a Protien Skimmer as well. This device will remove many disolved organics from the water assisting you in keeping the water pristine. While not a neccessary piece of gear it is most highly recommended especially for the beginner or average knowledge level hobbyist. A Seaclone 100 is a budget model that will do well for you. If you have some bucks to spare you might want to consider a Aqua-C Remora or CPR BakPak using Maxijet pumps (not Rio's).

Your lighting with freshwater is inadequate in all probability for anything more than Fish Only or Fish Only With Live Rock. Beyond that you need to consider a pair of 96 watt Power Compacts for soft corals and LPS corals and Halides with 2 x 65 watt Actinics for the best results with LPS and SPS corals and clams.

Not sure if I have missed anything but that should pretty well cover the bases when combined with your existing heaters, Thermometers and what not. The only other thing that I can think of is a SW test kit for PH, Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonia and a gauge for checking the salt content in the tank. Everything else is pretty straight forward.

HTH's

Well..............the tank was a malawi tank, it has a crushed coral substarate, with an external canister filter which turns over 400gals with two internal canisters which deal an extra 120 so i guess im well over filtrated!

Im considering a large reefy style tank with the tube worms, anenomes, inverts with a few goby style fish that dart in and out of the rocks, with maybe a pygmy fireball butterfly as the centrepiece? But stocking is totally different from what ive gathered, how do you go about dealing with this?

Right now I would focus just on getting your equipment (lights, filter, heater, protein skimmer, UV sterilizer etc...) set up the tank, and let it run for a week or so

Buy some live rock.. look into the different kinds though, some rock really house the corals and what not a lot better than others... yes, all live rock is good for corals ( i was just saying)

Once youg et your live rock in, dont expect to buy everything the first day :P I know lots of people do that at my work, and I hate breaking the news to them...
You have to build up the tank slowly... and it takes forever *sigh*

Soooooo.... Your live rock is in the tank (Id get it all at once, that way you can create the holes, tunnels, places for your corals and it will make life 150x easier) and then I would add a fish, but consider the fact that you DO NOT WANT A DAMSEL!!! Damsels are fine if you want a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tank and then dont have to worry about trying to catch them!!

Some hardy reef-safe fish are:
- Dotty Backs (the smaller kinds such as: Royal Grammas, bi-colours etc)
- Hawkfish (once again, the smaller kinds)
- Clownfish (Skunk, percula, ocellaris) avoid the maroons, tomatoes (personal opinion) just because they tend to be more agressive



That was just some of the basics i thought i'd try to help you out with the fish half, since I'm not great at the equipment part with saltwater.






*also, keep in mind that most butterfly fish ARE NOT reef safe, the pygmy fireball butterfly that you're interested in is 50-50 for Reef compatability. Most butterfly fish eat stony corals in the wild, and theyre no different in tanks!*




GOOD LUCK!!! :D salt is the way to go :D

Only thing I really have to say is that your going to need light and I would refer to ritz post for the lighting the minimum you are going to need is power compacts.

Generally i like to reverse engineer projects, ie i want a reef with x fish and x inverts, to do this i need x light and x filtration in x tank with x substrate blah blah blah, i think its best if i post a list........ill compiile one this weekend

Making a list is probably a good idea. Telling you what you dont have and need will be easier. :drunk:

Ahhh, But yes....making a list and posting it....Mr miagi32 has it going on!

That really is probably the best route as it really is hard to recommend exact equipment when you havent yet decided what exactly it is that you want. Reverse engineering is really sound advice here.

Giving us a good accurate idea of what you want the end product to be will certianly help0 us guide you through the never ending maze of possibilities that are out there and prehaps save you a few bucks on worthless or wrong equipment too.

excellent idea :drunk: