Moving From Fowlr To Full Reef?

[RipSlider]

My tank is on the way to getting built, and after reading pretty much the whole of WetWebMedia, and all of Fenner's books, I'm now thinking that going directly to reef from a freshwater background is too much.

Therefore, I'm thinking that I'm going to start as FOWLR and then "move up" so to speak, once I've got a really solid grasp on the fish and general water mechanics.

However, I don't want to get myself trapped into a cul-de-sac where I'll find it really difficult to progress upwards.

Therefore, what I'm wondering is how much work will I need to do to move from one to the other?

I know I'll need to increase the flow and turbulance, and that the lighting will need to be upgraded, but what other issues will I need to take into account?

The tank has had another, partial re-design, based on what was on WWM. It has always been intended to be a reef tank until my change of heart to FOWLR, so i THINK to should be OK, but comments appreciated. It will be as follows:

7x2.5x3 foot tank

3x1x1.5 foot sump
3x1x1.5 'fuge

lighting will be 8 x 60" fluro's staggered to light the whole tank. 6x 12k lights and 2x atanics

'fuge will be taking a tap from the sump, with a much slower flow. It will be split into three sections, with an intake with LR in it, a 20" x 7" deep DSB with macro algae above it, ( will be using Chaetomorpha rather than Caulerpa is it's less dangourous to the fish, will take up more nutrients and will give a better breeding ground to photo and zoo-plankton ). The outflow will also be filled with crushed LR so as to act as a mini-mechanical filter. This will feed back to the sump. 'fuge will be lit on a counter cycle to the tank.


Sump will be in three sections. The first will be filled with crushed LR again, in order to break up flow and capture any majorly large items of muck. Then the "main " area of the sump will house the heaters, skimmer ( I might need two, can't find a good skimmer that will support a 1,200litre tank. Looking for a needle impellor one if anyone has any suggestions ), then a bubble trap back to the outflow with the main return pump.

The skimmer, again following fenner to the letter will be also fed by a small ozone device. Not sure how I plan to link these two together at all yet.

The tank will have between 1.5 and 2" of live sand ( well, seeded live sand, I'm not a lottery winner!) on the base, and around 120Kg of LR. ( not sure this is enough, but will make an OK starting point I think )

So, my questions are:

1) will this set up support a reef set up?
2) What would need to change to make it support a reef set up?
3) If I stock only Reef Safe fish for the year or so that I have it as FOWLR, will I encounter any issues?
4) I want something that will turn over the sand in the DSB. However, I also want something that won't take great big chunks out of the goodies that grow in the fuge. Any idea's?
5) Is it practical to increase the turbulance in the tank without upsetting the set up in the fuge and sump?
6) have I made any silly mistakes in my planning?

 

[Mr Miagi]

1) will this set up support a reef set up?

Yes, I beleive it would. Sounds like your going about things i the right way, and youve got grips of whats going to support your creatures.

2) What would need to change to make it support a reef set up?

I dont think you would need to change very much. Depending on your corals and inverts you want to keep, lighting would be fine for low light requiring species. Water flow might have to be improved, but you already know that.

3) If I stock only Reef Safe fish for the year or so that I have it as FOWLR, will I encounter any issues?

You shouldnt encuoter any. Depending on species you want to keep I guess, ansd the order in which you add them.

5) Is it practical to increase the turbulance in the tank without upsetting the set up in the fuge and sump?

This should be fine. I take it you mean increasing turbulence via power heads? If so, no, it shouldnt bother anything.

6) have I made any silly mistakes in my planning?

No. I can see something though. Why go FOWLR? I mean, your doing everything right, and there is nothing wrong going in this direction. But you seem to have your head around things, if you keep that up, why not go full reef straight away? Its not impossible. Many have done it. Reading WWM and Books from Fenner is great, but there are other great titles and authoprs out there. IE Eric Borneman, Julian Sprung, I think there is a thread for recomended books around TFF somewhere, ill try find it. There is also no substitute for the experience of others. Have a read of people Nano Journals.

 

[SkiFletch]

I pretty much agree with everything Mr Miagi said. You're allready headed in a direction which will make your tank as close to reef-ready from a hardware standpoint as you can be. Just make sure to stock reef-safe fish and you should be fine when you want to start growing corals. Any and all tanks start out as FOWLR at first as corals are not advisable until at least a month or two after setup.