MonteCarloZ38

Hello every one, I am new here. I currently have a 75gal freshwater tank that I am really thinking of converting to saltwater. I have been doing a lot of reading and have a few questions.

My filtration is going to be 100lb of live rock and 60lb of live sand, this should be sufficient right? I am also going to add a protein skimmer for mechanical filtration. From what I understand I do not need a sump or a canister filter, correct?

My main question is: Since I live on a coast of Florida (Tampa Bay area). Can I use local ocean sand and local live rock? VS paying 5$/lb for live rock at LPS. Perhaps I can buy 2 lb from them and add it to the tank with the rock I've collected just to make sure all of the bacteria gets transfered from their rock to my collected rock.
Some one told me to just use an under gravel filter and that should be sufficient enough for the bio load, but from what I read ugf are not that good and must be cleaned at least ones a year. Plus I wont be able to use live rock at all with ugf and I must use crushed coral instead of sand.

Thank you for your time in reading this.

PS: Just thought of something. If I cant "harvest" my own live rock and live sand how would this filtration sound? Under gravel filter + Aqua Clear 110 hang on filter. (I am currently using the hang on filter which is rated for 110gal on the 75gal tank but in freshwater. So with the UGF + The hand on filter should give enough biological filtration for the saltwater? This would be my ultimate deal price wise! can this work?

Rbacchiega

Thre might be some laws in your area in terms of getting your own live rock from the ocean, so I would check into that before you risk it.

but yeah 100lbs of lr and 60lbs of ls should be good. I would scrap the ug filter though, they're bad news. I would, however, consider a small sump. An overflow filter can be bought cheap enough (I think someone on here converted an old aquaclear actually) but, you're right, you don't really need a canister filter either.

there are some excellent articles on this site in terms of setting up a sw tank...the setups differ depending on what type of tank you want (FO FOWLR or Reef) So that needs to be decided first

Mike

Forget the ugf, causes too many headaches long term.

Pretty sure it's against the law to remove rock/sand from the ocean in Florida - be sure to check your local laws first.

The amount of live rock you plan on using along with the sand and a protein skimmer should be good as far as filtration goes.