75 Gallon Tank Help - Switching from freshwater to saltwater

[Tesla]

Kind of long post... please read and help!!!

I am in the process of switching 75g tank from freshwater (running for last 3-4 years) to saltwater (no experience) and need a lot of help and suggestions....

So far I have figured out that a) tank with sand, live rock and fishes (no corals), b) overflow box with sump and c) new light
Questions....
a) My water source is tap which comes through water softener. My Ph is around 8-8.2 - is water through water softener an issue for saltwater?
b) Sump - I am thinking of using a ~30g tank as sump with zone 1 as filter sock and some media, zone 2 for skimmer, baffles for bubbles and c) return zone - Any help suggestions for build... do i need refugium? I cannot afford to buy sump... too expensive
c) Skimmer - any suggestions on size / what to buy ?
d) My freshwater tank had 3 filters (tend to over filter) - sunsun 304b, hang on marineland emperor 400 and sponge filter - can i reuse any of these and not have a sump?
e) Fishes - 1 blue tang, 5 clown (yes a finding nemo tank) and 6 cleaner shrimps

Any other tips / suggestions for a new comer to salt water are welcome !
AND wrong forum... @admin pls switch to saltwater forum
AND wrong forum... @admin pls switch to saltwater forum

 

[ChrissFishes01]

A) FOWLR tanks can be run with tap water but I'm not sure how good of an idea it'd be to run a water softener with one. Maybe someone else can chime in.
B) You don't need a refugium - they just help with nutrient export, in the same way that live plants do in Freshwater. Helpful, but not necessary, especially if you're good with tank husbandry.
C) I don't have any specific recommendation, but DON'T cheap out on a skimmer. Speaking from experience, most of the cheap ones aren't worth having at all, at least IME.
D) Canister filters are generally a no-no in SW tanks due to the upkeep needed to keep them clean. HOBs are alright to use, but probably not needed in a sumped tank. SW tanks aren't filtered the same way FW tanks are - all of your BB is held in the Live rock and sand instead of filter media, so all you really need is flow over the rock for filtration. My 55 FOWLR just runs powerheads and live rock - no other filtration.
E) A blue tang will most definitely outgrow that tank very quickly - most tangs will. A yellow tang MIGHT do okay for a while, but even they'd appreciate a 6' aquarium. 5 clowns won't work, either - the dominant pair would kill the other three. Usually youd need a several hundred gallon tank with dozens of clowns for more than a pair to work. It's called a harem.

 

[Tesla]

Thank you!
Are you running 55 without sump ? just live rocks in the tank?
also - suggest a good stocking for 75g as clown seems to be out

 

[Ghelfaire]

Thank you!
Are you running 55 without sump ? just live rocks in the tank?
also - suggest a good stocking for 75g as clown seems to be out

You could do a pair of clownfish easily, just not 5.
Liveaquaria is usually a good website to check for tank sizes for fish.

HarrisonAquatics
I'm also curious about the 55g with no filtration other than live rocks and the pump. I'm also considering switching my 55g to a saltwater FOWLR tank.