Esimm03
Hi,
so I just wanted to share my experience with converting my 50L freshwater planted tank to a reef as I have seen lots of posts on similar topics or starting a reef altogether. Last year I made a similar post about making a fake freshwater reef with live rock and colourful fish and plants. This was great as I wanted a reef but at the time couldn't afford one. In August 2017 I set up my first saltwater tank, with coral and sexy shrimp.... But I wanted fish. So 4 weeks ago I went into my shed and dug out my old 50L with the dead live rock in.... I decided to upgrade my reef(on a major budget) Hopefully my experiences will help someone in a similar situation.
Firstly I made a list of everything I needed and had... This is all the equipment I am using (a link is attached if I purchased it separately:
Heater (already had one)
Pump to circulate water (used an old stingray filter)
Light (already had an LED colour change light)
Filtration ( All Pond Solutions 600-HO Aquarium Hang On Filter, 600 L/H Flow Rate )
Rock (used the dry rock and some live from my LFS)
Sand(sand from my LFS)
Saltwater (got from LFS)
RO Water (got from LFS)
Test kits (already had from my Pico tank(API))
Refractometer (already had)
For nutrient export I'm using cheato algae, a protine skimmer is recommend but it's really expensive and I'm trying to keep this a budget system. The stuff I had to buy cost me £27.48. if you are converting from a freshwater you will probably have to get a new light which is fairly pricey.... I bought this one ages ago for my fake reef. Saltwater costs me £2.40 per 10l and RO is £1 per 10L.
To set the tank up I took it outside and gave it a really good scrub down with the garden hose to get rid of any algae in there. I then sat it on my stand and put the filter on the back. I then scaped it with the dry rock and went to my LFS and bought the dead sand and live rock, I then added them in (it's important to add your rock first as inverts who dig into the sand might knock the rocks over if they are not touching the floor of the tank(and then you may have a cracked tank) I then filled it with water and turned everything on (it's important to fill the filter up first as it needs to be primed ) I then went on holiday for 1 week!.
When I returned I tested the water for some reason ammonia was very high (like 8ppm!) So I did a large 50% water change and it gradually reduced. Which brings us up to now, it's been running about 4 weeks now and nitrate is at 10ppm. Hopefully in a week or so I can move All my coral over. This is my stocking plan:
2x occolaris clownfish
1x goby (undecided)
3x hermet crabs
2x sexy shrimp
3x turbo snails
3x sand sifting snails
1x tube worm.
Coral----
Acan
Kenya tree
Zoas
Palyzoas (will get in the future)
Candy cane
Neon trumpet
Gsp
hammerhead coral
Anemone (will get when the tank is 6 months to a year old )
Overall this tank will have cost me £115.43 (excluding all the equipment I and and including the fish and cuc I have listed and excluding coral)
I hope this helps anyone who wants to set a budget reef up! Any questions please ask as I'd love to help and there are lots of helpful people on this forum too!
Attached is a pic of the tank at the moment and I will keep updating its progress on here!
(First pic is it then and second is it now)
If there's anything I've missed out or anyone wants to add anything please comment
Thanks for reading,
Ethan


so I just wanted to share my experience with converting my 50L freshwater planted tank to a reef as I have seen lots of posts on similar topics or starting a reef altogether. Last year I made a similar post about making a fake freshwater reef with live rock and colourful fish and plants. This was great as I wanted a reef but at the time couldn't afford one. In August 2017 I set up my first saltwater tank, with coral and sexy shrimp.... But I wanted fish. So 4 weeks ago I went into my shed and dug out my old 50L with the dead live rock in.... I decided to upgrade my reef(on a major budget) Hopefully my experiences will help someone in a similar situation.
Firstly I made a list of everything I needed and had... This is all the equipment I am using (a link is attached if I purchased it separately:
Heater (already had one)
Pump to circulate water (used an old stingray filter)
Light (already had an LED colour change light)
Filtration ( All Pond Solutions 600-HO Aquarium Hang On Filter, 600 L/H Flow Rate )
Rock (used the dry rock and some live from my LFS)
Sand(sand from my LFS)
Saltwater (got from LFS)
RO Water (got from LFS)
Test kits (already had from my Pico tank(API))
Refractometer (already had)
For nutrient export I'm using cheato algae, a protine skimmer is recommend but it's really expensive and I'm trying to keep this a budget system. The stuff I had to buy cost me £27.48. if you are converting from a freshwater you will probably have to get a new light which is fairly pricey.... I bought this one ages ago for my fake reef. Saltwater costs me £2.40 per 10l and RO is £1 per 10L.
To set the tank up I took it outside and gave it a really good scrub down with the garden hose to get rid of any algae in there. I then sat it on my stand and put the filter on the back. I then scaped it with the dry rock and went to my LFS and bought the dead sand and live rock, I then added them in (it's important to add your rock first as inverts who dig into the sand might knock the rocks over if they are not touching the floor of the tank(and then you may have a cracked tank) I then filled it with water and turned everything on (it's important to fill the filter up first as it needs to be primed ) I then went on holiday for 1 week!.
When I returned I tested the water for some reason ammonia was very high (like 8ppm!) So I did a large 50% water change and it gradually reduced. Which brings us up to now, it's been running about 4 weeks now and nitrate is at 10ppm. Hopefully in a week or so I can move All my coral over. This is my stocking plan:
2x occolaris clownfish
1x goby (undecided)
3x hermet crabs
2x sexy shrimp
3x turbo snails
3x sand sifting snails
1x tube worm.
Coral----
Acan
Kenya tree
Zoas
Palyzoas (will get in the future)
Candy cane
Neon trumpet
Gsp
hammerhead coral
Anemone (will get when the tank is 6 months to a year old )
Overall this tank will have cost me £115.43 (excluding all the equipment I and and including the fish and cuc I have listed and excluding coral)
I hope this helps anyone who wants to set a budget reef up! Any questions please ask as I'd love to help and there are lots of helpful people on this forum too!
Attached is a pic of the tank at the moment and I will keep updating its progress on here!
(First pic is it then and second is it now)
If there's anything I've missed out or anyone wants to add anything please comment
Thanks for reading,
Ethan

