Conversion Help: FW to SW

Greetings all,

I'm in the process of turning my old 75 gallon cichlid tank into a reef tank with mostly soft corals. As of right now, I have a HOB filter but will be doing a custom refugium within a month or two.

My question...
1. Water Flow: Right now, my HOB filter is 350GPH. I'm planning on picking up a few power heads to up my water flow so I can start cycling the tank and curing LR. Any recommendations or what is a good range of water flow for a soft coral dominant tank? Keep seeing between 20-40x tank volume. Can some one confirm?
2. Filtration: With a HOB filter, should I remove the filter cartridge sine the LR would be my main filtration and will help keep nitrates down and leave the boi-wheels in place?

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm sorry I don't feel like I can help with the exact amount of flow you'll need. With the HOB filter, I'd keep it and use it for carbon after you cycle your tank and as an "in between" while you work on the refugium. I would take off the biowheel.

In terms of a powerheads, I really like my WP-25. I might suggest you use one of those and one koralia in the 75 or you may think about two....they are a little pricier than korallia (sp) but well worth it. They also don't seem to get detritus caught in them as much as the korillia (yes, let's just try to spell this 3 times lol). I'm pretty sure the last one is wrong. HTH.....

 

1. I would do 2 WP25's. Not too expensive compared to your other options and they come with controllers, so you can turn the flow down, if necessary.

2. I honestly wouldn't use a HOB filter on a SW tank. Maybe on a nano tank, but definitely not a 75 gallon. If possible, I would set up a sump. You can store equipment down there, which means less clutter in the display tank. It also adds to your water volume, helping keep your water levels stable. You can also keep a refugium in it, which builds up the copepod population that fish feed on. With a sump, I'd put in a protein skimmer, which is MUCH better than a HOB filter.

 

Thanks. Rather you know this or not, I always find your post quite useful. I picked up my light today Aquatic Life 4 bulb w/lunar leds . I'm able to get a good deal on two koralia 1150 evolution local, but I'll take a look at the WP-25. Thanks again.

 

Thanks on the recommendation. I'm not going to use the HOB power filter for my main filtration. Since I have it, I figure I'll cycle my tank and use it until I complete my sump/refugium.

 

The light sounds really nice. I'm thinking I may want to add an LED strip to my set up just for a little shimmer effect.

I'm so happy to hear that the posts are useful! I really do try

 

I second the advice on the WP25. You could certainly start with just one and then add another when the budget permits. At least that way you won't be stuck with replacing the Evo's or adding additional down the road.

 

I've been reading on the WP25 and I'm impressed. Once I saw the video on youtube, I haven't though about anything else... well, except the WP40. Rather get the WP40 and have it set on medium flow instead of the WP25 on max 24/7. Thanks guys!

 

I like the small size of the wp25 as much as the way it performs,the wp40 is huge in comparison.Somewhere on here is a post by AZdesert rat with a photo comparing the wp40,wo25,evo1400,and koralia nano.The wp25 is slightly larger than the nano but its performance is huge.

 

Good info. Going to run the WP25 as my main water flow and have a Koralia pushing water behind my LRc so I can have a clean looking DT.

Back to filtration. Until I get my refugium setup, should I...
a. run the filter cartridge
b. run the bio wheel (even though the LR would be the biological filtration. No such thing as over filtration, right?)
c. both