little help

[steel3470]

ok i am turning over one of my 55 gallon fresh into a SW. make sure i have this right.

need:
-about 100lbs LR
-about 50lbs live sand

then what?
i have a penquin 400 filter will i need that or take it out and get a couple of powerheads if so what are good ones.
i would like to but a ten gallon under the tank to keep the heater in and to add anouther 10 gallons to it.

so do i need to put the 10 under neath the tank and get that all plumped up to like a hang on skimmer and pipe it back into the tank. before the cycle.
and when do i put the live rock in before or after the cycle?

thanks

[SteveD]

You should have about 3-4" of sand. I would use base sand for most with some live sand for the top layer. Same thing with the live rock. 2lbs per pound is on the high end, I would get some base rock( www.hirocks.com) and get a box of fiji on sale from www.liveaquaria.com. With the money you'll save buy a skimmer and a couple powerheads. For the sump you'll need a hang on overflow and a return pump. Pretty simple, just hang the overflow on the tank and plumb the return pump back to the tank, and make sure you have some method of anti siphon. If you go with the sump I would get an in sump skimmer such as a ASM G2 or the like. Good luck

[steel3470]

thanks for the help