Making the transition

[gretsky]

Hi all. I'm new here. I'm looking at making a transition to a saltwater tank (FOWLR) and am looking for some helpful advice. I currently have a 55-gal tank, one AquaClear 70 Powerfilter, 220W heater, and of course, the regular bulbs that came with the hood as a packaged tank deal.

Ideally, I would like to add the following to the tank when I convert it to saltwater: of course live rock, 2 or 3 Ocellaris Clownfish, a yellowtail Damselfish (to cycle), 1 Coral Beauty dwarf angel, 1 yellow tang, and possibly 1 Blue Linkia Sea Star. Any thoughts on these together, such as if I can keep the sea star?

Also, as far as equipment goes, I know I will need to upgrade, along with buying some new equipment. I know I will need a good quality protein skimmer. Any thoughts on filtration? And lastly, I know I need to upgrade my lighting, but there are so many routes you can take when it comes to lighting. I know I will not need anything like Metal Halides, as they are for mini-reefs, but what would be best? I want something that is beneficial for daytime, but something that will look really great at night from a moonlight effect. Lunar lights maybe? I'm kinda confused on the lighting. With the freshwater tank, the lights were either on or off, so I had no luxery (or information on) having the tank lit at night.

I hope I have not asked too much, but I don't want to harm or lose any specimens from lack of information. Thank you for your input.

gretsky

[OrionGirl]

Fish: 2 ocellaris will be better than 3. With clowns, all the fish are born male. A dominant fish will become female, and the the next in line male will be her mate. All the other clowns remain male, and are barely tolerated in the same area as the pair. In a tank, this means they end up being beaten up and chased around, so going with 2 will prevent a lot of stress. There are better and easier ways to cycle the tank than using a damsel that you don't want anyway. I'd avoid the tang in a 55--they are very active swimmers, and big as adults--in a 55, it will end up stressed and prone to diseases. Linkia's are safe, but very hard to find in good condition--they just don't ship well, and most die within a few months of purchase. Since you don't want a reef, though, there are a number of hardier stars that you can choose from. And, without the tang and damsel, you'd have room for 1-2 small fish, like gobies, wrasses, hawkfish, basslets, etc.

Equipment: Live rock will be your primary biological filtration. Add in some cleaners (shrimp, brittle stars, crabs, snails, worms, etc) for mechanical filtation, and the skimmer and you're in good shape.

For lights: without corals to support, you can pretty well use whatever lighting you want. The fish won't care (though some do prefer less lighting than a typical reef), and there are a number of power compact hoods that will include moon lights for your enjoyment.

I'd also encourage you to read up on cycling. Using fish is not the best method, since it exposes those fish to potentially lethal levels of ammonia, and still only establishes a bacteria colony equal to the waste produced by that one fish--meaning the whole thing cycles again with each new addition.