Gill Passman wrote:

OK...so what is the minimum equipment that you would put in a tank with
Live Rock, Sand, Power Heads and Protein Simmer - thinking either 55 gal
or maybe 135g...depends which freshwater tank I decide to
sacrifice....of course, I understand the need for better lighting than
you would have in a freshwater planted tank.....

Minimum, you say? Ok. A good skimmer. One to two pounds of live rock per gallon
of capacity (some varieties are denser than others, and you need more pounds of
those). About one inch of "dead" sand in the bottom. Some sort of pump that
turns the water in the tank over at least 15 times an hour (powerheads are
acceptable, though inefficient). Two adequate submersible heaters. A GFCI outlet
on the electrical supply. An electronic thermometer.

The lighting depends on the animals you wish to keep. If you stick with fish and
invertebrates, the fluorescents you are probably using for freshwater will be
adequate. Get into soft corals, and you will need high output fluorescents with
actinics and about twice as many of them. Get into hard corals, and you'll need
to add metal halides.

For example. I'm slowly converting my 125 gallon from a fish-only tank to a reef
tank. I've retired most of my dead coral and replaced my crushed coral substrate
with Caribbean sand. I have about 140 pounds of live rock and a fair amount of
dead coral (which is slowly becoming live). I have two 250 watt submersible
heaters and a mediocre skimmer made by "Amiracle." I just added a Tunze 6060 for
water circulation and retired my old Fluval cannister, powerheads, and the U/V
sterilizer. I also have an Eheim wet/dry filter and expect to retain it, despite
advice to the contrary (if you're going reef, you should not be buying one of
these). I have an electronic thermometer, a GFCI, and a tungsten safety ground
probe. I had moonlights over half the tank, but they developed a short and died.
I have two double-tube 36" standard fluorescents.

I intend to replace the stand to give me room for a sump (which I may not put
in) and for cosmetic reasons and improve the lighting to the point that I can
keep soft corals.

George Patterson
Those who do not study History are doomed to repeat it. Those who DO
study History are doomed to watch every one else repeat it.