freshwater to marine

[fish87]

i currently have a 160 litre (uk litres) tank with an eheim 2213 external filter. i am considering converting my cihlid tank into a marine tank. But my question is if i wanted to convert the tank from freshwater to marine, what equipment would need to be added my my tank such as protein skimmers etc????

Also would the standard lighting be sufficient for marines or do they have special lighting i have read about halides??

[scubadude]

Hi fish87
Welcome to Reefland!

Someone just asked the exact same thing the other day, and many experienced hobbyist answered in detail. Heres the link to help you

Beginners Questions

Alot of the questions you have may evolve alot around what exactly you want to do. For example if you just wanted to have a Saltwater tank with a couple of damsels then it would be fairly easy to convert but if you wanted a reef tank w/some corals then it would be quite a bit more complex. Read a bunch of threads here and look at pictures....find out exactly what you want and build a plan from that.

[returnofsid]

This will all depend on if you want a Fish Only tank or a Reef tank with Corals and inverts. If you're wanting just Fish and Live Rock, your current lighting will be adequate. If you want a Reef tank, it'll still depend on what types of corals you want to keep. Compact Flourescents would allow you to keep any Soft Corals and some LPS corals. T5HO, such as a Tek5 by Sunlight Supply, would allow you to keep most SPS, some Anemones and a couple different species of Clams. If you're wanting to keep the highest light demanding Acropora Corals or Maxima Clams, you'll probably want to go with Halides.

Your current filtration will soon become a Nitrate trap, which isn't a big deal with a Fish Only tank but will quickly cause problem with a Reef tank. With either tank, I'd recommend adding a quality Protein Skimmer. If you go with a Reef tank, the skimmer is just about mandatory.