[shesacharmer]

You're getting a lot of great advice here, you are lucky! I bought a 75 gallon used setup that was running and enjoyed the experience (not) of moving it two hours away in May. Like you I had tropical experience but not a lick of salt. It's quite overwhelming between the jargon and the equipment...far more clinical and frankly more work than tropical but far more rewarding too (when you get it right!)

My tank is drilled and came with a sump and a thousand gallon return pump. I washed the old sand in a barrel with freshwater and reused most of it. I probably should have bought new sand. My figi live rock was 10 years in a system without many pests so I got lucky with that...but still came with a few majanos which I dealt with once I figured out what they were.

My sump uses socks, a refugium which has mud and LR and macro algae. My Chaeto refused to live, my Ulva lettuce kept shredding, I was given some Caulerpa Prolifica and that seems to do the best so far. My skimmer kicked the bucket and I replaced it with a reef octopus rated higher than my tank required. It was hard to start but once I got the hang of it I'm happy with it.

I have about 40 coral frags in my tank already and using Instant Ocean reef crystals the only thing I've needed to dose is Magnesium so I check it weekly and use the calculator at Bulk Reef Supply to figure the dose and I add it to the filter socks by hand. Maybe when my corals get bigger I'll need to automate dosing.

My biggest piece of advice is to study quarantine methods and do not skip out on quarantining anything. I'm still struggling to get Ich out of my main display tank and that is a headache you do not want to have, believe me!

I got a pair of 14 gallon barrels that originally held salt (food grade) and I use them to mix my salt water. I just fill the barrels with filtered water and let a powerhead mix them up. Add a heater and a thermometer and you are all set. It's recommended to let the water mix for a day before using it to ensure all crystals are broken down (and it changes the ph over a few hours.) I have a dirty water pump that I take the water out of the dt with and a clean water pump that I use to put water back in. I marked my tank to the level where I removed 14 gallons so I know exactly how much to take out each time. My husband rigged a drain outside the window so I don't have to put the dirty salt water into my septic tank. If you mark your max on and max off water levels on your sump you will know how much to top off and when...you'll also hopefully avoid a flood if the power goes out. Make sure your input line from the sump to display will break siphon prior to overflowing your sump if the power goes out!

You are off to a great start.