Upgrade underway!!! – Divorce Imminent!!!

[sandry75]

Opportunities Abound!

Chapter One / Current Status:
55 gallon FOWLR. Too many fish! Not enough filtration! Heavy Maintenance! Overall pretty successful effort. Love the tank – Love the fish – Don’t mind the maintenance.

Chapter Two / Education (both literary and literal)
Purchased numerous books – Camped out on RC till the wee hours reading until my eyes were bleeding. Confidence and desire now at peak levels!

Chapter Three / The Plan
Total upgrade! Large Tank – Complete reef setup – Started planning phase by looking into required equipment.
Reality can be harsh – 4 full time jobs wouldn’t make that happen. Ok, maybe a small beginner reef setup would be more feasible. Purchased a 36 gallon bowfront with stand and hood that fit nicely in the corner of the family room. Now for equipment – spent some time on RC and checked out prices on the web, etc. Stopped by the LFS (favorite) and ….. ut-oh… what’s that? Change of plans???

Chapter Four / Gotta Have It!
I discovered (and subsequently purchased) a used 75 gallon reef ready system complete with:
Tank (like new)
Stand & Hood (Clean but some evidence of wear)
20 gallon sump
Berlin skimmer (25-250 gal / triple pass)
Two MAG 5 pumps
A 4 bulb 260W compact fluorescent setup
Two 100W heaters
Small hang on filter on the sump for media

Owner of the LFS was selling it for a friend and would guarantee the equipment and tank for a month. SOLD – brought it home yesterday! $400.00!

The tank has the same footprint as my current 55gal only 6� wider (not a problem).
Now I plan to use the 36 gal for a couple of my current favorite fish transferred from the 55gal.

Chapter Five / New Plan
Okay – Here’s where you guys come in….
Overall plan is to setup a reef with some fish. First question – Substrate?
I don’t like the looks of bare bottom tanks so I’m thinking sand bed. I was told that I could purchase sand from Home Depot and then seed it with some live sand. I want the sand to be as white as possible as I like the look plus I was told it would help reflect the lighting. Can anyone recommend what sand I should look for at HD?
Next Question – What is normally used in the sump? MUD or sand? Which is better and why? I plan to post some pics along the way and I’m sure to have lots of questions. So as soon as I get me pay pal account setup I’ll start supporting RC the same way they have supported me so far! Wish me luck!