Steps to turning Fresh, to Brackish, to Salt

[JaredCBell]

Im planning on turning my tank into brackish, then removing the figure 8 puffers and eventually going to full salt with the GSP in there.

After brackish, and I start moving towards salt, let me see if I have this correct of what I need:

Start getting live rock thats already been cured.

Get a protein skimmer

let all of that run for awhile and eventually remove my Aquaclear 70 power filter.

And...what else? Do I need a powerhead if I just have a GSP in there and no inverts? Not planning on doing a reef.

and obviously maintain salinity levels and whatnot.

thanks!

Oh and I forgot. I have 30 grit silica sand in there. Am I going to have to change that all out? Or should it be fine? my PH is up near 8 already and with the live rock and salt, should I be alright?

[travie]

Im planning on turning my tank into brackish, then removing the figure 8 puffers and eventually going to full salt with the GSP in there.

After brackish, and I start moving towards salt, let me see if I have this correct of what I need:

Start getting live rock thats already been cured. You will still need to cure the LR in a container other then in the main display tank to deal with any potential die off on the LR while bringing it home. Look for unwanted hitchhikers too. This could take up to a month or be as short as a week to fully cure.

Get a protein skimmer. Get a good quality skimmer. Preferably as soon as you can, and get it running. It can take a skimmer up to a month to fully break in.

let all of that run for awhile and eventually remove my Aquaclear 70 power filter. Sounds good.

And...what else? Do I need a powerhead if I just have a GSP in there and no inverts? Not planning on doing a reef. I would get a powerhead. Need to get the water to flow over the LR to filter the water some how. I'm not sure of the exact GPH flow you will need though.

and obviously maintain salinity levels and whatnot. Get a refractometer. It will be way more accurate then a hydrometer.

thanks!

Oh and I forgot. I have 30 grit silica sand in there. Am I going to have to change that all out? Or should it be fine? my PH is up near 8 already and with the live rock and salt, should I be alright? Once you get it to full on saltwater you will want it to get closer to 8.4. Aragonite sand will be your best bet to keep the pH constantly buffered to around 8.4.

I think everything I said is accurate, if not, someone should be along to correct any of my misinformation eventually.

[JaredCBell]

I think everything I said is accurate, if not, someone should be along to correct any of my misinformation eventually.

that all sounds about right from what i have read. but about the sand.... isthere any way to get by with what i have in there? any other way to keep the ph high?

[travie]

I would get at least a 10 pound bag of aragonite sand to put in the tank along with your 30 pounds already in there. Get a salt mix that says it will buffer the water's pH to 8.4 when mixed in such a such ratio with freshwater.