New to saltwater - 75 gallon tank

Hi! I am new to saltwater but have been itching to get into it for years. I purchased a 75 gallon tank from a guy (who upgraded to a 125 gallon) and pick it up this weekend. We went to look at the aquarium and it is in beautiful condition. My questions is this:

The previous owner used it as a fish only tank, but I really want to be able to have coral and live rock....ect. He is giving me the crushed coral, water and fish as well. Do I need to start from scratch if I want a reef aquarium?

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

 

No need to start from scratch. I wouldn't use the crushed coral he has. CC catches a lot of detritus. I would use sand JMO. You'll probably need to upgrade the lighting to go reef as most FO tanks dont have the proper lighting.

 

+1 I would also highly recommend some live rock if it does not come with any.

The big things for a reef tank are lighting, water movement, and filtration, you need adequate amounts of each depending on the types of coral you hope to keep.

Softies are the easiest, followed by LPS, then SPS. As you go up the "scale" you typically will need increased amounts of the 3 key types of equipment that I listed above.

 

If it's always been FO, you should ask the seller if he's ever used any copper medications in the tank. If so, that rock will be contaminated with copper, and won't be suitable to use with corals.

And agree with the comments on the CC; ditch that and use sand.

 

Welcome to the hobby friend, No you wouldn't need to start from scratch. List all your specs on what your getting with this deal and we will try to help you out to the fullest to see what you will need. The crushed coral(crushed live rock is good but if it is substrate throw it out.) is good if you have a sump and would be able to make a mesh media basket/bag to hold it in the fuge. Note: if you have a sump and want to grow corals a big fuge is key. Good Luck.

 

Now I knida feel insulted alittle.

My 125 MR has finely crushed coral as substrate. Works for me.

 

Thanks very much for your help! The current set up has two pumps, but I have read some folks have a sump......will I need a sump?

 

Is it drilled?

 

I have a mixture of crushed coral and sand and love it! Just my .02, I'm with Todd on that one.

 

No it is not drilled......something else to think about! Can you still do a reef tank without having a sump? I see threads telling me both answers.