Advice on setting up a fish only tank

[loves saltwater]

I have a 75 gallon that used to be reef tank setting round doing nothing so I thought I would make it a fish only tank. So what do I need to use for filtration will live rock in the sump work ?Here is what I have

75 gallon tank w/ caflo overflow and 1000gph closed loop
3 compartment 40 gallon sump
PM skimmer

What else do I need ?

[warrenm107]

Good question, everytime I say I'm going to add a fish only tank I always end up turing it into a reeftank. My last fish only had a hang on the back filter, a skimmer, live rock and sand, and pumps for circulation. Oh and a heater.

[loves saltwater]

I guess my question is would you set it up like reef tank and just not put corals in it LOL or is there something you would do different on a fish only tank ?

[fahadahmed]

I wouldn't add all the expensive equipment that won't be needed if you are not doing reef. I would suggest adding a UV, live sand, live rock and proper lights.

[loves saltwater]

I have some lights laying around that will work. So no skimmer needed ? What about macro algea ? Closed loop not needed I guess ?

[fahadahmed]

My suggestions:
A good skimmer is almost a must for FOWLR
closed loop or a some kind of equipment for a good flow will keep the dirt off of the rocks

When I said REEF equipment, I meant, calcium reactor, doser, CO2 etc...

[bertoni]

A skimmer isn't necessary, but it's a good safety net. I'd add one, personally. The closed loop will be good for keeping the live rock more efficient and for providing oxygenation. Personally, I'd add a temperature controller and several heaters to the shopping list. Heaters seem to fail frequently.

I'd put about 75 lbs of live rock in the display for filtration.

[loves saltwater]

Ok so here is the list so far of what I have laying around

The tank has a 1000GPH closed loop on it now
I have PM skimmer
I have a temp controller that will handle 2 heaters
There is live sand in the tank now
The sump/fuge has live sand in it also
I have a 700 GPH return pump in the sump.
T5 lighting

So the shopping list will be

75 lbs or so of LR ?
a couple of 300 watt heaters ?
UV setup ?
Macro Algae ?
Fish ?

Anything else ?

[bertoni]

I wouldn't bother with the UV. Is there a lighted refugium partition in the sump? That's where macroalgae are more likely to be useful.

You'll need some test kits and other basics. The fish and other animals will have to wait until the live rock has cured.

[loves saltwater]

Yes the tank I am using is my old reef tank before I upgraded. I have lights on the sump and live sand I took the macro out to put in my big tank but I have a place to put it in the old sump I know the LR will need to cure

No UV needed

Any other advice to get started ?

[fahadahmed]

try to get cured rock from LFS rather than from online stores. Use RO water to avoid algea break out. Take it easy on lights in the first month. carbon / phosphate filter media.

[loves saltwater]

I guess I have my shopping list Thanks for the advise !

[Rick55555]

You'll need a quarantine tank.

In my experience since parasites will inevitably be an issue it would be a good idea to pick up copper and a test kit.