Going Marine

[phatus]

I've kept tropicals for a few years but replaced them with two snake neck turtles which I've had for over a year now. I've decided I'd like to get back into keeping fish and what I'd really like is a reef tank. I read an article on how to set one up and the author said that filters should be purchased at the start and LR can gradually be added. He said once there is a lb of LR per gallon of salt water the filters can be taken out because the LR will be able to cope with the filtration. What I'm planning on doing is not buying any filters and just straight out buying live sand and enough LR for one lb per gallon. I'm going to make the sand bed 4 inches deep. Would this be okay or does the live rock/sand need an established ammonia cycle in the tank before hand i.e would I have to get the filters at the start?

 

[demonmagus]

usually people don't bother with the filters, as the LR is the filter, there will be some die off ( a bit off ammonia) but that's it

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, no filters, just get the LR in one go. Also, dont bother with live sand, its a marketing gimmick IMO. Sand beds seed very quickly from live rock so there's no need to spend the extra $$ on live sand. Make sure you buy an aragonite based sand though. Helps your water chemistry down the road . What size tank are you gonna be using