converting a fresh water to a salt water

Question
so if i use the xp4 filter, and replace the medias with bioballs, would something along those lines work???? and of course a heavy duty protien skimmer. also would adding live plant life help, along with invertables?

Thanks
matt
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hey how's it going? Just a couple of questions pertaining to getting a saltwater tank started. I have a 180 gallon fresh water tank. I would really like to get into the saltwater but I have a feeling the cost is just going to be out of the question for me at this time. I was told that an xp4 canister filter, with a protien skimmer would work fine for my set up, (i want fish and reef) but I went to the same store and was told something different by someone else. and something that would cost me at least $1500 more. will this type of setup work, or is it a bad idea, or do I need to get a whole sump system?

Thanks
Matt
-----Answer-----
hi matt, that set up sounds absolutely fine. i have a 100UK gal tank, i have a couple of media reactors and a good skimmer, i let the live rock do its job and filter my tank.

if its your 180gal tank you want to use it will cost you a small fortune to get enough live rock to be an effective filter. you wan't roughly 1Kg of live rock per 2galls. over here in the UK the shops sell live rock (LR) for �11-14 per kilo, so far i have bought all my rock from people closing down tanks, means i get cheap rock and it conserves the natural reefs.

if your running a simple system without a sump, i would advise to buy the best skimmer you can afford, preferably rated over the total volume of your tank. (my tank is 100gals my skimmer is rated at 200gals)

with the filter you wan't to run, make sure you don't use the conventional media, all it does is just collect waste and act as a nitrate breeding ground. best to run carbon, nitrate minus and phosban.

also you said you wanted to kep corals? you will need to get stronger marine lighting, depending on what corals you want to keep depends on what lighting you will need to buy, the key to the whole marine thing is patience and reserch your purchases. don't always take what your local fish shop say as gospel, sometimes they just like to sell you things. i would also say its a good idea to get on some marine forums, they will be able to answer any questions you have much quicker than i could on here.

hope that helps (and makes sense)
paul

Answer
the bio balls will also collect nitrates and lech them into your tank, it really is best to use live rock. I used to use an external filter, all i used in it was carbon, nitrate minus and phosban with a coarse filter pad. i had to clean the filter every month due to the ammount of crap the filter foam used to collect.

you can get some caleurpa or cheato for your tank, this will help keep the nitrates and such under controll for you. do a bit of reserch on them to see which 1 would best suit your system.