I have been into reef tanks for 17 years, due to monetary limitations I am forced to sell my live rock, corals and metal halde lighting and return to freshwater.
Mainly because of the electricity and the cost of replacing MH and PC bulbs.
I was wondering what would be my best choice for a substrate and I currently have Koralia powerheads in my reef tank for water movement, do I still need the water movement? I thought maybe it would help keep waste in the water column until it rteaches the overflow/sump.
The tank is 180 gallons so it should make a really nice Oscar tank.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

some water movement is needed but not as much as a reef tank. a little surface ripple is good. if you can get some under current all the better. substrate can be anything from stones,gravel or sand. sand is liked by a lot of members as poo sites on top making cleaning easier. large stone makes it a little harder. its really a matter of what you like. plants don't seam to last long. stick to rocks or wood. lighting wise its down to how much you like, the oscar will do without any if you have some natural room lighting.

just noticed its your 1st post so welcome to OFL.com

Welcome to our community

I think your tank is probably very similar to mine in design. If you are going to continue using your sump then I think you will be wise to have some movement because you will probably notice pretty quickly that Oscars create a lot more waste than the marine fish you have been keeping, hence the difference in filters between marine and freshwater.

As for substrate, sand or gravel is perfectly okay. You probably may be wise sticking with sand if you're going to be using a sump, this way a lot of the crap won't actually get embedded in the gravel and if you do use a power head to circulate the water, it will help to remove the waste.

Anyway, if you have any more questions am sure someone will help you

welcome to ofl!!

freshwater is better than salt anyway!! (secretly u know im right!)

btw ofl over 7000 posts!! wow

welcome to the site

Hello and Welcome

Hallo there, and welcome.
180Gl is a nice territory for an Oscar.
Good luck.

Thanks for the warm welome everyone!
What kind of sand is best (and cheapest)?
Before I got into reef tanks I had some nice freshwater set ups with Jewel Cichlids,
Convicts, Severems and Angels, but Oscars were always my favorites.
I know what messy eaters they are and I want to give them the most natural looking and feeling environment that I can. I must disagree with askhammatt. I will miss my reef tank terribly, nothing matches their beauty but it is just too costly.
I am really excited about setting up this tank. I live in South Florida and have been talking to a guy that is interested in buying the contents of my reef tank and my two metal halde lighting systems. He does maintenance on aquariums and can probably move the stuff pretty quickly. If he buys my reef stuff I will have the money for a nice Oscar tank.
Can I just get play sand from Home Depot or is there a better choice?

Will well rinsed beach sand work?

yeah it will but must be washed really really really well, same with naything else that is used in the tank...for example i use alot of nice rocks i find on beaches etc. but i leave them to sok in buckets of old tank water for a day or two after washing them ot make sure there def ok.

Thanks for the heads up.
Beach sand is definitely the cheapest route but maybe play sand would be better/safer?