Sw Tank 55g couple questions

[purpletanger]

Hello everyone, how goes!

I have a couple questions for you..........

Whats the quickest way to cycle a tank (55gallon) for FO or FOWLR? -using live rock and live sand, whats the cheapest way and fastest to cycle a tank and how long?

For some combo's on fish to choose from,
What would you pick for a 55gallon tall ? Its about 36 inches in height, 22 inches in length, 18inches in width.
Please give combo's for FO and FOWLR. Both with a centrepeice fish built around it or just combo's.
Thankyou so much for your help!!

Also would you use just powerheads, skimmer and heater with the live rock>>> any info would be greatly appreciated!

[MonoSebaelover]

In terms of Fish Only and Fish Only with Live Rock there really is no difference except that in the latter you have live rock. All fish can and will appreciate living with live rock so I would definitely advise going with the FOWLR. The cheapest way to cycle a tank is get some uncure live rock and a couple of cocktail shrimp from the grocery store and put them in the tank and let it rot and that will let you have a very established tank. As a general rule it takes at least a month to cycle a saltwater tank. So expect 4-6 weeks for the cycle. As to fish, choose whatever you want that stays under 4 inches unless you are going to upgrade soon. Some cool fish are the basslets, Cardinals, Pseudos, Dwarf Angels (wait 6 months before putting one of these in), Gobies, Blennies, small Wrasses, etc. It just depends on what you like as to fish. Anyway, hope this helps.

[mogurnda]

MonoSebaeLover covered cycling pretty thoroughly. If you are doing FOWLR, then TBS (http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com) might be a good place to get live rock. All the interesting life on it will really spice up the tank.
As far as fish, my approach is to pick a species I really like and build the tank around it

[purpletanger]

Thanks for the ideas...so buy the uncured live rock around 50lbs and do the deep sand bed as well? Then use the shrimp method.
That I can do!! Thanks for the species to look for. My only two questions: if I did want to build around a species what examples could i do? Also If I did want predatory stlye...theres not much I could choose from given the size of the tank right? I just want to confirm it before I start and someone says "oh you could of put a ____ in there and it would of looked wonderful"! That kind of thing. Just want to cover all the bases! Thanks for your help!

[MonoSebaelover]

Yes, do the sand bed. An example is say you really wanted a Flame Angel (Centropyge loricula), then decide what else you put in the tank by the compatibility of what the Flame gets along with. Understand? That is what is meant. Most predators (Triggers, Lg Lions-Volitans, Russels, Antenneta, Radiatas-, Puffers, Groupers, etc) will get too large for your tank so most of the predator ideas are out. You could always do a dwarf lion (Fuzzy or Dwarf Zebra or Fu Manchu) but no small fish or crustaceans. Anyway, hope this clarifies things and good luck with your tank :) !