View Full Version : 55 gal. tank questions
jck3120
12-04-2003, 9:55 PM
I have a 55 gallon tank set up right now as freshwater and I would like to convert it to saltwater, fish only with live rock for now, but probably reef a few years down the road. I have been keeping freshwater tanks for over 15 years and know just about everything about them but I don't have a clue about saltwater. On my tank now I have a penguin 330 biowheel power filter and a wet/dry that I made myself from a 29 gallon tank I had. I would like to know what kind of filter should I use on my new tank? I would like to get maybe 40-50 lbs. of live rock and some live sand but I'm not sure how much. I have heard that you can mix it with play sand from Home Depot so it would be cheaper. Also I know that I would need a protein skimmer, any one that you recommend? Would I even need the wet/dry if I had live rock and live sand, or should I run it anyways? I was thinking about putting maybe some kind of moray eel in the tank, with a puffer, trigger, and possibly something else?? A wrasse?? Any help or advice with this set up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.
55 gallons is probably to small for a moray and trigger.
MonoSebaelover
12-05-2003, 1:10 AM
Welcome to Aquaria Central! You can go ahead and use the filters you have now for saltwater as both will work fine. I would do maybe an inch of sand or so as a depth. I don't really know what skimmers are best but I believe BakPaks are some nice ones, along with Prisms. The Southdown Sand at Home Depot will work fine in addition to live sand. The best way to go about cycling your tank is to buy 3-4 cocktail shrimp from the grocery store and let them rot in your tank which will get your tank perfectly ready for saltwater fish. As to fish selection if you have hopes of doing reef someday I would advise going ahead and getting some reef safe fish, and none of the ones you mentioned are reef safe. Plus that combo will not work for that size tank. Triggs need a min of 75g with eels requiring a min of 125 gallons, and same with the Arothron puffers, but the Canthigaster (Dwarfs) require 55 gallons. Some good fish to think about are Cardinals, Clowns, Basslets, Gobies, Blennies etc. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.
Riptide
12-05-2003, 8:56 AM
Could he do a golden or a snowflake moray? I understand those stay pretty small, is that correct?
MonoSebaelover
12-05-2003, 10:05 AM
Goldens do BUT they cost 300 bucks a piece. That is not the type of money a newbie wants to spend. They do also max at 9 inches which makes it hard to ensure there are absolutly no tiny holes for them to get out of. Snowflakes get 3 feet long and require a minimum of 125g and you are right they are two of the smaller but eels are not small so they need some good sized tanks. Anyway, hope this helps.
Riptide
12-05-2003, 10:16 AM
Those golden eels sure are pretty though aren't they? :)
I had no idea they cost so much bank. Holy, $300??? Ouch. :D
I think you generally want 1- 1.5 lbs of LR per gallon. One thing you could do is buy some base rock and add the 40 labs of LR which will end up seeding the base rock. That would save a bit of money.
jck3120
12-05-2003, 1:02 PM
Thanks for all the help. Appartantly I am going to have to decide on some new fish. Maybe I will go talk to my LFS about a golden moray, even though it is a little expensive. I have paid $300 for freshwater stingrays before so that's ok I guess. I was thinking maybe a banana wrasse and a regal tang looked kinda cool too. Any other suggestions on fish selection would be appreciated!
I just got a real tang a couple weeks ago. Very beautiful. The LFS told me the best way to get them is when they're very young. I got mine about the size of a quarter. They said that the bigger Regals don't travel well and are easily traumatized by a tank change. You also need to turn the lights out when bringing a regal in and slowly return light. I don't know why, but others here would know.
MonoSebaelover
12-05-2003, 5:55 PM
A Regal Tang will not work for a 55g though. They get 12 inches long which is the width of a 55 gallon, and need a 125g minimum. Plus IMO they need a minimum of a 6 foot tank. I have one in my 209g tank which is 7x2x2 and it paces the tank for every square inch it has. Some good suggestions were the ones I made earlier, it just depends on what ones you like. Anyway, hope this helps.