55g Saltwater Setup Question

[PJW]

I'm getting a 55g 48"x13"x20" aquarium/wood stand and plan on setting up a fish only Saltwater tank. The setup I'm thinking of is as follows....

2-24" 65W Coralife Aqualight CF hood w/ 50/50 Bulbs or
1-48" 130w Coralife Aqualight CF hood w/ 50/50 Bulbs
1-Emperor 400 Power Filter
1-300w Visitherm submersible Heater
60# of crushed Coral.
Various coral ornaments.

Anything else I missed or can change besides adding some sort of Skimmer which I'll purchase after I cycle the tank and start adding fish?

[K9Decoy]

First, ditch the Emperor 400 and spend that $70 bucks on 3 or 4 good powerheads instead. You'll just be using the Emperor without filter media to circulate water. The powerheads are a much better investment.

Second, save your money on fake coral ornaments and buy live rock instead. It will look WAY more natural, and it will provide as much filtration as you'll need (1-1.5lbs/gallon). Your fish will thank you.

Third, don't bother with all crushed coral. Spend $4-8 and go to Home Depot and buy 2 big bags of playsand instead. The sand will be safer for your fish (not as sharp) and bacteria will breed better in a deep sand bed (DSB) anyways.

Finally, your lighting sounds ok for a fish-only tank, but you might want to bump it up to 3-5 watts/gallon if you ever turn it into a reef tank.

Add a skimmer like you plan to, and think about an external sump as well. It will help with water changes and adding medications later down the road if you ever have to (let's hope not).

Hope this info helps. You and your fish will be much happier with this setup.

[OrionGirl]

Why are you buying so much light for a FO? If you are planning of going reef down the line, it's okay, but that's an awful lot of light for fish. You may have problems with algae growth.

Otherwise, as above!

[PJW]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
Why are you buying so much light for a FO? If you are planning of going reef down the line, it's okay, but that's an awful lot of light for fish. You may have problems with algae growth.

Otherwise, as above!

That's why I posted this so I wouldn't overdo something. :) For a FO tank, what would you recommend? I also heard from other sources you really don't want a bio-wheel. I've had small saltwater tanks in the past (20gal.) but nothing larger.

[OrionGirl]

For a truly FO tank, and even a FOWLR, I would go with regular fluorescent strip lights. Fish and most of the stuff on rock wil lbe fine with this level of lighting. If you have the PC already, no problem, just be aware that you may have to work at controlling algaes.

Bio-wheels are not really needed if you use a sand bed and live rock. They are very efficient at processing ammonia and nitrites, which is good, but tend to produce more nitrates than crushed coral/no live rock will support--you'll end up doing lots more water changes to control nitrates. They also increase evaporation rates, which means salinity fluctuations. I like them for FW, but not SW.

[PJW]

Thanks, I don't have any equipment as of yet, so I can go with regular fluorescent strip lights which I may say are less expensive than the Compact Strips. I'll go with the Live Rock and sand idea for filtration.