55 Gallon Reef Tank

Evan214

Evan214

iSi se puede!
Nov 12, 2006
188
0
0
Los Angeles
Hey Guys!

I have been recently thinking of setting up a reef tank after about two years doing planted freshwater tanks. I was previously thinking of just starting small with a 20 gallon reef, however I have been doing research and have learned that it is much easier to have a larger reef tank. So I am now currently looking into a tank in the 55 gallon range and have a good place where I can get one so I have a few questions about it before I actually set it up in June or July.

1) What is a good stocking list for a tank of this size? I am planning on keeping corals a bit later on, so all would need to be peaceful and reef-safe.

2) What is the best filtration/protein skimmer for this tank? I have heard so much mixed information on what out there is the best for the lowest price. I would like to keep it as cheap as possible while still getting quality products that work.

3) What kind of corals are best for a beginner like myself to work with?

4) What is the best quality lighting for a lower cost that would work well for this tank?

5) Any additional things I would need to know?


Thank you so much! I cannot stress how helpful the members of this forum have been to me. If you have any knowledge pertaining to any of these questions, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks guys!
Evan
 
hey there. glad to see you are bridging the gap!
1) The number of fish will depend on the size, but some classic options are chromis, clownfish, gobies, dottybacks, etc, etc, etc. there area really tons of species of fish that would be perfect, and many more would be possible. why dont you let us know some that you like and we will tell you if they are possible/practicle. :) some things you are going to want to stay away from are large angels, agressive fish, large fish, tangs, small angels are possible, but many will pick at corals...

2) for filtration, id have a lot of live rock and flow, and if youw ant a HOB filter, it is always helpful to run carbon and phosban, but IMHO, the mechanical filtration-pads isnt really worth it. as far as a skimmer, what are we talkign here? in sump? HOB? what is yoru budget? for the MOST part, with skimmers, if it is mroe expensive, it is probably better. lol. ALthough, dont be fooled... this is not always the case. i would recomend to stay away from the red sea prism and a Seaclone as well as any other really cheap ones. Visa-jet? keep looking. lol.

3) great beginner corals are MOST types of softies such as green star polyps, and mushrooms or zoas, capnella, toadstool, other leathers, xenia, etc. and then, if you have the proper water stability and lighting, you can try some LPS such as frogspawns and hammers.

4) how much is "lower cost"? and more importantly, what are you lookign to keep. IMHO, even if you just want LPS as yoru highest, halides are a good bet. i had LPS and softies under PC, and then i upgraded to a 150 watt MH with 2 PC actinics and there was a clear difference. now i have a 400 watt halide and 2 t5s :D in reality, lighting is like tank size, you are always going to want to go bigger. at least with me ;)

5) be patient. read. read. read. read. read. and then when you are done..... read

hope ive been able to help:dance2:
 
fishieness said:
hey there. glad to see you are bridging the gap!
1) The number of fish will depend on the size, but some classic options are chromis, clownfish, gobies, dottybacks, etc, etc, etc. there area really tons of species of fish that would be perfect, and many more would be possible. why dont you let us know some that you like and we will tell you if they are possible/practicle. :) some things you are going to want to stay away from are large angels, agressive fish, large fish, tangs, small angels are possible, but many will pick at corals...

2) for filtration, id have a lot of live rock and flow, and if youw ant a HOB filter, it is always helpful to run carbon and phosban, but IMHO, the mechanical filtration-pads isnt really worth it. as far as a skimmer, what are we talkign here? in sump? HOB? what is yoru budget? for the MOST part, with skimmers, if it is mroe expensive, it is probably better. lol. ALthough, dont be fooled... this is not always the case. i would recomend to stay away from the red sea prism and a Seaclone as well as any other really cheap ones. Visa-jet? keep looking. lol.

3) great beginner corals are MOST types of softies such as green star polyps, and mushrooms or zoas, capnella, toadstool, other leathers, xenia, etc. and then, if you have the proper water stability and lighting, you can try some LPS such as frogspawns and hammers.

4) how much is "lower cost"? and more importantly, what are you lookign to keep. IMHO, even if you just want LPS as yoru highest, halides are a good bet. i had LPS and softies under PC, and then i upgraded to a 150 watt MH with 2 PC actinics and there was a clear difference. now i have a 400 watt halide and 2 t5s :D in reality, lighting is like tank size, you are always going to want to go bigger. at least with me ;)

5) be patient. read. read. read. read. read. and then when you are done..... read

hope ive been able to help:dance2:
Click to expand...


1) I like Clownfish, Firefish, some of the Smaller gobies like the Red-Head, Yellow Tangs (I've heard they are reef safe, but may be too big??), Green Chromis, Carpenter Wrasses, and ...Triggers, but I know they get way too big so they're not an option at this point.

2) My budget is from about $80-130 for a skimmer and similar or less for a filter.
3)Thanks!
4) Lower cost is around $200 or less.
5) I've found this to work well too!

Thank you!
 
1) all those fish will do fine. although i wouldnt recomend a yellow tang in a tank that size. nor would i suggest a trigger.

2) if you are going in the 80-130 dollar range, your best bet is to get something used. you could get an aqua C remora pro used for about that. if you have a sump, you may even be able to find a small euroreef used if you search a lot.

4) you can get a 2X65 watt PC fixture with that that will let you keep softies and some lps fine. or you may be able to find a used 4X54 watt t5 fixture for that.
 
I was looking at Drs. Foster & Smith and I think I may have found some possibilities:

Coralife Super Skimmer (87.99)
Bak-Pak 2R+ (139.99) <= might be a bit too pricy for me, but i don't know...
260 Watt Coralife Marine 48" Lighting (203.99)


Do you know if these are any good?
 
id go with the bac-pak i love em...work great and i agree with fishieness on the no trigger and tha the tang will get just a bit to large. canister filters and HOB's are fine if u strip them and use them for some carbon and other resins like phosphate removers but like he said the pads are almost worthless.
 
Germanman said:
id go with the bac-pak i love em...work great and i agree with fishieness on the no trigger and tha the tang will get just a bit to large. canister filters and HOB's are fine if u strip them and use them for some carbon and other resins like phosphate removers but like he said the pads are almost worthless.
Click to expand...
a CLSS will kick the pants off of a bakpak any day of the week. especialy the larger ones. to tell you the truth andrew, you are the only person ive ever talked to who likes the backpack. lol
i would recomend the larger coralife, possibly the 125. and be warned, they can overflow if you arent careful with your water level. once more air than water gets into the chamber orm the pump not being submerged enough, it can overflow quite easily. so you just might watnt o watch out for that.

also, a canister or a mechanical HOB is not really necessary at all. you can even just run some media such as carbon or phosban (the only thigsn i use) in somethign else, such as a much smaller less expensive HOB filter, or even in your bubble trap or chamber (i believe the bak-pak 2 has a media chamber?) of your skimmer
 
???!!!
what the heck jsut happened? it is 1043 right now, it claims that i posted at 1040 which is correct.... but i posted after Evan's last post which was suposedly 1055 even though it was BEFORE mine?!!!
(according to my comp, it isnt even 1055 yet...)
weird....
 
Thanks Germanman.

If I get the Bak-Pak Skimmer, will I need an HOB or canister if I have a large amount of live rock and a good powerhead?

As an aside, what powerhead would you recommend...?

Thanks,
Evan



Ps: Large amt. of live rock means 1.5-2 lbs./gal.
 
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