55 gallon setting up!!!!!!!

[darthgoby]

I set up a 55 gallon tank last year and have learned a lot about stocking the tank.

Instead of having a list I would rigidly stick to, I suggest the following process:

1.) Think about what your overall theme. For example, do you want a few aggressive fish or more passive fish. I went with the more fish and tried to keep them on the friendly side.

2.) I did over a years worth of research before I got my tank on the type of fish I wanted and have only gotten some of them. Why? For many reasons including the fish store didn't always have the fish I wanted, the fish that I wanted didn't always look healthy, and fish in real life are different from the fish in the store.

As a case in point, I didn't care for hawkfish until I saw one in the store. Then I decided I really liked them. I loved mine until he jumped out and will get another one.

3.) Things change as your tank evolves. I have kept to my plan on getting smaller, less aggressive fish generally. I did find out that some of my fish aren't as nice as I would've thought. I'm having to get my hogfish out of the tank since he's turned into a bully.

Fish in real life don't always behave like you think that they would.

I would develop a plan and but be flexible. It's going to take a while to get your tank set up and working so I would concentrate on that. When I started my tank, I was in too much of a hurry to get fish and made some less than ideal decisions (chromis) so I would counsel patience.

 

[LiveOutLoud]

Okay here we go with the list tell me how I did Grins
Wet dry filter pic from site shown brand is Aqua clear aquatics model 75

mag drive 5 utility pump
1 powerhead rated 500gph
1 powerhead rated 270
1 powerhead rated 160 for in bin with rocks
2 100 Watt heaters
cosmo protein skimmer plus (connects to a powerfilter)
tank
two ballasts for mh needs new bulbs
stand
canopy
reflectors
half a bag of salt
half a conatiner of marine formula 1
some ph buffer and a tap water conditioner

 

[Grins]

More details and or pics of the above would help.

 

[LiveOutLoud]

Okay what kindof details do you want and I don't have a camera the tank is drilled and has the overflow pipes and stuff and I am pretty definetly planning on changing the wet dry to a sump any idea on how I would do that Oh and I just realized that the mag drive pump is identical to the powerhead so I have 2 powerheads at 500 gph it through me off because he had it in the wet dry filter

 

[LiveOutLoud]

So can anyone help me switching the wet dry to a sump because I have absolutely no idea?

 

[LiveOutLoud]

Oh also I was wondering the guy said that there used to be blue mushrooms on the rocks is it possible that once they get under lights they'll pop back up? How long can I keep the live rock in the bucket with the powerhead and heater?

 

[LiveOutLoud]

Hello ?? is anyone here ? Okay so anyway I have another question about the live rock. most of it when it came is very bleached will it go back to it's original colors.

 

[clown-lover]

I can't tell you how to convert a wet/dry to a sump because I haven't done it quite honestly. I don't want you to think that people are letting you flounder, but not many people have converted a wet dry to a sump IMO most people have just bit the bullet and bought/DIY'd a sump and replaced from what I have found.

woodright started out with building a wet dry that he ended up changing completely to a sump so you might want to check out his threads/blog for ideas.

 

[LiveOutLoud]

Okay I just checked out his thread I like the idea of the separate tank for a fuge I don't think I could fit one in my wet dry anyway so I could use the extra 5 gallon for that. and could someone please explain what the difference between a sump and and a wet dry is that would probably help me figure it out. Thanks

 

[WoodRight]

Okay I just checked out his thread I like the idea of the separate tank for a fuge I don't think I could fit one in my wet dry anyway so I could use the extra 5 gallon for that. and could someone please explain what the difference between a sump and and a wet dry is that would probably help me figure it out. Thanks

OK I have done quit a bit of research on this matter and I wish I did it even earlier then I did. The difference between a sump and a wet dry is that there is an area in the wet/dry that has bio-balls or LRR in it that is half up and out of the water that the water from the display tank trickles over and down threw to promote bacteria growth. the problem is that the balls and the LR hold crap that will cause Nitrites and I think Nitrates to rise uncontrollably over time. A sump is mainly just a tank that can be subdivided into chambers for things like skimming, bubble traps and such. Also it gives you a place to put things like heaters, reactors, and filter media and get all of that out of your display. Also a sump adds to the amount of water that your setup can hold witch keeps it more stable. One thing that I'm glad someone told me when I was designing my fuge was that you didn't want your skimmer down stream from your fuge. If you do everything that you have in the fuge that you want to make it's way up to your display will be skimmed out before it can make it there.

I hope that this is helpful. I'm glad that my thread is helping people already and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Sean