55 gallon stock/equip suggestions

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ryanTEXAS

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Dec 5, 2008
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bought a 55 gallon (footprint 48"lx12"w) starter set and thinking of going FOWLR. i need help with stocking options but so far i know for sure that i want a sail fin/algae blenny and a pair of ocellaris clownfish. invertebrates welcome for suggestions. i'm leaning more towards easy care types because this is my first SW tank. i also need to know how many pounds of live rock i will need. i also read somewhere that aragonite sand is good substrate. i came across two different sizes, sugar grain and normal. which is better and how deep should my sand bed be?

i will post equip specks of lights and filters that came with setup tmr. i'm looking to replace the filters with a skimmer. i'm also thinking of getting a couple of power heads for water movement too. any other suggestions welcome. money is no problem but i also don't want to overdue it and get something that really is not needed. thanks!
 
well if you did some reading, ud get answers to most ur questions...
as for LR, ull need 1.5-2 times the amount of water you have... if u have 55 gallons, then ud be looking at 160-200lb's or LR (quite pricey) then for removing the filter, a skimmer will do fine but u still need some sort of way to filter out the bits floating around ur tank.. (poop, extracts from other living organisms, sandy waters)... Power heads I cant stress enough on... they make a HUGE difference, and u should be circulating at a rate of about 20x... so if ur tank is 55, u want a power head TOTAL of something around 1000GPH... more the better but u dnt wanna over due it and have ur fish struggling to swim through currents... also dont forget to set a PH or 2 to keep the water surface broken.. (not flat)

hope that helped, ill write some more wen u add the lighing/filter info 2morow!
 
ill be home in a couple of hours so far from memory the items i got with tank were

lcd stick on thermometer
tetra whisper pf-60
marineland visi-therm 200w heater.

i have another smaller filter but forgot what it is. lights come in two 24" hoods, both fluorescent. get the details when i get home!

i thought a skimmer filters the stuff at the top? i need a few suggestions on brand names and a good place to get them. i hear the hydor koralia is a good brand for power heads? i also need to know, does two 600 gph power heads equal 1200 gph? i did some reading and found that omnivores need a deep sand bed but it didnt specify how deep. i still suggestions on stocking options with a pair of ocellaris clowns and sail fin blenny.
 
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second smaller filter is a tetra whisper pf-40. lights are both eclipse 17w. been cycling my tank with prawn, about how long does this method take? i keep testing everyday but the ammonia doesnt seem to go up, stays at 2, and nitrites are 0. i added a couple of prawns so theres a total of 3 in there now.

using an api master test kit.
 
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You'd want to aim for around 55 pounds of live rock, anything around that (less or more) would be fine. Mainly just go for what looks good and doesn't leave the tank looking empty. Live rock is your biological filtration, the more the better but you don't want so much that there isn't good flow throughout the tank.

Aragonite would be fine. You don't want a substrate thats really fine (or it will get blown around easily) or something very large (detritus will get trapped). I know its not a really definate answer but your sorta want 'fine' sand. A standard sand depth is around 2 to 4 inches.

A hang-on skimmer would be fine for a 55g, just make sure you get a decent brand (reef octopus are good) that will do the job. Look for a secondhand one if you can, there are plenty around, which will help you save some money. Protein skimmers don't skim stuff off the top they remove nutrients from the water, the protein skimmer is your filter so you don't need standard filters.

If you don't want corals any light will do. A light, plus a skimmer, some powerheads and a heater (or two incase one fails and so the water is heated more evenly) and your pretty much set equipment wise.

You can cycle just with the live rock. Just set-up your tank with water, equipment etc. Then add your live rock and monitor ammonia etc. Animals living and stuff dying on the live rock will cycle the tank. Personally I prefer to cycle with live rock instead of a dead shrimp, that's just me though, because it creates a lower ammonia spike and you get more beneficial critters surviving on the live rock. Once cycled the live rock will keep the tank cycled even without fish.

Cycling time is variable, but I wouldn't add any fish for at least 4 weeks, minimum, after the cycle has started. Once you have zero ammonia and zero nitrite for a few days you can add some snails, hermits etc. Once they are doing well for a while and you've got salinity, ph etc stable then you can add some fish.

The most important thing is to get all you water params stable, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, salinity, alkalinity before you add any critters. Testing for all those things is essential for a saltwater tank.
 
k i got the 55 lbs of live rock. i dont plan on adding coral besides some type of anemone for the 2 clowns i plan to get.

need suggestions on a clean up crew and other fish to add. so far i know i want 2 ocellaris clowns, 2 scooter blenny, and 1 choc. chip star.
 
you're gonna need to make sure you have a lot of established LR to grow enough algae & copepods to keep 2 scooter blennies happy (their food can be subsidised with store bought foods, but they still need a lot of rock area to provide natural occurring food for them)
 
Anemones need lots of light, more so than many corals and they should only be put into a mature system. Clowns will do perfectly fine without an anemone.

For clean up crew you could get nassarius snails (turnover sand and scavengers), turbo snails (algae eater), trochus (large algae eater) and hermits (scavengers). Start off with a few of whatever types you want and then get more as you want/need them.

There is nearly an endless list of fish you could keep in a 55g. It all depends on what type of fish you want, personality, colour, active, slightly more challenging, friendly etc etc. If you put what sort of fish you would like people can help you with specifics. Just make sure whatever fish you get you add them slowly, and add the most peaceful and hardiest fish first.
 
i bought 1 power head instead of 2. its the hydor koralia 4 1200 gph. i dont want the anemone anymore. still using the two whisper filters but i want a protein skimmer. im just guessing but its the best option besides a sump,refug correct?

i have a 55 gallon, what is a good brand, gimme a linky pls and thank you.
 
I have a Reef Octopus BH-100R on my 55g, many might say its a little small for the job but it works fine for what I want. Reef Octopus make good quality hang-on skimmers at a reasonable price, I'm not familiar with any other brands but there are other good ones too.

The BH-100F would be a good choice IMO.
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1013
Also called the Module 350 Combo, manufacturers website.
http://www.reefoctopus.com.au/v2/pub/products.cfm?range=5BD0A400-5A21-4D19-8421B3794D00261F
 
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