My first salt tank: 55gals.

nice looking setup

my only suggestion is you might wanna aim one of the powerheads directly at some of the rock

other than that.. and getting some more rock (which you mentioned).. looks nice

you are basically using a big canister filter as a sump-- which is fine.. but I would reccomend removing all the filter media and replacing it with live rock rubble

mechanical filtration isnt usually needed in sw tanks that have live rock
 
Deeproot,

How new is that tank? (looks so clean)... =p

Great idea on slowly adding rocks in as you get going... Are you doing 5g weekly water changes?

Nitrates being up only means you have a large build up happening ...now if fully cycled.
The thing is maybe you need to feed lighter if you are not. Pinch of food that should be gone in 5 min vs floating around still. Wash frozen foods if you have them to remove phosphates.

Hows the clean up crew in there to? Do you have nessy snails for that sand bed? If not get several...trust me on this. And the sand bed article someone else posted reinforces the need for it. To release the trapped gasses and allow some water flow into that sand bed.

I would also suggest if you can removing the detritus traps (hob filter). Let the skimmer pull the dissolved organics for you. Keep that stuff suspended by having well placed powerheads is the key thing to make sure you efficiently skim.

Otherwise it looks like a great start man...

To both of you Chunky and Deeproot,

I highly recommend,(no needed) A phosban reactor.... use Phosban media or similar product ..it will remove phosphates. Though not harmful to your inhabitants it is "miracle grow" for algae and worst case Cyano ....keeping Phosphates down will make the long term maintanence better...

I say this out of experience and massive headaches... I swear to the fish gods if I was pushed to get this long ago I would have saved myself frustrations big time...
 
+1 on the Phosban reactor. I really feel that they are as important, if not more important than a protein skimmer, especially on smaller tanks. Myself.. my first 3 YEARS getting into reef I spent battling cyano and hair algae off and on until I learned about phosphate reactors. I knew about phosphates and tested, but at the time didn't know that the cyano and hair algae was consuming them all and making my phosphate test come back telling me everything was ok. Now I tell people that is one of the most important pieces of equipment one can buy, and also one of the cheapest comparing it to skimmers, lighting, and certain brand pumps/powerheads.
 
Ok I did a water change and took out the hob filter (aqualight 500).
I put in a few nassa snails in today.
I will report back with a water reading soon.

I went to the LFS and their selection for phosban didn't exist, any recommendations?
Deeproot
 
Question regarding the phosban reactors (and to re-establish Deeproot's question):

I've been doing a little research in regards to the systems. Can anyone give me a suggestion to as what is a good brand and a good media to use? It would have to be a HOB.

The more I keep reading about it, the more I am convinced I would benefit from one.
 
hi guys, i have a same situation here with my 55g tank and i am trying to figure out ways to control cyano and algae. i was thinking that installing a sump would solve all these problems but learnt from senior members in AC that it really doesn't. So i just read this thread and started to think may be i should think about phosban reactor too. the first question that strikes my mind is that are these reactors expensive and hard to install?
My tank is not predrilled so the reactor has to be HOB. I am already running an olympus HOB skimmer.
 
Phosban reactors do solve silicate problems as well. I have found that Phosban media by Two Little Fishies (same people that make a reactor) does NOT remove silicates very well. It does in small amounts but not as much as I prefer. I go with RowaPhos myself, but it does cost 2x as much for the media.

A reactor is very simple. Clear cylinder with a hard tube going down the center to a plastic plate on the bottom with holes drilled around it. The plate is called the diffuser. You put a sponge on top of that, fill about 1/4 to 1/3 with media, then add another sponge on top and close it up. The lid usually has another small tube and difusser plate that attaches to the long tube already in the cylinder. A small pump will feed water down the center tube so the water goes to the bottom then it trickles upwards through all the media making it work very well vs in a bag. It becomes fluidized, so it looks like the media is perkalating in the cylinder. You just want enough flow to keep the media in a "dancing" state., then the water comes out a hole in the top that is off center and goes back into your tank via a tube. I have learned over the years it is a good idea to use the mesh bag that comes with the media and tie it onto the end of the output tube to catch any media that may slip through. 1 time is all it take to get Phosban media into your tank and sand and years to get it all out to learn that lesson in only 1 shot.

Here is a link to a bunch of different reactors. You can definately install them HOB.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Carbo...-GFO-Media-Bags-&-Reactors/c109_85/index.html

Cheap reactor, but good picture to show how they work after explaining it.
via-aqua-m.gif
 
I agree in the canister filter and liverock rubble. The more rock you have the better as it is a natural filter.

Im not sure if your snail question was answered as I just skimmed thru.

Snails arent a must have but they do a tremendus job of helping out and you not having to work so hard. The great thing about going with a FOWLR or a reef setup is the inhabitants basically help take care of the tank.
Astrea snails will help clean the glass and rockwork, cut down on algae growth.
Cerith and nassarious snails will burrow in the sand bed to help keep it turned over. Everytime they go under and pop up they safely bring sand from the bottom up, and help keep it clean. It is very cool to see the Cerith snails pop up when you dump food in. They act like little Submarine's and instantly pop out.

I would recommend snails. Usually you want to do 1 snail per gallon. For your tank 25 or so Astreas, 25 cerith and 25 Nassarious would be a great start. You dont have to add them all at once, maybe 5 of each to start.
 
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