question about skimmer/filter

[disisgustavo]

hi, i am thinking of purchasing a 55 gallon tank to start a salt water tank with. i dont have enough to buy a sump and all that and was wondering if i would be fine with one of these for filtration and protien skimming or whether id need anything else. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3641&Bc=1&N=2004+113771

also i have heard that i cant just use de-chlorinated tap water with salt solution and need RO water, is that completely true? if so would a product like this work fine or can anyone reccomend me what i should get?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4484&Bc=1&N=2004+113775

also how much live rock would i need to cycle the tank with? if i only use about 10-15 pounds will that work (even if it takes a bit longer?).

thanks in advanced.

 

[psychadelicdrea]

i guess a 55 would be ok...although i dont like 55 imho becuse they are to narrow......i think you would be happier with something perhaps maybe a lil smaller but wider like a cube or somthing....i have a 46 bow...i like it tons better then a 55...i had a 55 and gave it away......look around and see if you cant pick up a cube tank.....if i would of had the patience i would of gone for a square tank.......and i would hold back and save up and buy more lv...and skip the skilter and buy a regular skimmer and some powerheads......also if u think you might ever wanna jump in to corals id get the sump now before its all set up.....i made the mistake and now i gotta deal with tearing down my tank and adding asump.......just my two cents

 

[dorkfish]

I doubt the skilter you want is going to be an effective or adequate skimmer - it simply isn't tall enough to give you sufficent reaction time between water+air. Go with atleast the largest "sea clown" (aquarium systems sea clone) skimmer you can get your hands on (largest I think is rated for 200g, wich given the innefeciencys of seaclone skimmers, would be just barely adequete for your tank), or better yet get a coralife super skimmer, rated for a tank twice the size of yours.

You can use tap water, TREATED WITH A WATER CONDITIONER THAT SAYS IT DOES NOT OVER ACTIVATE SKIMMERS (you don't want to end up taking a galon in total of water out of your skimmer's collection cup as I did). However, it is recomended that you use RO, DI or RO/DI water for your tank, as tap water could give you too many nutrients and you'll end up with algae problems.

I'm pretty sure the water filter you linked to is OK, however, it may not give you enough water in a short enough time (as said, I'm not completely sure on anything in this scentence).

10-15 pounds is enough, 0 is enough. If you don't see an ammonia spike of atleast 2-5 ppm, get some pure ammonia to increase ammonia to that ammount, then watch to see how it goes. As soon as you see an ammonia spike, folllwed by a drop in ammonia and a spike in nitrite, then a drop to zero in nitrite and an increase in nitrate, your tank is cycled. However, just becuase your tank is cycled, it doesn't nessisarily mean it is ready for fish, as the tank needs to matture before it's ready for certain fish (to different extents for different fish). Some fish can go in the tank as soon as it's cycled, others shouldn't be added until the tank has been up for a six months to a year.

BTW, if you read marine aquariums for newbies, I'll have you know that some of the stuff is somewhat incorect, and everyhting outlined there is not the only way to do things. If neo wants to remove my abilit to edit, I'll remove his ability to have corect info in my article (you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but view the "Comments, Bugs, and Suggestions on Aquaria Central" section if you want to know what I'm talking about).