Setting up a 55?

[dandynifer]

I currently have a 55 gallon fresh water and LOVE it! It seems my kids (4 of them) would like to set up a saltwater and I have to admit it is alluring...
I purchased a 55 gallon tank (but it doesn't have a brace in the middle) from a newspaper ad. It came with the orbit light, a storage container full of live sand (that appears to be damp), two glass canopy pieces (how do I brace that?), two heaters, a powerhead (what is that for?) and a bunch of pieces that the guy said was a protein skimmer.
I can't figure out how to put any of that skimmer together. I have no idea how it is supposed to work. I am a fairly intelligent woman and I can't find instructions on the internet for this thing either. I purchase the Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies book and still have some basic questions:
1. What else do I really need? Power filter?
2. Is undergravel filteration necessary?
3. What's the best type of salt?
4. What do I really need for testing the water?
5. HOW DO I BRACE THE LIDS?
6. Any idea where I can get info on this protein skimmer?

Thanks!

 

[marine_geek]

welcome to the salty side the power head is to push around water and create a better current. depending on what you keep live rock might be enough filtration(with the skimmer). weather you plan to have live rock (very highly recommended) or not look into a canister filter or a wet/dry filter. stay away from under gravel filters. i use Instant Ocean salt myself but everyone has their own opinion about salt types. if you plan to keep corals Reef Crystals salt might be a better choice. Ammonia , Nitrite , Nitrate , Ph are necessary test and a hydrometer for specific gravity (salt). more test are necessary if you want to keep corals(like calcium test). i don't know about the assembly, i had enough trouble assembling my skimmer with instructions. good luck

 

[wantvws]

1. What else do I really need? Power filter?

You might look into a sump. I intended on starting with two canister filters and the folks here at AC pointed me in the direction of a sump that I already had. Here is a good site to explain what they are http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

2. Is undergravel filteration necessary?

I'm still a newbie and not terribly familiar with these....

3. What's the best type of salt?

I use Instant ocean. Maybe someone else has another recommendation.

4. What do I really need for testing the water?

Here is a good thread to help get you going...
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118995

5. HOW DO I BRACE THE LIDS?

You don't really need the lids in a FO or FOWLR tank, unless you plan on getting fish that are jumpers. I pulled mine off after I discovered that my tank temp would not drop below 83 or so. You just have to top off the water more frequently.

6. Any idea where I can get info on this protein skimmer?

My best suggestion is to find out the brand if you can and then find someone here that has the same one. OR post pics of the parts....someone might be able to help you get it together...
The powerhead is for creating current in your tank. You need about 10x your tank capacity as a minimum (55 g tank=550gph flow).
Again, I'm still very new to this hobby and can only be of so much help. But there are a lot of knowledgeable and friendly people here that will chime in and help you go in the right direction. There are goo threads about water quality, RO/DI water, common problems, etc. There are also a couple of stickies at the top of this forum that I found very helpful when trying to figure out the cycle, first fish, etc.
As far as your live sand, I don't know if it's still live or not.
Hope this helps and :welcome:.
Robbie

 

[Dustin83]

Robbie's got good answers above. Just to expand...

2. You do not need undergravel filtration. For SW, what you want to do, if you choose to have sand bed, is to make sure you have plenty of current by using powerhead or return pump (if you choose to go sump) so that detrius doesn't build up on top of the sand. Additionally, you could rely on some clean up crews like hermit crabs and snails to keep your sand bed clean. Undergravel filtration "traps" the detrius by moving the water flow into the gravel. This is not necessary, and I actually wouldn't recommend it. Make sure you have plenty of current and maybe live rocks that will help with the Biological filtration. If you'd like, you can also add additional filter or sump to help with the Mechanical filtration as well (But some people choose to skip this part.)

3. Instant Ocean's ALRIGHT... but I use Reef Crystal.. That's one of the most popular ones around here. It seems to slightly do a better job of driving your water parameters to ideal point, in terms of PH and ALK, than instant ocean does. It's slightly more expensive but not by much. But remember, if you choose to mix your own water, it's HIGHLY recommended that you use RO/DI filtered water. Phosphates, Silicates, Nirates, and etc can't be removed from regular tap water no matter what kind of "water treatment" you use, and this can result in disasterous algae problem. If you are not ready for that, I would look to buying saltwater from LFS for now.

5. I personally think it's actually better to go without lid, like Robbie says. It gives you better gas exchange and will keep the temperature lower. The only downside is the accelerated evaporation, which results in high salinity. This however can be resolved if you are consistently topping off freshwater either manually or by using auto top-off.

hope this helps! Please do ask more questions before jumping in. It's exciting but the cost of mistake is fairly high compared to freshwater.

 

[dandynifer]

What does the powerhead connect to? I am not understanding the "current" and how to make that... Where can I go to find out everything I need before I get in too far?

 

[Reefscape]

A powerhead is a self contained device for simply moving water from one area of the tank ( through the inlet ) and dispersing it back out, at speed into another area of the tank...

All water movement devices are rated in Gallons Per Hour ( GPH ). So, if a powerhead is rated at 200GPH, this powerhead can effect take 200 gallons of water from one area, and move it to another.

So..that leads me onto circulation in the tank..

We need to have circulation in the tank for various reasons. A couple of them reasons are to keep waste particles in the water column so they are removed via filtration and to allow food in the water to be sent around the tank for filter feeders..many many reasons on top of them two...

When talking about the ammount of circulation needed, it is based on what type of tank it is..If it is just a fish only tank, the circulation needs to be low and steady. For this type of tank, we recomend 10 times water volume circulation. So, if your tank is 55 gallons, the math would be 55 * 10 = 550. The total figure of 550 is in gallons per hour. So, you then buy powerheads which will give you a total of that ammount of GPH.

For a Reef system, we recomend 25 times water turnover per hour. So, again, the math would be 55 * 25 = 1375 gallons per hour water movement and you would buy powerheads to create this ammount of flow..

I hope this helps to explain it a little more for you.

Niko

 

[david123]

what make and model is your protein skimmer?