Advice For New 55 gal Setup

[Oceanminded]

Hey all! I have had freshwater aquariums (on a smaller scale) for nearly all my life and recently graduated with a degree in marine biology. I have been reading up on saltwater aquariums and finally took the plunge when my LFS (which I have been lurking around in for months) got a used 55 gallon tank in really good shape on consignment. I scooped it up and now I'm finally getting started! I have been reading everything I can on the forums here and I have read some books.

My tank is dry -- I will be proceeding slowly. I have gathered some equipment but kept everything unopened and receipts as I wanted to run it by those more experienced before I get everything up and running, and I have a few questions. My tank is a 55 gal to which I will be adding 50 lbs of live rock and 65 lbs live sand (my LFS stocks damp live sand). My goal for the tank is to have fish with mixed coral.

So far I have two thermometers (digital and the stick-on kind), cleaning supplies (algae scrubber, long thick waterproof gloves, etc), heater, filter (Aquaclear 70), test kits, and the lights that came with the tank (I believe there is just one T5 in there, but I will be expanding/upgrading). In my online shopping cart I have a powerhead, a skimmer, and a QT tank (10 gal with stock pump/filter/light).

My first question is about the powerheads -- how much flow is enough and how much is overdoing it? Is a timer to simulate naturally occurring currents necessary, or are there powerheads that rotate or have integrated timers? I want to have enough flow for all my corals, but not so much that it distresses the fish and softer corals. Would one suffice or would two be better? If two, at the same end of the tank? Could I place the heater near the powerhead or the pump return to heat the water as it circulates back into the tank? My tank does not have the "chambers" I have read about -- the back of the hood has 2 slots for inserting the equipment.

What are some suggestions for skimmers for a 55 gallon tank? As far as mods/DIY, I am good at building/assembling things structurally but mechanics do not come as easily to me.

For lighting, what would be some good cost effective options for setups which would allow me to grow pretty much any kind of coral my little heart desires? My LFS has a trade-in-for-credit program and will buy frags for cash so a long term goal is to set up a frag tank. But that won't happen unless I have corals that propagate enough to take frags, and obviously I want all of my tank's inhabitants to live long and prosper.

As for test kits...the only kind my LFS carries is API. I have heard extremely mixed reviews. My LFS uses them -- I have watched them test their water -- and all of their tanks look great (all their livestock and corals look really healthy and lively). Are they really that awful? Are there certain ones that are just really inaccurate?

Thank you in advance for any insight you can share! I am determined to do this right and take my time to avoid some of the scares and horror stories I have read on here. I have already accepted that at times I will probably sound like a complete idiot, but I am going to do everything I can to minimize those occurrences.

[hossa81]

If you want good test kits, look online, specificaly drsfostersmith.com. Prices are cheaper, you get free shipping on orders over $49, and my packages have come in two days free shipping, no upgrades. For lights, i use quad t-5 ho lights on my 20, would probably work on 55. Its the coralife lunar aqualight model. For flow, on my 55 i have two koralia evolution 750, and one 550. They arent no mp-10 with pulse control and they will occasionally start backwards, but they are pretty good and strong powerheads. My skimmer on my 55 is an aquaC Remora and i have an aquaC Urchin in my twenty. Very easy skimmers to use, but they are kind of expensive. What i would always do was look around drsfostersmith.com and look at what they have. They jave a lot of high end products their.

[BlindZide]

Your already purchased supplies looks good except the listed AquaClear 70. Try to steer clear of that kind of stuff. You wont need something like that with all that live rock and sand with a skimmer.

Power heads - Really, it will boil down to what you want to keep and if they like the flow. I had a heck of a time trying to get my 75g with the right flow. I had a MJ400 behind the rocks with a 750 pointed at the top and my 325 return and my corals gave me the biggest middle finger ever. I am now down to a Koralia 750, 2 Koralia 425s (all on a SmartWave controller) and my 325GPH return from my sump. I am still having to move some things around but mostly the corals are happy.

If you plan on keeping corals and stocking moderate to heavy, invest in a larger than needed skimmer. Maybe something around to 100GPH range. Each brand has their own fan base EXCEPT like the Coralife 65g and any eBay made POS you might find. Reef Octopus, AquaC, AquaMAXX, Bubble Magus, really the sky is the limit. Find one you like.

Lighting - You want any coral your heart desires, then the only route to really go is LED. There are a TON of LED fixtures out there. Stay away from cheap imitations. Thats about all I know about LEDs, lol. I am a T5HO guy myself. I am using a Quad T5HO fixture with LEDs built in, a timer built in, and 3 cooling fans built in. I only paid $117. You can swap out the stock bulbs for better and be on a roll to happy corals. Downside is long term cost is much higher than the purchase of an LED system.

Test Kits - API is known for wrong readings. They have a bad wrap most of the time but then there are people who have great success with them. Honestly, I bought API as my first tests and I am now using Red Sea Marine Care and Red Sea Reef Foundation Pro and I am 10X happier with these. Much easier to use and see the results.

[robotman]

Originally Posted by Oceanminded

Hey all! I have had freshwater aquariums (on a smaller scale) for nearly all my life and recently graduated with a degree in marine biology. I have been reading up on saltwater aquariums and finally took the plunge when my LFS (which I have been lurking around in for months) got a used 55 gallon tank in really good shape on consignment. I scooped it up and now I'm finally getting started! I have been reading everything I can on the forums here and I have read some books.

My tank is dry -- I will be proceeding slowly. I have gathered some equipment but kept everything unopened and receipts as I wanted to run it by those more experienced before I get everything up and running, and I have a few questions. My tank is a 55 gal to which I will be adding 50 lbs of live rock and 65 lbs live sand (my LFS stocks damp live sand). My goal for the tank is to have fish with mixed coral.

So far I have two thermometers (digital and the stick-on kind), cleaning supplies (algae scrubber, long thick waterproof gloves, etc), heater, filter (Aquaclear 70), test kits, and the lights that came with the tank (I believe there is just one T5 in there, but I will be expanding/upgrading). In my online shopping cart I have a powerhead, a skimmer, and a QT tank (10 gal with stock pump/filter/light).

My first question is about the powerheads -- how much flow is enough and how much is overdoing it? Is a timer to simulate naturally occurring currents necessary, or are there powerheads that rotate or have integrated timers? I want to have enough flow for all my corals, but not so much that it distresses the fish and softer corals. Would one suffice or would two be better? If two, at the same end of the tank? Could I place the heater near the powerhead or the pump return to heat the water as it circulates back into the tank? My tank does not have the "chambers" I have read about -- the back of the hood has 2 slots for inserting the equipment.

What are some suggestions for skimmers for a 55 gallon tank? As far as mods/DIY, I am good at building/assembling things structurally but mechanics do not come as easily to me.

For lighting, what would be some good cost effective options for setups which would allow me to grow pretty much any kind of coral my little heart desires? My LFS has a trade-in-for-credit program and will buy frags for cash so a long term goal is to set up a frag tank. But that won't happen unless I have corals that propagate enough to take frags, and obviously I want all of my tank's inhabitants to live long and prosper.

As for test kits...the only kind my LFS carries is API. I have heard extremely mixed reviews. My LFS uses them -- I have watched them test their water -- and all of their tanks look great (all their livestock and corals look really healthy and lively). Are they really that awful? Are there certain ones that are just really inaccurate?

Thank you in advance for any insight you can share! I am determined to do this right and take my time to avoid some of the scares and horror stories I have read on here. I have already accepted that at times I will probably sound like a complete idiot, but I am going to do everything I can to minimize those occurrences.

Im fairly new as my tank has been running for only 9 weeks and 4 days, but no deaths except a cleaner shrimp and some turbo snails. weekly water changes. I have 80 lbs of live rock and about 30-40 lbs of live sand. 4 corallife t5 bulbs.

Add another t5, your basic corals will do fine with 2 t5s, a 10,000k bulb, and actinic bulb, you will want more lights for your harder corals.

powerhead I run a koralia 1150 and the return pump pointing towards it on the opposite side, this gets rid of most of the dead spots for my tank.

a sump is a must, running it with a refugium with some live sand in there with some chaeto . use a compact florescent light bulb 6500k range and reflector hood.

[hossa81]

For a sump lamp, i use an led fixture i bought at home depot. It can be a little hard to find, but my chaeto grows insanely fast from it.

[Oceanminded]

Thank you everyone for all this much needed and useful info! For those of you with a sump/fuge, what have you found to be the most effective setup as far as substrate and all that?

[BlindZide]

No substrate in my sump. I do not use a fuge. I have LR Rubble in my sump for added filtration.

[Oceanminded]

Is a sump absolutely necessary? I have a 55 long and the stand is very bare bones, wouldn't be room for any decently sized sump down there. Would I be okay with a HOB skimmer?

[BlindZide]

No a sump is not 100% needed and yes, HoB skimmers work juuusssttt fine. Be sure to get a reputable brand and not some eBay no name garbage.

[Oceanminded]

Having looked through an extensive list of different HOB skimmers I think I'm going to go with the aquaC remora. What I'd really like to do is have a retrifuge under the tank (a taller tank would fit in the bottom of the stand whereas a longer tank would not) and then have the skimmer be a HOB instead of being in a sump. Would that work?

Edit: In case I haven't mentioned this, my tank is not drilled nor is it drillable (tempered glass). Alternatively I guess I'd run the lines up and secure them over the edge of the tank?

[Railcar79]

Sounds like you are building my setup, I got nearly the same thing up and running now. I ran coralife superskimmer 65, and with some real easy mods, it held its own with my Reef Octopus 150. Lighting, I would stick with T5HO. there are pages of debates on wheter or not LED are good or bad. you can get a 4 bulb fixture with LED lunar lights for $110 online.

as far as powerheads, I went big at first, and my fish wouldnt leave the rocks. I dialed the flow way back and they were much much happier.

I did a DIY stand for my tank, and I got room for a 29 gal sump with fuge and a 5 gal bucket (Skimmer cup drains into the bucket so It can be emptied every 2 weeks) Stand cost me around $20 without plywood skinning the front or sides.

[Oceanminded]

Originally Posted by Railcar79

Sounds like you are building my setup, I got nearly the same thing up and running now. I ran coralife superskimmer 65, and with some real easy mods, it held its own with my Reef Octopus 150. Lighting, I would stick with T5HO. there are pages of debates on wheter or not LED are good or bad. you can get a 4 bulb fixture with LED lunar lights for $110 online.

as far as powerheads, I went big at first, and my fish wouldnt leave the rocks. I dialed the flow way back and they were much much happier.

I did a DIY stand for my tank, and I got room for a 29 gal sump with fuge and a 5 gal bucket (Skimmer cup drains into the bucket so It can be emptied every 2 weeks) Stand cost me around $20 without plywood skinning the front or sides.

How's it working for you? Anything you'd change?

Ordered my remora with pump and powerheads, once those come in I will be almost ready to roll! Okay I know this is going to sound totally stupid but I am much more a visual learner and want to make sure I'm picturing this right -- for the fuge under the DT I need a pump in the DT to circulate the water down there and then also a pump in the fuge to circulate it back up to the DT, right? Anyone suggest a GPH for this (55g DT 20g fuge)?

Also, what are your emergency (power loss) back up systems? Can't have a generator, what would be good equipment to have for surprise power outages? We had one today for about an hour (they are very infrequent here luckily) and it reminded me to look into that.

[BlindZide]

You can get one of those APC battery backups for computers and hook it up.

To get water to your fuge you would need an overflow. I use a CPR CS50 for my 75g to get to the sump and a mag 5 for a return back to DT.

[Oceanminded]

Will definitely have to pick one of those up. Just to double check I don't need a skimmer running until I have fish, correct?

[unreal45]

I have had HOB setups and ones with a sump. You would be much happier with a sump in the long run.

[Oceanminded]

Originally Posted by unreal45

I have had HOB setups and ones with a sump. You would be much happier with a sump in the long run.

Good to know! I had originally planned to start with a HOB then get a new stand and move to a sump buy I may just bypass to the new stand and sump.

[BlindZide]

Originally Posted by Oceanminded

Will definitely have to pick one of those up. Just to double check I don't need a skimmer running until I have fish, correct?

Well, in short, no. You don't need a skimmer for a FOWLR. Regular water changes will work. The skimmer only comes into play when you start adding corals. I ran a FOWLR for years without a skimmer and only water changes and it worked just fine.

[Oceanminded]

Ahh I see, okay. Thanks! Should be able to get everything up and running in the next couple weeks.

[hossa81]

I use aquaC remoras on my tanks, although my twenty gallon has the aquaC urchin which is the same excpet for the fact that it is in sump. They work great, love them and are very low maintenance as in easy to use.

[Oceanminded]

Originally Posted by hossa81

I use aquaC remoras on my tanks, although my twenty gallon has the aquaC urchin which is the same excpet for the fact that it is in sump. They work great, love them and are very low maintenance as in easy to use.

That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for in a skimmer. Have you had any experience with a reef octopus?