33 gallon long suggestions

[Matman1110]

Just bought a new 33 gallon long (48"Lx13"Wx13"Tall). I wanted to probably start it off as a fowlr but still want to have the opportunity to quickly change into a small beginners reef at any time. My questions are, what would you recommend for this tank?:

1. What kind of filter and or protein skimmer should I get?

2. How many pounds of base rock/live rock/ live sand do I need? Would crushed coral work for substrate too?

3. How many powerheads?

4. How many and what types of fish would you recommend to start out?

If it is possible a step by step setup of all this equipment would help alot aswell.

Thank you

 

[carey]

1. What kind of filter and or protein skimmer should I get?
I have gone with aquaclear hang on backs for my smaller tanks with great success. The rock is your main biological filtration and the filter is really only for mechanical and maybe chemical if you need to add something. I would wait on a skimmer and see if you need one. if you do your water changes every week, dont overstock and dont overfeed in my opinion and experience you should be fine without one.

2. How many pounds of base rock/live rock/ live sand do I need? Would crushed coral work for substrate too?
I'd aim for at least 45lbs of rock. You could get as much as 40lbs of base rock and then just add 5-10lbs of live rock. The base rock will become live after a few weeks and after that it will look just like the "live" rock. I would stay away from crushed coral for substrate, try some aragonite sand in your choice of size. Crushed coral can trap debris and cause some issues in your tanks parameters. This is from what I've read so I;ve never used the crushed coral myself.

3. How many powerheads?
I would go with 2, maybe koralia 750's since the length of the tank is pretty long. You want absolute water circulation, no dead spots on the sand or anywhere else in the tank.

4. How many and what types of fish would you recommend to start out?
This is up to you. Depends on what kind of tank you want. You mentioned corals so you might want to stick with coral friendly fish. Do you want aggressive fish, happy fish or something in between? If your top is covered you could consider some wrasses that are reef safe.

here is a link if you havent checked it out already

Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums

The site has minimum tank sizes, fish sizes and other very helpful information on just about any fish you could imagine.

Hope this was helpful!