50 gallon reef setup

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Hello! So I've recently aquired a new, much larger bedroom-guess what that means?? More fish tanks!! So I'm going to get a 55 gallon tank, and set up a reef. This will be my first saltwater tank, and I want to go slowly and so everything perfectly. I will be getting: an eheim cannister filter, a protein skimmer, heater, and light setup. I dont want to do a sump-is it necessary for a saltwater tank? What kind of lights would you suggest for growing inverts and coral? And then there's the question of stocking.

I really love yellow and sailfin tangs, but would one be too big for a 55 gallon? And I would like a pair of percula clowns. What are your suggestions for stocking the tank? What are your favorite corals and inverts? What do you recommend as a cleaning crew? Any and all advice would be appreciated!

 

[erichm20]

For lighting you should do a 4 bulb t5 at a minimum. If you can spend a little more you should go w LEDs.

Unfortunately 55 is too small for any tangs except maybe tomini and liveaquaria suggests 70 for even those. You can def do the clownfish and if u want a pair try to get a mated pair, I tried to have a pair of occys and the bigger one eventually killed the smaller one.

For corals your going to want to wait at least 6 months- but longer is better- for your tank to become stable. This will be a great time to do all the research for your new corals.

It sounds like you've already kept some type of aquarium so you know a good test kit is a must and get used to testing all the time.

One last bit I would highly recommend is a quarantine tank- these are absolutely necessary if you are serious, I was stubborn at first and learned the hard way.

Good luck!

 

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Thank you for the advice!!! I don't want to rush things, but could I kickstart the cycle by using established filter media from my freshwater tanks, and slowly raising the salinity so as not to kill off the BB?

How would I know if there is a mated pair in a tank of clowns at the lfs? They've got a lot of selection, but you really have to know the stuff because most of the employees don't.

I freaking love gobies- which would work in my tank do you think?

 

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Also, is there any sort of community reef at all that I could keep a banded seahorse in? Not the dwarf species, but a full sized seahorse.

 

[Sniperhank]

Seahorses need to be in their own tank without any competition. They require almost no flow. They are very slow eaters and unless maybe a pipefish, should be kept alone due to these reasons.

 

[erichm20]

+1 seahorses need a species specific tank.

Im not sure but You could probably seed with existing media nitrifying bacteria is nitrifying bacteria so you should be ok. But if you are putting in LR you may have mimi cycle anyway Just keep testing the water to watch for any spikes.

Yea you could do most gobies but some jump and need established tank so make sure you do the research.