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Crawling68

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
128
Location
Fremont, CA
I have been researching salt water, and im close. I have a 55gal tank, 2 Aqualear 301 PH's, Fluval 404, and heater. I want to have lots of live rock and corral's, and just a couple of fish. I know i should have a skimmer, and ive been researching different one's. And lighting, right know its two small fixtues on either side, will this suffice. Any input would be appreciated.
 
u will need PC lighting,(nto sure what kind

you should get soem sand whether its live or soutdown playsand, 3-4 inches.

and also i would wait a long long long time before you get corals just because they are expensive and soem can be hard to keep plus by not having then for a long long long time you will get used to your tank and how it works so in the begging just get live rock and sand and thats it , cycle it and wait wait wait until you cant wait anymore, i haev waited abotu 3 months since my saltwater has been setup and i am just getting used to it (salintity, temp. top offs, evap.) stuff liek that

so on ethnig anyone here will recommend is waitign

its a fish keepers best friend
 
Im used to the waiting, but i would like to at least get it started so i can hurry up and wait. LOL!
 
Fill the tank with water, get it up to temperature, mix in the salt and let the powerheads circulate it for a while. Add the sand and aquascape the rock. Begin cycling.
 
And lighting, right know its two small fixtues on either side, will this suffice
Probably not. You should look into VHO or PC. With either of those you can eventually keep most soft corals, lps, and mushrooms. For most sps corals MH lighting is required (and fairly costly). You'll need atleast 3-5 watts of light per gallon of aquarium capacity, generally for corals, and about a 15-20 times an hour turn-over rate, meaning all your pumps/filters together should be moving atleast 850 gph when added together. Also w/ corals you'll need about 1.5 lbs lr for each gallon of aquarium capacity for biological filtration.
 
I am looking into the lighting issue right now, and i dont think they even make a VHO for this fixture, the bulbs are only 18". Right now i would be flowing 700 gph then. If i put another 301 in the middle, that would take me to 875 :D , good plan. How would you face them? What about the skimmer?
 
In order to run a vho or pc light you'll need a high output ballast to power the bulb. Look into it alittle more, plus 18" is way to short for a 55. You will probably need 36". The power heads you want cross flow patterns in order to create turbulance. Place one in each corner so the streams intercept in the middle of the tank, if you add a third you can play around w/ it and see where you like it. On a reef tank IMO, a skimmer is very important especially when first starting out. It will allow you some room for error such as overfeeding, missing a water change, etc. plus they always benefit a tank no matter how skilled the keeper :wink: . The Aqua-c is a good one. You don't want to skimp on a skimmer you get what you pay for with those! Buy a good one the first time and you'll save yourself some trouble down the road. Lastly, read, read, then read some more! Look into buying some good books, I'm sure many people here can recomend one.
 
Thank you for your lighting opinions, i will correct it before even starting. Ive had my nose stuck in"The New Marine Aquarium" for a while now.
 
I was just looking at the Remora Skimmer and was curious, can you factor in the 211 gph from the Rio pump in the equation for the turn-over.
 
have you considered a sump on your tank?

or wet/dry with the fluval?

if not, the fluval by itself is fine

also have you considered a CPR bak pak skimmer 2 or 2r they are very good i am not sure what anyone else here thinks about them but mine works perfectly on my 15 galllon HTH
 
I have thought about sumps and wet/dry's, but all equipment must fit nicely under the stand or my girlfriend will kill me 8O . She doesnt want it to look like it was thrown together.
 
I would like to go to saltwater, but the price seems SOOOO high!!!!! I don't want to risk it!! Would a 20 gallon tank be sufficient for a saltwater aquarium or would I need a larger tank? Any replies or helps are appreciated! :D :lol: :fadein:
 
I would like to go to saltwater, but the price seems SOOOO high!!!!! I don't want to risk it!! Would a 20 gallon tank be sufficient for a saltwater aquarium or would I need a larger tank? Any replies or helps are appreciated! :D :lol: :fadein:
 
yeah it would work btu be prepared for "moodswings of the tank" by that i mean salintity, top offs, trates, trites , ammonia the best thign for a amall tank is too wait adn get used to it.
 
Ok, i got everything ordered :D . Heres what it will be:

55 gal tank
Fluval 404 Canister Filter
AquaC Remora Pro Skimmer
2 Aqua clear 401 ph's
Coralife 48" Lunar light.

Lots of money 8O , but i dont like doing things cheaply and then end up paying for it later :cry: . I also bought a smaller heater to use with my smaller ph's in a 30gal that im going to cure my live rock in, then later use as a quarantine tank. Question: When mixing up the water, do you guys fill up the tank and then mix the salt in, or mix it up in a 5 gal bucket and put it in one buket at a time?
 
I have read in a book that you should first fill the tank then put in the salt and adjust the salinity. Be sure to keep tract of how much water you put in though! 8)
 
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