Need equipment recommendations please!

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Joshuha

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 18, 2004
Messages
19
Location
Florida
Ok, my first post somehow was eaten by the spellchecker so this one will be a lot shorter.

Background:
-Been researching for about a month on SW setup.
-Will be 55 gallons FOWLR with a DSB.
-Have not planned out fishies yet but have plenty of time before I can put them in anyways.

Questions:
-How much sand should I buy for a 55, I know enough for 3-4" but about how many pounds is that?
-If I can't find the Southdown/Old Castle stuff at HD/Lowes am I forced to buy the expensive stuff from a LFS? Can I use a silica base sand (Most people say no but have read a few posts from people here who have used it with no problem?)
-Protien skimmer; will a AquaC Remora with the 1200 Maxis suffice? I could go for the AquaC Remora Pro with the mag3 but does the cost difference justify the performance increase?
-Powerheads(circulation), I heard good things about the Maxijet 1200s. Would 2 of these be good for a 55g tank?
-Liverock; I was thinking about getting 50# to start with and adding another 25-30# when I can afford it. Will the 50# plus the DSB be good enough filtration if I have a light bioload of mostly a clean-up crew and just a few fish?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
You'll probably want 2lbs of sand per gallon...so say 100lbs as a rough, low end estimate.
I couldn't get cheap sand..but I wanted to do everything right, so I spent the cash on argamax from my LFS. In the long run, this was pretty cheap compared to LR and lighting costs :)
No idea on the skimmer.
Maxijets are good powerheads. I have 2 900's in my 40gallon tank. 1200's sound about right for a 55gallon.
For LR, 1lb per gallon is the 'minimum' i see recommended, and it's what I started with. If you start with a light bio load, it'll be enough.
the thing to consider is if you buy more, it'll probably need to be cured in a separate tank so you don't cause a mini-cycle. If you buy from liverocks.com the curing time is minimal to none...and their rock is the shizzle!
 
-there is a calculator at the top of the page, but about 100 130 lbs.

-i would get the stuff from lfs. I have heard bad things about silica sand.

-good skimmer

-I also have maxi jets, but decided to go with 4 900s instead of 2 1200s.

-A little more lr would help, stock very lightly and keep good maintenance habbits. you would benefit from a sump/fuge

-what type of lighting do you have?

Good luck :wink:
 
darb2 said:
-i would get the stuff from lfs. I have heard bad things about silica sand.

-good skimmer

-what type of lighting do you have?

Good luck :wink:

When you say good skimmer is the $160 Remora gonna be good enough or will I need to splurge for the $225 Remora Pro?

As far as lighting my tank came with 2 smaller hoods for each half that have a strip for flourescent bulbs. Lighting is another thing I am not sure about yet but heard that with FOWLR its not a huge thing to worry about. I will probably get some 50/50 bulbs and leave it at that for now. Eventually I will go with PC lights but don't want to drop the money on them quite yet.
 
Fwiw - we use a remora (not the pro) on our 125 and i am certain it is not being over worked, so i would go with that. If you can, get the PC at the earliest opportunity, they make a huge difference!
 
Ouch

That rather hurt my chances of getting a reef aquarium - do you have to have a skimmer - it sounds expensive, I dont have that kind of money!
 
If you go with a Aqua C skimmer the pro may be a wise choice. The standard will skim it OK but is near its limits. You could use it though just keep up on your water changes!


I would go with the Coralife Aqualights either with moonlights or with out there is a $60 for the moonlights.


You cannot go wrong with maxi jet powerheads and 1200's is what i would recomend.


I would actually stick to a 1-2" sandbed. To many DSB crashes lately myself included to recomend that method. I currently have a 1" sand bed of aragamax and get the 0 nitrates the the DSB gives you.


How much LR depends on the type you pick. Dense rock like fiji probably will be about 50-75LBS.
 
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