New to the SW hobby, new to the forum!

[brooksjat]

Well, I've done small FW aquariums for years, and finally decided to start a SW tank. Been going about it for about 2 months now, and I've really been getting into the whole thing, much to the disappointment of my wallet. Been reading and looking up stuff for a while, thought I'd start posting in a forum to get more ideas/advice. Anyways, I'll try posting some pics as well, feel ree to let me know what you think so far, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

My setup:
55 gal SW FOWLR
40lbs CC substrate
60lbs LR
1 power head
seaclone 150 (I know many say it's not the best, but it'll work for now)
2x65 watt 10,000k/460nm 24hr light cycle w/ lunar light
4 turbo snails
10 hermit crabs
1 false percula clown
1 blue/gold damsel

[roka64]

Nice looking tank, you may want to get a little more flow in there, it looks like you may be getting some algae build up. I like the aquascaping as well. How much rock do you have in there?

[brooksjat]

Thanks! I have 60 pounds of LR in there now, will want to add about 20 pounds more over time. I've been really pleased with the rock from my LFS so far, as most has had little die off and already cured with a wide variety of hitchhikers (I've seen bristleworms, feather dusters, anemone like organisms, green bubble algea, etc) and am noticing more things everytime I sit down and take a look. I was a little concerned about flow, which I guess would lead to my first question. On one side of the tank I have the skimmer which provides some flow, and on the other end a penguin 550 power head (145 gph). Both are towards the top of the tank. If I were to add another powerhead, how strong should it be, and where should it be assembled? It would make sense to me to put it towards the bottom of the tank, but I don't want a flow down there too strong to stir up the fish's favorite spots within the LR.

[chase33]

Nice setup & welcome.

[austinsdad]

green bubble algea, etc

Not good. Don't burst it, 'cause it'll spread. One of the nuisance algaes.

[roka64]

Originally Posted by brooksjat

anemone like organisms

This might also be bad, if it is an aiptasia.
For flow in my 55, I have a Fluvial 304 (260 gph), maxi jet (can't remember the model) and 2 Hydor 2s (600 gph each). As long as your fish can swim around and your sand is not blowing all over the place you should be good to go.
it sounds like you have enough surface ripple for proper O2 exchange. I would look into another ph. This should not hurt anything. I end up moving my phs around from time to time.....

[melosu58]

Looks pretty good. Welcome to AA.

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Scott go with the hydor 2 they are affordable and will provide good flow that isn't a jetstream. A nice wide swath of flow. I have 2 of them and 2 Tunze Nano Streams. Excellent for a 55 and as an added bonus they are great on the power bill using only about 7watts each.