New saltwater setup advice needed.

[rjberg]

Hi, I'm new to saltwater aquariums. I set my new 55 gallon tank up last weekend. I have a fluval 305 cannister filter, a thermometer and GLO T5 HO double marine light. I put live sand in it and enough instant ocean to have a salinity of 1.023. I plan to have both coral and fish after the tank has cycled for about a month. I have been told I will need a protein skimmer but have read that with the proper media and a surface skimmer attachment for my fluval (cost is under $20) I don't really need the protein skimmer. Please give me some advice before I start introducing anything to my tank. I am also unsure what coral and fish to add first. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Keithhjs]

Personally, I feel a skimmer is the best piece of equipment you can run for your SW tank. Removing organics before they need to be broken down and converted by the bb is IMO is a no brained. I myself run two skimmers. Never used the surface skimmer attachment for the canister but I would still choose a protein skimmer over that. Also if you plan on keeping corals IMO it's a must. Plus canisters can become nitrate factories if not maintained well. If you can run a sump, you might wanna consider that too.

 

[rjberg]

Thanks for the protein skimmer advice. Now which one/s do you consider to be good for a 55 gallon tank.

 

[Beengirl]

I started my first 55g SW tank a few months ago. I have a fluval 406, and I also run a aqua C remora S skimmer. The aqua c aren't cheap (and you do have to buy a separate pump), but works great, and my water levels stay really good. I haven't had any problems with algae or cyano so far. I attribute a lot of this to the skimmer, as i probably do overfeed. Also, I rinse ALL of the canister's media every week when I do my water change, that way any pieces of food and such can be removed before turning into nitrates. And I rotate changing out pieces of canister so that I don't do it all at once. I did change my carbon to Chemipure and the water does seem to be a lot clearer actually. Overall, I'm very happy with the fluval/aqua c skimmer I have.