Help setting up a 55 gal Tank

Hello everyone,
I am trying to set up a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium. I am new to saltwater, although I have maintained a goldfish aquarium for almost six years. So I have some experience with fish keeping.
I have read and learnt from a lot of posts on this site and other sites. Also spoke to my local LFS guys with mixed success. I feel at this time I am ready to get started. I need to keep the cost low, but if there is something I do need for a successful setup, I am willing to get it. May I ask you to provide some help in getting me started?
First, I now have 55 gal aquarium is perfect condition, very nice stand, one Aquaclear 500 filter. I don’t have any heater (didn’t need it for goldfish), so I am planning to get one 250 watts heater. My specific questions are:
1. Do I need RO/DI unit? It complicates the matter, but if it is essential, then I am willing to get it. Is there a specific low-cost unit that you recommend?
2. Can I use regular sand as opposed to live sand? I don’t want a bare bottom aquarium, so even one inch sand layer would mean about 50 lbs of sand. I think 50 lbs of live sand is expensive.
3. Can I use regular rock as opposed to live rock? I am thinking of getting about 50 lbs of rock. Do the dry rocks turn into live rock over time? Is there specific kind of dry rocks that I should be using?
4. I don’t think my filter is enough. Should I get a wet-dry filter, say eshhops 75?
5. Do I absolutely need a protein skimmer?
I realize that these are lots of questions. I would very much appreciate your feedback.

 

I have a 55 gallon too. You will need a protein skimmer, decide if u want a sump or a HOB skimmer if you dont want a sump. Buy dry rock and seed with a few pieces of live rock and you dont need to buy live sand. You will need powerheads, I have 2 koralia evolutions 1050 with a wave maker. Just to let yu know this is a expensive hobby!!
Also need a refractometer and salt.

 

Also you will need a quarantine tank of no less than 10 gallon to observe your new fish for a few weeks also serve as a hospital tank. So another heater and HOB filter. And a rubbermaid brute trashcan for ro storage.

 

Answers in quote.

 

Thanks to both for reply.

Lukeeluciano: If I don't use live sand, what kind of sand would you recommend?

Swimwitfish: Not sure about the distinction between sump and wet-dry. I was under the impression, incorrecectly it seems, that wet-dry filter is a sump filter. So what is wrong with wet-dry? Also, what is a refugium?

Thanks again for your help.

 

wet dry refers to the trickle of the water over bioballs and such to supposedly keep beneficial bacteria and do all sorts of other complicated things, a sump is a much better way to filter, in the middle of the sump there is often a space to put sand rock and algae that we here refer to as a refugium. it comes in handy when you have an aggressive fish you need to get out of the tank lol.

 

in regards to the heater 150 watts is more than enough but get 2. Many tank crashes r from failed heaters. It would suck to lose all ur livestock on a $25 piece of equipment.

 

Well, I think you need to do a little bit of planning before you begin. The very first thing that you need to decide, is: what do you want to keep in your aquarium? If you are only doing fish that will make the process a lot simplier. If you are wanting invertebrates, coral etc. that will complicate things some what. For the sake of answeing your questions, I will assume that you are only wanting to house fish in your aquarium. First and foremost remember, no more that 1" of fish per 4-5 gallons of aquarium. If you can live by this rule you will be doing yourself a huge favor down the road. You will need at least 1 Lbs of live rock per gallon of fish. You should buy your rock "dead" instead of live for a couple of reasons, 1) This will help to prevent unwanted "critters" in your tank 2) cost, dead rock is much cheaper than live rock. You will also need substrate, agronite sand works well and can be found cheaply online, you can also check with quarry's to see if they can help you out, once again dead not alive and at least 1 Lbs per gallon. I would recommend spending a little more on a high quality titanium heater, JBJ makes a great one but it will be a little more. Glass heaters tend to break and well, that is not so good, titanium heaters do not break. I recommend RODI water once again, this will eliminate a great deal of hassles later on, look at bulk reef supply for inexpensive units, (also a good place to buy base rock) spectra pure is a great brand of RODI. If you are only doing fish, depending on the species you do not necessarrly need a skimmer, but it helps. I would stay away from "wet/dry" filters and "canister" filters, they are nitrate factories! go with a high quality hang on filter or if you have the means get a sump with a refugium bulit into it. You can even find one that will hang on the back of your tank. You will also want a power head or water pump to provide some water circulation in your tank, this will help eliminate "dead" spots in your tank where detritus can build up over time. You have not mentioned lighting, which is another can o worms. For fish only, you don't need more that t-5's or pc lighting, you could go LED's but I think that is a topic for another forum. Thanks for reading, you'll do great, a 55 is great tank to get started on, lots of possibilities!

 

Simply put, you can use dry rock, dry sand, the filter is enough if you run the right media and you don`t need a skimmer (it is highly recommended though). I would highly recommend a refurbished spectrapure rodi system.
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Dont u need some live rock to seed the system and start the cycling?