Just looking for advice

Here is a look at my 3 day old tank, I also did the "re-trim" on it, picked up some wood trim and stained it, i think it looks very nice.





Link if the images dont show up....
http://yfrog.com/4qdsc00473ij

http://yfrog.com/4qdsc00475wj

 

so advise can take two major directions with saltwater. Are you looking at going with coral and some fish or fish and no coral (or little coral)?

once your cycle starts to get near its end, the pieces of hardware you'll want to research are a skimmer and probably better lights.

looking at your pics, I would guess you have around 10-15lbs of Live Rock. You'll probably want to add at least another 50lbs of dry base rock. It doesn't have to be right now or all at once...

the filters you are running (2 of them); these aren't going to do anything at all for you. Especially if you're going reef.

you will need some powerheads for flow (I suggest koralia's: I like a combination of 2 koralia-2's and 1 koralia-1 for a 55 like yours). For now, if you're on a budget, I'd suggest just getting one or two to get your water moving around... you can always add more later.

If any of the words are confusing, try sticking them in google images search and then come back and use the search feature on 3reef.com.

Your cycle will take a while, so now's a good time to just read as many threads as you can...

 

I believe its a bio-wheel, i think 250 to 350 gph filter system picked out, plus a power heard filter picked out, most likely one for now, since i am going to go with Fish and Coral, only reef safe fish of course, and i have a protein skimmer picked out as wheel. aslo a 10k blue spectrum light picked out, just waiting to get paid.

i was reading that adjusting rock can cause the tank to try to re-cycle? I think what i was reading concerned to the bed rock changes, im hoping that if i add more base rock and set the Live rock on top it wont cause "new tank syndrome" since im going for more fish is it necessary to have 50 pounds of rock in the tank? it seems like a'lot

 

Another point... not sure how much fish you think your tank can handle... but more rock, the more fish. In any event, a basic rule of thumb (though it has to do w/the particular fishes bio-load (how messy are they how much do they poop, etc., and how good your filtration is) is 1 inch of fish per 4 gallons of water (and you have to use the fishes grown up size, not current size).

In a 55 gallon tank that is approximately 11 inches of fish. Two adult clowns are 6-10 inches (depending on species) as an example.

You can keep fewer fish than you think before you are overstocked and start having algae problems.

In my 55, i have 1 6-line wrasse, a pair of clownfish, and one bi-color blenny. I will eventually add one mandarin and that's it. I've had more before, but it caused problems...

So be aware of that.... also fish compatibility is something to research as well as how much room a fish needs... in most folks opinion, a 55 is too small for any tang or angel fish (a dwarf angel is OK) for example.

Anyway, as you get to these points in your new wonderful hobby, just post new threads with new questions and use the search feature heavily as most things already have threads (if you can't find your answer though, by all means post a new thread).

 

something else i noticed... looks like you will not have a sump so your equipment (skimmer) will be HOB (hang on back).

Be sure your tank is sitting a good 6 inches from the wall or the equipment will not fit!!!!!!

If you need to scoot it out, do it now!

good luck

 

Thank you for all you advice, after researching more, I've decided to build my own stand, and Sump/Refugium with a 20gal long tank. I really want to build my own sump but i cant seem to find any detailed plans with pictures to give me a better idea to do this, i do know that i don't want to drill into my tank, so im going to be running lines up to the back of the tank.

the only detailed plans i could find are from someone who wants money for them. is there a good DIY link im not finding? this is really starting to give me a headache. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

 

WOO HOO!

I've never used one, so someone else will have to chime in... But that is the better way to go, me thinks.

 

try melevsreef.com....he has quite a few DIY sumps.

 

Absolutely! try Melevsreef.com - Welcome! and check out his designs. If you don't have to tools to do a full acrylic sump you can just get a 10 gallon aquarium and use silicon to glue in acrylic baffles. Thats what i'm doing.

 

Im really stuck at this point, i love reef tanks, they look amazing. But every single... i mean every single fish my wife has looked at and wants is not recommended for reef tanks. its kind of hard to open the wallet with her over my shoulder if you know what i mean lol.