New to the hobby and need some HELP

Okay here is where my adventure begins: A friend of mine has some rental properties here in town. He had some renters move out and they left a big fish tank. I assumed it was saltwater since there were clown fish in there. He did not want it but he needed it gone so he can clean the house and get it ready for new renters. So we took it down and moved it to my house (after I asked my wife 1st). So I have been doing some research as to what kind of fish are in there, I mean they left it running with about 10 -14 fish in there. Its a 55 gallon with a wood stand and canopy, it has live rock (I think), a Eheim professional pump?, an aqua tech power filter(looks like the ones at Wal-Mart) 2 heaters, a bunch of chemicals, thermometer, magnetic alge scrapper, and a specific gravity tester (which I learned how to use and it reads 1.022) also water temp is around 77-78F. I also have some pics and I have identified some of the fish. I need HELP. I need to know what equipment, books, food I need to purchase to keep everything healthy. Any help will be great

 

Pics would help ALOT also if there are 14 fish in a 55 your gonna want to bring that number down to 6 at max

 

there is a lot of good equipment out there, but I only suggest what I have used and would buy again if I had too.
api test kit, Nitrate, PH and KH and calcium.
Hamilton lighting Metal Halides Mogul base 250 watts got em online/ made in usa
I use 10000 k bulbs but you might want to start w 14000 k to avoid algae growth
Tradewinds chiller made in the usa and 100 percent repairable
aqua c ev 120 protein skimmer made in usa though you could use their ev 180 model and make life easier.
a 25 gallon sump with a refugium and macro algae/cheap lighting
red sea wave timer with four maxi jet 1200s for circulation
one rio hyperflow for return pump/ energy efficient and quite once broken in
and finally two phosphate removers with carbon and nitrate reducers.
a filter sock for the return
and a poly filter that I change once every week or so

my water perimeters are favorable for pretty demanding critters.
chores include 5 gal of water change every week
and a gallon a day of make up water/ deionized ro
test water quality once a week and I add purple up daily
and calcium daily
most of this can be purchased on ebay used for about 4 to 8 hundred dollars. except for the chiller.

additives Sea Chem ph balancer and kh balancer

 

authors I like
John Tullock
Julian sprung
Ronald L Shimek
and Eric H. Borneman
Good Luck
Have fun
Remember Patience and when it comes to buying equipment never settle just for things,bite the bullet and get what will do more than the job you need it too,and you get what you pay for unless its used

 

I have some pics not sure how to post them. What are the basic equipment, and test kits I need. There is only fish and s couple of snails in there. maybe someday I would love to build one of the reef tanks but right now I want to make sure I have the basics covered. I don't really know what chillers and protien skimmers are

 

Protein skimmer are great for Fish Only tanks, They mix a lot of oxygen in the water and literally take the waste right out from the tank for you. They even help balance the PH level, just great they are. So I would suggest that
also make sure you get good sand and not crushed coral sand helps clean the water and balance ph too.
lighting is not important for fish so maybe get a light with color you would like the tank to be.
the api test kits are important and you could get them all for around 20 bucks online
the chiller is not needed for fish only
a sump will be nice so look around for one or buy a glass 20 gallon and glue glass walls as needed but keep the water level low incase your power goes out.
You can grow algae and have all your filters in the sump, nice
finally get some live rock and if you want to save money you can mold some large rocks and use arogonite sand/playbox sand and cement but I am not sure which cement is best. This will save you 5 to 10 dollars a pound

 

Fish only you dont really need to spend the money on a skimmer or most likley dont need a chiller, id get a good filter to run carbon and some live rock and you would be all set

 

also get ph and kh balancers the are about 10 dollars each for additives
so for fish only get a cheap light 50 to 100 dollars
used aqua c 180 ebay 200.00
20 gallon glass tank sump 35 dollars
api test kits 20 dollars
home depot glass and cuter 30 dollars with silicone
and you should be good.
trust me get a good skimmer and make a sump or buy one

 

Honeslty you dont need to get that in depth for a fish only system, start out simple and easy on the wallet

id do this


about 40 pounds live rock and a aqua clear 70 and two power heads. Theres rreaaly no need for a skimmer or any type of light other then the one it came with. You dont really need a sump either in a fish only, esp if you lighten the bio load

 

I do agree I just think if he does not know much about marine stuff a skimmer could make things easier in the long run and save money from loosing too many fish.