55g noob reef start up

andrew6869

New member
hi there my names andrew and im starting my first sw tank with my 3 year old..lol of the joys of kids i got a 55g tank and stand but cant drill it tempered glass :headwally: so im goin sumpless i also just picked up a 48' 6bulb t5ho aquatic life light on cl for 100$ i need to replace 3 bulbs but im gonna replace them all so heres were all the questions start wat bulb combos should i do? wat kind of filtration does any body recommend seeing no sump nor room for one? and just in general wat else do i need set up wise minus salt rock and water? all help is greatly appreciated pics up wen i get home
 
You can still go with a sump if you like. You would just need a HOB overflow, I am using one now and it works well. Having a sump is great. I keep the heaters as well as the protein skimmer in there. There is also a DSB and refugium in my sump.

As for the lighting we would need to know what kind of livestock you are planning on keeping. Fish only, soft coral, Hard coral (LPS/SPS), clams, etc.
 
Well first off I highly recommend that you do hours upon hours of research. The stickied threads on here are a great place to start.
Second you don't have to drill your tank to have a sump, look into overflow boxes or DIY PVC overflows. Both allow you to have a sump without drilling your tank.
For filtration I recommend a sump with Live Rock rubble in it. If you decide to not use a sump then I would say a HOB or canister filter should work.
For the lights I think that most people run 50:50 white to actinic lighting with the white ranging from 10000K to 16000K.

Other Equipment you'll need, RO/DI filter, Powerheads for water movement, pump if your using a sump, you'll need sand for the bottom unless you are going to do a bare bottom tank, and lots and lots of patience. The key to ALL saltwater aquariums is patience. They take a while but the longer you wait the better it gets.
 
Ask about what bulbs for your t5 in the lighting section they will give you some grand info on which ones to get. i run 2 acintic blue, 2 12k, one 6500k and a pure acintic which is a purple.
 
I have a 55ga reef tank, and it is my first one i've done. I have a link to my build page from the stand alllll the way through the fill and such.

http://www.photobucket.com/kmanreef
password: reefcentral

When I was building mine, I watched a TON of videos on youtube, and also reading a lot of stuff on here.
 
thanks guys i really appreciate all the advice and im gonna do egg crate on bottom so no rock slides and do sand i was also thinking just starting with eazy corals but from wat i read my lights i can keep most stuff and as for fish i have no clue probably clows and other small fish i dont wanna over stock or not give each fish enough room so stocking im gonna read up and as for power heads how many will i need? and the hob filter so long it supports per say 75g i should be fine? and i luckly have a ro/di unit in my home
 
no clue on hob would have to look around and im on a budget so i wanna try to save were i can but i dont wanna cheat my self out so im gonna have to keep on looking for skimmer on cl and as for a filter maby get a 300gph canister one off ebay?
 
I think I would skip the filter and go with a HOB skimmer. As for lights I think I would start with 2 ATI actinic, 2 ATI coral plus, Maybe ATI blue plus and a ATI purple plus.

forgot, you could not put a 20 long in your stand.
 
i have an old aquaclear 30 i wanna say could i just run carbon in that and use a good hob skimmer with weakly 5g water changes?
 
I did that for a while. I even had chaeto in a AC 30 for a while, it grew well but I don't know how beneficial it was in the long run. If you got a bigger HOB filter you could have a refugium/live rock rubble in it. There are some nice larger HOB refugiums as well.
 
yeah i can just but a bigger hob filter but would a ebay skimmer do the job? its like 43$ and idk if it could be trusted ..lol
 
Post the link here and I would do some searching to see what others have to say about it.

I got an in sump skimmer off of ebay that works great.
 
People seem to like the HOB refugium from Aquatraders. I have not personally used it so I can't really comment on how well it and the attached skimmer work. The other ones look like they could work OK but I would look/ask around in the equipment section before picking one.

The canister filter can be useful if you keep live rock rubble in it and/or keep carbon/filter floss in it. You need to be careful though because it can be a detritus trap and become a nitrate factory. I would skip it altogether and put that money into power heads for water movement.

I really do believe you would be best served by going with a small sump if it is at all possible. A 10 gallon with a budget skimmer in it from ebay would serve you much better than a cheap HOB skimmer/refugium. It's also nice being able to use a filter sock and keep your heater(s) out of the display. If you opted for a 20L sump you could easily do a refugium as well. Having the sump would also allow the micro bubbles you would be getting from a skimmer to dissipate before making it into the display. Those HOB units almost always have complaints of adding bubbles to the main tank. One last thing to consider is that as evaporation happens, if you don't have an auto top off your skimmer will stop working properly as the water level drops. In a sump the baffles can be setup to prevent this from happening and it will always be in the ideal depth of water. Again, I know you said you were going sumpless but I just wanted to give you some information to think about.

Here is one similar to the one I have.

Also check out the WP25 from Jebao. I just got one and it has been working very well. No more dead spots in my tank.
 
People seem to like the HOB refugium from Aquatraders. I have not personally used it so I can't really comment on how well it and the attached skimmer work. The other ones look like they could work OK but I would look/ask around in the equipment section before picking one.

The canister filter can be useful if you keep live rock rubble in it and/or keep carbon/filter floss in it. You need to be careful though because it can be a detritus trap and become a nitrate factory. I would skip it altogether and put that money into power heads for water movement.

I really do believe you would be best served by going with a small sump if it is at all possible. A 10 gallon with a budget skimmer in it from ebay would serve you much better than a cheap HOB skimmer/refugium. It's also nice being able to use a filter sock and keep your heater(s) out of the display. If you opted for a 20L sump you could easily do a refugium as well. Having the sump would also allow the micro bubbles you would be getting from a skimmer to dissipate before making it into the display. Those HOB units almost always have complaints of adding bubbles to the main tank. One last thing to consider is that as evaporation happens, if you don't have an auto top off your skimmer will stop working properly as the water level drops. In a sump the baffles can be setup to prevent this from happening and it will always be in the ideal depth of water. Again, I know you said you were going sumpless but I just wanted to give you some information to think about.

Here is one similar to the one I have.

Also check out the WP25 from Jebao. I just got one and it has been working very well. No more dead spots in my tank.

ok well im still goin sumpless..lol just no room but ive come to it and i cant be cheap rather do it once then twice so im gonna use my amazon card and order a good skimmer today ive read if i have agood skimmer and decent amout of lr i shld be fine wats ur input on that?
 
It looks like some people are happy with that setup. Some complain about the skimmer portion which to me is the most important part.

Doing some quick research these two seem to be highly rated HOB skimmers. AquaMaxx and BH-2000


I would do a good skimmer, make sure you have adequate water movement, and maybe add a refugium down the road. Don't bother with the canister filter for now. The live rock and sand in your tank is going to be your biological filter.

Also give this a look. WP25 It would most likely be the only powerhead/water movement pump you need in your tank. You could even go for the WP40 for more movement, though it may be overkill.
 
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