getting started for the first time, please give me your input

M

mnotta

New member
After months of research i am ready to move up from a 36 gallon freshwater system to my first saltwater. So far my plan is a 55 gallon tank and i am planning on going with fish only to start. In the future once i am comfortable with the fish maybe adding coral but that is not for a few years.

I am stuck on filtration! At the moment i am leaning towards running 2 Aqua Clear 50s or 70s, one on each side for equal filtration as well as a powerhead to ensure current is moving well. The AquaClears will allow me to have chambered filtration without going with the canister. I have also looked into canister (the Fluval rated for 65 gallons). Anyone have pros and cons on both. I do not want the sump because i do not want to drill holes in my tank.

The other thing i have questions about is sand vs crushed coral on the bottom. really dont have a preference as to looks so tell me what you like and dont like about each.

Any other advice that you feel is important for a beginner is greatly appreciated!

Matt
 
Jmo:

Jmo:

plan for what you want starting from day one.

If your goal is to grow living corals.... start from day one and plan for it.
Suggestion: 48" long x 18" wide x 20"high is probably the BEST size aquarium as a "starter reef" (for many reasons- too many for me to list here and now).
Plan on purchasing liverock and a skimmer and good lighting.

IF you add fishes first you will possibly miss out on many interesting critters reefkeepers enjoy seeing in a reef aquarium because fishes will eat them before they get established.

Crushed coral on the bottom is minor in respect to the aforementioned suggestions.

Welcome to RC. Matt!
 
55gallon are really narrow and i think you will like a 75g much more. same length, but deeper dimension. i was going to get a 55 then i compared the 75 with the 55 at my lfs and i decided 75.

if you ever plan on going reef tank, then you should probably plan RIGHT NOW for the conversion. this means getting proper reef filtration to start with. you do not have to drill holes. If i were you search craigslist for a while and try to find a pre-drilled tank. much cheaper than new and alot less stressfull than drilling

a sump is very versatile. you can have it set up as a wet/dry with a skimmer for months then remove all that and change it into a fuge. i would just leave it as a fuge the whole time because theyr awesome for nutrient exports and very natural. heck, at the very least just get like a 10 gallon tank, put a few baffles, stuff it with bioballs, then put a return pump in the thing.

lighting doesnt matter atm, so that will cut down ALOT on the costs. but filtration is a major part of a reef and its better to do it right the first time then going back and trying to re due things when you decide to switch over.

as stated above, other factors are WAY more important than deciding on your gravel. but many reefers HATE crushed coral. it supposedly traps tons of nutrients and causes high nitrates (bad for reefs). i have no experience with the stuff, but i know it irritates sand sifting organisms and it stresses out gobies (i love gobies!). definitely go with sand and not crushed coral. its better for more applications.

oh and i thought i was going to do a FOWLR, but 2 months later i upgraded lighting and started adding corals on my first tank lol. it was such a pain fixing filtration
 
to clarify i am going with the 55 because of the space issue. orginally i was going to go with the 75 but just cannot fit it with the extra depth it has.

i am not going to do live reef in this tank. once i can master this tank with fish alone i plan on moving bigger to a 90 or so were i will do live reef. that cannot happen though until my space enlargers and that may take a long time

thanks
matt
 
I agree...STAY away from the 55g!!! lol
I wish I had not gotten the 55g and cannot wait to upgrade to 75g. 55's are very narrow and before you know it...you are out of room. I HATE it!!
So, if you can go bigger, not smaller! :)

As for the filters. I couldn't do the whole sump thing. (I wish I did now, but)
I have a AquaClear 110 and a Red Sea Skimmer(don't get this one..horrid) Works well, I don't have any water issues and never really have after 2yrs. If you go with a Hang on Back skimmer like I did, get an Eshopps or Octopus(I think thats the one)
They have great reviews! I plan on getting Eshopps HOB next month and will let go of current skimmer and AquaClear.
If you do go with filters that hang on back(HOB), get some powerheads too, you will need them.
Hope I've helped some! Any questions, just ask!! :)

Edit: Just saw your most recent post.
I do enjoy my 55g, just wish I went bigger to begin with and will upgrade. If its what you can do, you will still enjoy it, but will eventually want to upgrade!
Remember to have fun!!
 
thebkramer:

thanks for your input. do you just have the one aquaclear 110? i was planning on going with 2 aqua clear 70s, one on each side of the tank and then yes a powerhead. do you think i would be better with just the one?
 
mnotta said:
thebkramer:

thanks for your input. do you just have the one aquaclear 110? that is the same unit i was planning on going with but i was going to put one on each side of the tank and then yes a powerhead
Click to expand...

Yes, just the one aquaclear. I have a skimmer on the other side.
Heres a pic, sorry little blurry. Aquaclear is on right, skimmer on left.
29tm68.jpg


IMO, you will def want to get a skimmer instead of two aquaclears. Especially if you decide to get corals (which you probably will lol)
Just make sure you get a good one lol I can't wait to get the Eshopps HOB.
 
oh, i asked if you could do longer because the best thing about a FO tank is the awesome fish you can get. But many of those awesome fish are big, and like long tanks to swim in. what is your livestock plan?
 
um stocking it is still up in the air. i have been told mixed things about starting with dansels so i may not go with them. plan on getting a clown possibly to start. they are also cheaper and is one that i want in tank long term. also would like to get a grouper (panther) and a boxfish (cubicus). im not really sure more then that. i figure i have a few months atleast before i get more fish in.

any input?
 
i got a 55 to start and it was cool but now that i have my 135 i dont even see why i did that but i put it to good use and built it into a sump so i say get going with what you want to do and if u want to do a full reef system then just get a large tank and make your 55 into a sump :P
 
i see. that is my next step. figuring out which fish i really want and which are going to be compatible with each other
 
The guy I bought the tank from also gave me a bunch of rock, some of which I think used to be live rock but it has been sitting dry for a long time. I have the all soaking in vinegar water since last night, can I use these as base and cure them to grow and be live rock?

let me know if anything changes in regard to tonight, I would love to get live rock and substrate in asap so that the tank will cycle. I bought two boxes of salt, one that was for 50gallon and the other for 30gallon, the pet store person said to empty the big 50 box and then do half of the 30box. I did that last night and this morning it was all dissolved, but when I checked the salinity when before pouring in the rest of the 30box of salt this is what my two different hydrometers read:

SO another question, when can I and what kind of clean up crew can i start implementing. I am on day 3 or 4 of cycling my first ever tank. My statistics:

tank: 48g
Sump: Amiracle 3 compartment wet/dry trickle filter with bioballs, I have since gotten rid of the bioballs and replace the middle compartment with live rock, golf-ball sized pieces. I am still using the drip plate with filter pad on top. I have a fluorescent bulb installed that I leave on all the time for the sump.
Protein skimmer: Coralife super skimmer 65 (still trying to find the sweet spot on this guy, not really getting any skinmate)
Powerhead: wavemaker 1150gph
Display tank lights: two fluorescent bulbs one of which is t5

So, I got my tank and set it up with tap water and treating with aquel water conditioner. I have about 30 lbs of live rock, and a bag of live sand, (and two bags of live sand that ended up being expired), I am going to add more live rock today. Yesterday I added Dr. Tim's all in one nitrogen bacteria in a bottle as well as I have added two clown fish to help assisting with the cycle. I have been monitoring levels religiously, I did have a spike of amonnia levels mid-afternoon yesterday, I added some amquel and tasted later in the evening and these were my stats:

Water temp: 77F
Ammonia: 1
Nitrates: 15
Nitrites (this one is always hard to tell): 3
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.021

I want to add some clean up crew because, the first live sand I added, which ended up not being live at all, and just caused a giant cloud mess. This sand has left a film over a lot of my live rock, I can use the powerhead and blow it off, but I would really like to employ cleaning crew.

Let me know your thoughts.
Cheers
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi,

Planning to upgrade to a 24"x15"x15"(H) tank. Appreciate if anyone could advise on the type of glass, glass thickness. Would be going for a custom made rimless tank & cabinet. I have Hailea 100A chiller.
Also I plan to have corals like hammers, mushrooms, etc when the tank parameters are more settled.
Since I am not planning to have a sump or a refugium, what sort of equipment should I get in order to have an efficient filtration system?

Thanks!!
 
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