Opinions wanted for friends 55g setup.

[Ding2daDong]

A good friend of mine is setting up a 55g fish only tank and I just wanted some opinions on the setup.

He has a 55g aga tank w/ 2 aquaclear 70's for water movement and filtering. He has about 20lb's of baserock and 20lbs of crushed coral.

He wants to keep fish and inverts. My question is if that amount of rock is enough to keep the biological up. I am hearing it needs more bioballs or liverock. I don't want to start him off on the wrong foot.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

-Matthew

 

[tperk9784]

IMO this type of tank is what Wet/dry filters were made for.

 

[ninjamini]

I would start with getting rid of the crushed coral. It is more accepted to use live sand. I would also add more rock than 20#s. Thats not alot for a 55.

 

[gasman059]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10164296#post10164296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tperk9784
IMO this type of tank is what Wet/dry filters were made for.

AGREE!

 

[coralfragger101]

Live sand. About 75 lbs of live rock.
IMO I'd ditch the hang on filters and throw a sump with a skimmer into the mix.

Yes, I realize that sounds more like a reef tank than a FOWLR and fish can tolerate lower water quality than corals but you still want the water quality there so you aren't constantly having problems with algae blooms and such.

 

[Ding2daDong]

Thanks for all of the input. My buddy gave me a call today and forgot to mention that he was also given a small wet/dry, return pump, and hang over the back overflow. He broke the overflow when moving the tank so he just kind of threw it in a box in the garage and decided not to mention it to me.

I am going over to his place later to help him set that up.

Thanks again for the help.

I am so used to setting up and hearing about reef tanks that I forgot what was needed for a fish only.

-Matthew

 

[bawla47]

its a good idea for him to definately get a nice sized skimmer for the tank too, it will help alot on his bioload and will be able to put some decent sized fish in there and feed well.