Setting up my first tank, suggestions, advice?

[Brogan]

Hey guys, Ive only made a few posts since Ive been here. Ive managed to come quite a ways through reading and driving the local pet store employee's crazy. So, through all the reading and question asking, Ive decided to set up a FOWLR system.
The tank will be a 55gal standard tank. Filtration will be provided by two mechanical, dual overflow hanging filters on the back of the tank. I've considered placing two sponge filters in but, Im not sure if that's entirely nessecary. Also, I've purchased 50lbs of Fiji rock.. (I got a great deal on it.. already cured and if I bought all of it at once, I would only pay 5$ instead of the usual 10$) and plan on placing it in there as well. My substrate will be Aragonite living sand with a 2" deep bed of that. I've considered placing a layer of crushed coral over that to give it more depth but, again, not sure if thats overkill or not. I've got the heater and powerhead as well to provide circulation.. I plan on letting the tank cycle for approx. 3 weeks and then placing my first fish (Clarki Clown) in to make itself at home. So far, I only plan on having a Yellow Tang or Sail Tang, the clowns, Duster worms, and inverts such as Emerald and Decorator crabs, snails, and perhaps a Chocolate Chip Starfish. Due to the live rock density and the overflow filters, Im not sure if I will need a protein skimmer or not. So, any advice regarding that would be nice. I've found one for around 150$ but, cannot remember the name of it. Can you nice people think of anything I've not thought of..? Also, any advice/comments are greatly appreciated. At this point, I feel that I've read so much.. it makes my head hurt and, I dont even have it set up yet
Thanks for any advice and comments!

 

[reefergeorge]

Don't put a sailfin tang in a 55. They get big very fast.
I would try to get a descent skimmer if possible, but if the bio load is low you may be able to get away without one. I would also put a couple of koralias in there for circulation.

Welcome to RC and thanks for doing some research before buying your livestock.

 

[JVITAL55]

I think a skimmer is a must, even with the rock. You still need to get rid of the waste. What kind of overflow filters are they, and how much flow?

 

[sean48183]

I would suggest adding a refugium even before the skimmer. If your not going to run a sump you could try one of the hang on the back ones. Go as big as you can possibly fit on your tank. I added an above the tank fuge that the water is pumped up to it and gravity fed back to the tank. I added it after the tank was about a year old and had been cursed with dreaded hair algae. Now my tank is about 4 years old and algae, nitrate and phosphate free. Add one you won't regret it.

 

[joy solomon]

I would leave out the crushed coral. It will just become a detritus trap. If you want a deeper bed, add more sand.

 

[dendro982]

I also think, that it will be much better without crushed coral.

You know, none of my tanks worked as was expected from the readings - may be choice of inhabitants, feeding habits, personal perception how the reef tanks work, or may be because they are low light tanks.

I used dual outflow Liberty 200 power filter on 20g tank - it was not enough, even with small Visi-Jet and, later, large Lee's CC skimmer.

On the other hand, LFS has 55g tank, stocked very slowly, with Emperor dual outflow power filter and big hang-on (or separately standing behind) skimmer - works well, as I can see, even being low light. They also have powerhead in the left corner with Quick Filter attachment (5 micron filtration), but they are costly to change in a long term.

If you will feed fish and corals rarely and a little, unlike me, there are good chances, that you will not need a skimmer. But if there will be need in the skimmer, ask at forums, what worked for them in the tanks, like your.

I can't advice anything - my tanks are smaller (up to 20g) or larger, than your (90g). What I tried: Visi-jet, Lee's CC, ASM Mini and ASM G-3 - while being good for others, they were not good enough for my tanks. So far Tunze DOC (the smallest one, ~$139) was the best, and reasonably quiet.

Just in case if the filtration will not work, as expected (knock on the wood!) - micron sock, changed daily and skimmer should do the work. The cheapest setup looks like this link. I used it with larger containers for 20g and 90g (using now). If 100 micron sock is not good enough - 50 micron will make water visibly cleaner.

Make some flow behind the rock (or bast it periodically with turkey baster or powerhead). Some surface skimming eventually become necessary - 2yrs of mopping tank surface by paper towels are irritating.

Order of stocking, what worked for me:
- cured LR in a separate container, without letting ammonia climb behind 0.5 ppm. Water changes, siphoning die off. This way LR will not be killed.
- set tank, added LR and Seachem Stability (bacterial culture) daily, according instructions.
- after a week-two, with monitoring ammonia, added snails, then hermits, then blood shrimp, then the first fish, one at the time, with may be a week of difference.
This way I didn't have the ammonia spike at all. But then I set 90g with grocery shrimp cycling - it took a month to finish the cycling, even with adding bacterial cultures from different manufacturers.

What fish and invertebrates: you will have to live with them for a very long time. Try to choose colorful fish, original shape, and the particular personality: you come to the store, take a look in the eyes of the fish, and will momentarily know: this is your puppy!
I bought this way my valentini puffer, later I had seen other valentini puffers, that were not interested in me, and I - in them. It just happens - contact. You should really like what you are buying - there will be no way back.

Would highly recommend 1-2 blood shrimps. Very colorful, hardy, light colored are pet-like, good personality.

Also, would go for many kinds of coral frags and other invertebrates, but very few small fish. Less troubles, you can fit more in the same tank, they are more unusual, less bioload, than fish (with few exceptions).

Hope that helps
Good luck!