Starting Over With My 55 Gallon

[BIGDREWLEWIS]

Hello Guys... I Have A 55 Gallon Tank Now Running With About 40-50lbs Of Sand And About The Same Of Lr. My Tank Is Currently Not Doing The Greatest There Are Just Minor Issues Due To Poor Planning. I Now Have The Time And $$$ To Start Over Moire Or Less. My Plans Are As Follows Can You Please Help With Any Advice

1. People On Rb Have Told Me I Will Need More Sadn How Much Is Enough.

2. I Also Need To Add More Lr How Much Is Enough

3. Also My Lr Isnt Doing So Great Can I Add Something To The Water To Promote Growth On The Lr( I Have An Extensive Clean Up Crew That Eat Every And Anything

4. When I Drain The Water I Have To Save It So That My Tank Dosent Re-cycle How Much Do I Need To Save And How Much New Rodi Can I Add.

 

[SaltyDr]

How long has your tank been running? If you have major nutrient issues I'd scrap the sand and start over. Depends on how deep of a sand bed you want. There is a sand bed calculator here on RC. Live rock is typically 1-2 lbs/gallon. Depends on the porosity and also the look you want and what you plan to keep (corals, fish only with live rock, etc) Need to plan ahead if you are planning on keeping corals so you have enough room. The key to "improving" live rock is good parameters and having proper CA, MG and alkalinity along with decent lighting - what kind do you have?

 

[jon99]

1. Generally the advice is 1 inch or less (and no more)- this is shallow enough not to trap any waste/nutrients that will cause poor water quality OR 4-6 inches if you are going with a deep sand bed to keep your nitrates low. The deep sandbed creates an anarobic environment where nitrate reducing bacteria live. Haveing said that, I didn't know any of this when set up my first tank and have about 2-3 inches. I haven't had any problems that I can attribute to my substrate depth. Do realize tho that aragonite and other CaCO3 based substrate will buffer your water, so more will be better for this purpose.

2. Really depends. What will you be keeping and how much? The higherr your bioload (fish corals etc) the more filtration you will need to keep up with water quality. Live rock is probably one of if not the best source of filtration for your tank. If you want less keep fewer/smaller fish, don't overfeed, and get a larger better skimmer.

3. pH, alkalinity, calcium- in that order. Keep up with these. Lighting can also have an effect. I have two 175watt halides on my 55. My LPS and SPS corals love em, but my liverock not so much. It looks great near the bottom and in areas where it is well shaded but other areas that are exposed to the bright light look a bit bleached.

4. IMO a few gallons at most. Just placeing your liverock in the new tank (once you get salinity, temp, pH, etc right) will cycle your tank on it's own