Searchlights
New member
Well it's been awhile, but I finally have my set up ready to go. I'm looking for some fish advice and live/dry rock advice. Here's what all I have running right now.
Standard 55g drilled with an overflow box.
Plumbed into a Diy 40 breeder sump.
An Eshopps 150 Skimmer.
Eheim Jager Trutemp heater.
Sicce Syncra 4.0 return pump.
(I was planning to add reactors as I thought I needed them.)
2 Hydor Koralia 565 powerheads.
I bought a pretty much brand new RODI unit from my friend who got it from BRS.
4 Ati T5 bulbs. On my trusty old Odyssea fixture. ( I don't plan on growing corals right off the bat, when I get the bug for it I'll upgrade my lighting.)
I have my instant ocean salt and refractometer, and I borrowed some test kits from a buddy until I can buy my own.
I have yet to order my sand and dry/live rock for my cycle. I need some advice on how much I would really need. I plan on going with the whole "island of rocks" look. Because the 55 has such a small footprint, and I figured the usual big "wall of rock on the back of the tank look" would just cause me problems with removing algae, and not look all that nice. So my first question is....... Where do you guys buy your dry rock from for the best prices? And how much do you think I would need for the look I'm going for? I'm wanting to have alot of open swimming space, but have enough hiding places for inverts and whatnot. My second question is..... should I even bother with getting a small amount of live rock to seed with? Or is the risk not worth it? And my third question is, what kind of sand should I buy? Is the "live sand" any better than the regular Caribsea?
Now on to my fish questions.
I plan on getting a pair of clowns first. Just the regular Ocellaris most likely. But for my next fish, I'm really looking into a Kole Tang. I've heard all kinds of different things about keeping them in a 55. But I've never gotten a definite answer to it. I'd appreciate some advice on it if anyone had any.... I also love the look of the Flame Angel. Which is another fish I've heard mixed things on. As for the rest of my stocking list here it goes.
Midas blenny.
Firefish.
Purple Dottyback.
Maybe some Chromis or Cardinals of some kind.
And a Carpenters Flasher Wrasse.
That's all the fish I've came up with so far. I'm not concrete in any of these fish, they just spark my interest. But I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about the setup I got going on. Please tell me if I have something wrong or something that's trash lol, this is my first SW tank and I wanna get it right the first time.
Thanks guys!
Standard 55g drilled with an overflow box.
Plumbed into a Diy 40 breeder sump.
An Eshopps 150 Skimmer.
Eheim Jager Trutemp heater.
Sicce Syncra 4.0 return pump.
(I was planning to add reactors as I thought I needed them.)
2 Hydor Koralia 565 powerheads.
I bought a pretty much brand new RODI unit from my friend who got it from BRS.
4 Ati T5 bulbs. On my trusty old Odyssea fixture. ( I don't plan on growing corals right off the bat, when I get the bug for it I'll upgrade my lighting.)
I have my instant ocean salt and refractometer, and I borrowed some test kits from a buddy until I can buy my own.
I have yet to order my sand and dry/live rock for my cycle. I need some advice on how much I would really need. I plan on going with the whole "island of rocks" look. Because the 55 has such a small footprint, and I figured the usual big "wall of rock on the back of the tank look" would just cause me problems with removing algae, and not look all that nice. So my first question is....... Where do you guys buy your dry rock from for the best prices? And how much do you think I would need for the look I'm going for? I'm wanting to have alot of open swimming space, but have enough hiding places for inverts and whatnot. My second question is..... should I even bother with getting a small amount of live rock to seed with? Or is the risk not worth it? And my third question is, what kind of sand should I buy? Is the "live sand" any better than the regular Caribsea?
Now on to my fish questions.
I plan on getting a pair of clowns first. Just the regular Ocellaris most likely. But for my next fish, I'm really looking into a Kole Tang. I've heard all kinds of different things about keeping them in a 55. But I've never gotten a definite answer to it. I'd appreciate some advice on it if anyone had any.... I also love the look of the Flame Angel. Which is another fish I've heard mixed things on. As for the rest of my stocking list here it goes.
Midas blenny.
Firefish.
Purple Dottyback.
Maybe some Chromis or Cardinals of some kind.
And a Carpenters Flasher Wrasse.
That's all the fish I've came up with so far. I'm not concrete in any of these fish, they just spark my interest. But I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about the setup I got going on. Please tell me if I have something wrong or something that's trash lol, this is my first SW tank and I wanna get it right the first time.
Thanks guys!
