55 gal getting ready to set up

coppessfam

coppessfam

New Member
I am new to the saltwater/reef tank world. I live in Dayton, Ohio and I haven't had a fish tank for awhile and I am very excited about getting it started. A friend has a 75 gal and has supplied me with a few peices of equipment. But I have read several places not to just take the advice of one person. So I am asking for any advice I can get. Like I said I have a 55 gal tank with a stand I just finished building. The dimensions inside the base are 48"x 13 1/2"x34 1/2" tall. I have 2 Emperor 400 BIO-Wheel Powerfilters, an Amiracle sump (which dosen't seem big enough from what I am seeing on this site) and I think some missing parts and a 48" light. Somebody give me a list to compair to what my friend has told me I need. James (my friend) if you read this I am just trying to get as much info as I can.
 
sasquatch

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
Hi Coppessfam, Welcome to RS! There is a world of differance between a reef tank and a fish only tank, if you could tell us which way your heading, everybody will chime in ( cover your wallet, we'll spend it all lol) its great that your looking for advice first, it can save you a lot of pain and suffering down the road. Steve
 
coppessfam

coppessfam

New Member
I am leaning toward the reef tank. (I think) I also have read that I should cut holes under the tank as to be able to see the underside of the tank. Is this something I need to do?
 
PhilOlsen

PhilOlsen

Has been struck by the ban stick
Welcome!
The first thing I would recommend is to loose the Emperors, the Amiracle would be a good refugium, but I would not use it as a wet dry, the bio balls will cause a nitrate problem. In order to have a reef you will need to get a GOOD skimmer, ASM IMO has the best bang for the buck and the lighting will need to be upgraded to metal halide. If you keep 1 1/2-2 lbs live rock per gallon, a good sand bed substrate (crushed coral can also cause nitrate issues if not properly maintained) I keep mine 3"-4" deep others have 6"+, have a quality skimmer, powerheads for good flow and a refugium it will be all you really need to get off on the right foot. And remeber the number 1 rule
PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE.
 
sasquatch

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
coppessfam said:
I am leaning toward the reef tank. (I think) I also have read that I should cut holes under the tank as to be able to see the underside of the tank. Is this something I need to do?
Click to expand...

You really want a solid base for the tank, I usually use carpet underlay or short pile carpet, theres nothing to see under there with sand and all so no, no holes for viewing, as you gain confidence in tank management you will no doubt want to expand to more difficult species, for starters think about vho lighting and then adding MH, you can maintain a lot of stuff with vho's and continue with them with the MH. Steve
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS! Lots of friendly helpful people here to help you on your journey.
IMO a good skimmer is one if the most important parts of your initial set up, that and LR, good ro/di water with a good salt mix and you are on your way to cycling your tank. That is where the waiting comes in.
Be sure to ask any questions you have. People here love to help.
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
:hallo:Welcome to the Sanctuary where the advice is free. You are well on your way. Good luck!
 
G

Gumby

Member
Ah, Coppsessfam, my good friend.

In my opinion, Biologically, the Emporer filter will work to help you get your tank established and working well (I will help you with the biological filtration as well by giving you some LR and LS to help seed your tank), and after that you may want to remove it, but it was free and to get the tank going, free is good, cause its an expensive hobby. RS (Reef Sanctuary) is very correct in saying they will help you spend your hard earned cash if you let them.

I could not agree more with the protein skimmer post. Get the best you can get for the money you can spend on it as it will help keep your tank clean - you will see some of the nastiest, most foul smelling stuff come out of it once it is workingn and if its in the protein skimmer, its out of your tank.

Acronyms to get familiar with:
MH - Metal Halides (powerful lighting - the best and most expensive you can get for your tank)
VHO - Very High Output (stong light, not as powerful as MH, but still strong)
LR - Live Rock
LS - Live Sand
 
coppessfam

coppessfam

New Member
Thank You to everybody who has welcomed me to the site and for all of your information and suggestions.

Just an update on what I am gradually getting done. I ordered some Acrylic last week to make an overflow. I got the idea from www.melevsreef.com very helpful stuff. I ordered a Protein skimmer last night along with a mag 7 (to run the skimmer) and mag 9.5 to for my return to the tank. I was going to try and build a sump out of a 20 gal long tank but have dicided to try and make one out of acrylic depending on how this overflow works out for me. I am going to post some picks of the tank in a couple of days just an empty tank on the stand I built. Then I will keep posting pictures of my progress.

Thanks again,
Tim
 
Snelly40

Snelly40

Well-Known Member
WELCOME!!!!
good luck with everything, and remember go slow. I am in the middle of upgrading and going slow helps budget too. Skimmers and lights are probably gonna be the most expesive, but are very key in the success of the tank.
Its a great great hobby, but addicting, watch out :)
 
coppessfam

coppessfam

New Member
Just posted pics of the new sump I built. It is in place and plumbed with my equipment. Just waiting for my new sqwd, 2 Utubes and lights. Shipped today and should be here tomorrow or the next day. Should be able to put some water in it this weekend (if not earlier). I have the fever and can't wait to get it going. It has been a long 35 days.

Thanks again to everybody who has provided info to help with the set up.
 
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