new tank setup and stocking questions.

[Pheeshes]

So, i've got a 55 gallon tank. i'm going to use the octopus 100ss protein skimmer and 2 koralia 1 power heads. would that be enough flow?

can you guys give me a guess of about how much sand it would take to cover the bottom with about 2-3 inches?


finally, i know it's called a fish only for a reason, but are there any corrals or things like that that can live with just regular lights or will it be restricted to just fish and live rock until i can swing the money for some t-5s or something?

[ReefKeeper]

you ar elooking at about 90 lbs of sand for a 3" sand bed. i would go ahead and do a 4"-5" sand bed for the filtration factor. you would need about 150 lbs for a 5" DSB.

[Bifferwine]

There aren't any corals that will be able to live under just a plain old fluorescent strip. Unless you get a non-photosynthetic coral like sun polyps, but each polyp needs to be hand fed daily and I don't know if you are willing or able to invest that type of commitment to one coral. Most people aren't.

[ReefKeeper]

ha !! look at that ... i completely missed that part of the post !! man, i am slacking.

[Pheeshes]

ok, i figured but thought i would ask. thanks guys and gals

[reeffreak]

I prefer a 2-3'' bed,so 110lbs should give you a 2'' bed.

You can try some lower light mushrooms and zoos under normal flourescents.I would put them high up on the rocks.No guarantee it will work though.I've seen mushrooms and zoos live but not thrive under those conditions.

I can't recommend non-photosynthetic corals.Those need a lot of direct feeding which can contribute to water quality problems.Many of them,like carnations corals still wither away with heavy feeding.

Good Luck

[Doc]

yeah, if you want corals, you need better lighting

-Doc

[fishbait]

I used around 80 lbs in my 55 gallon to acheive a 2-3" sand bed.

[jhnrb]

oolitic sand (sugar grain size) 2 to 2 1/2" deep, .5mm to 2mm grain size 3 to 4 inch depth. Hope this helps. good luck.

[Doc]

YOU"RE BACK!!!!! Glad to see you

-Doc