New and looking to get better.

[roberttroy81]

Hello eveyone.I had my 50 Gallon tank for about 4 years now.When i first got it i was really into it.I set it up with just the basics.40 Lbs liverock,Seaclone 100 skimmer,AquaClear 300 power filter,two AquaClear 301 powerheads,Just the basic 50/50 coralife bulb.I let the live rock cycle,and added some fish slowly.Couple clownfish,damsels,royle gramma,5 cleaner shrimp,star fish.Pretty good chunk of change.Everything was going good for about a year.I went to the pet store and loved this trigger fish i saw,so i bought him and 3 red hermit crabs.3 months later the trigger fish ate all my fish accept one Damsel.I think the red hermit crabs ate fish too.

So i gave up,i left the trigger in and never looked backed.I have maintained the tank for 3 years,Never added any fish.The tank is very healthy hints only two fish.Until last week i decided to take the Trigger to a pet store and give it to them.

I got 1 Tomatoe clown,2 Common clown,3 Domino Damsels,6 yellow tailed Damsels,for now.Im really looking forward to upgrading the whole system.Im looking to a Reef fish tank.50/50 Fish and coral.

I know a little, but not alot.I need to get a better lighting system.Thats the #1 thing.Ive been hearing alot about a Sump protein skimmer,and was wondering if thats a direction i should go in?Or is my system ok for corals?

Thanks,any advice or criticism on what i should do.

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome. You added a lot of fish really fast. And you picked some very aggressive fish. The damsels were definitely not a good idea -- they will try to kill any new fish that you add from now on. And the clowns are very territorial too. Since you added so many fish at the same time, be prepared for a tank crash... Sorry for the bad news, but it's really not a good idea to add more than one or two fish at a time. And that is a VERY high bioload for a 50 gallon tank running a SeaClone skimmer (which, in my opinion, is the worst quality skimmer out there).

You definitely should add more live rock. Aim for up to 2 lbs per gallon. So shoot for around 100 lbs total.

You need a better skimmer if you are going to try to keep that many fish. Now, I don't mean to be cynical, but you picked just about the most aggressive fish you could possibly add, and with so many in the tank, if you adding them all at once doesn't kill them, they will probably just kill each other.

Adding a sump will help big time. You can get a much better skimmer then. I recommend the Octopus brand. If you get enough live rock and a good skimmer, then you can ditch the Aquaclear power filter.

Your lights are definitely not okay for corals. If you are looking into keeping corals, you should check out T5 lights. If you don't mind spending the money, look at some metal halides. A general rule of thumb is to shoot for a MINIMUM of 5 watts per gallon, and that is just to keep the basic zoas, mushrooms, softies, LPS. So, you would need at least 250 watts of lighting to keep low-light corals. If you are interested in keeping SPS or anemones, you will need to aim for at least 8 watts per gallon.

Hmm I guess my BIGGEST piece of advice right now would be to return the fish that you bought. Sorry, but damsels will only cause trouble down the road. You definitely have added way too many fish way too fast to your tank. And those damsels are just going to murder any more fish that you try to add.

[RigoSharon]

hy and welcome to the reef!!

[roberttroy81]

Yea i always seem to pick aggresive fish.Well i took your advice and took the 6 Yellow tail damels back.Kept the clown fish and Domino.They Actually seem to be doing good.

I heard bad reviews of the Seaclone 100 but after i Already bought it.Its doing the job so far.I plan on buying A better one soon and installing a sump(But dont really know how).The people at my local pet store aint to helpful when asked about it.I got my eye on this Berlin Turbo classic skimmer thta looks good.AS for the Lighting,What the Difference between T5,T6,T8 lights.Cause im looking at the Coralife Aqualight 192w.

[fishbait]

not much difference besides bulb diameter between the t-5, t6, and t-8. with the t-5 being the smallest. what makes the difference with the t-5's are when you go with t-5 ho (high output) they have something like four to six times the output of a standard flourescent bulb. so, with the small diameter bulb you can pack several of them into a small fixture and get a very bright light setup. then you can go one step farther and get one with individual reflectors and that makes them even brighter!

[Bifferwine]

Plus T5s are more mainstream and easier to find bulbs for.

[reeffreak]

Originally Posted by RigoSharon

hy and welcome to the reef!!

Keep it short and simple,huh Rigo.

Honestly, a new set of T5 lighting and a few more pounds of live rock and your set.Yeah,the Seaclone isn't a very good skimmer but keep your bioload low and it will be fine.Use the Aquaclears for mainly added water movement and occasional carbon/polishing the water.I ran a successful reef years ago with just a skimmer and powerheads for water movement.Remember the live rock will be the main biological filter.

Welcome to the site,btw.

[yote]

Welcome to the reef.
You've got some good advice there so I'm not going to repeat it.
When your ready to upgrade your skimmer,you might want to look at the Coralife Super Skimmers.They do a great job and wont cost you an arm and a leg.
Good luck and post any questions you have.

[ReefKeeper]

i agree with yote, everything has been covered that you need to do. so i am just gonna say this ...

WELCOME ABOARD ...

[UnderwaterWorld]

Welcome home