I am upgrading!

N

nensley

Reefing newb
I am getting a beautiful 55 gallon (tiny to some of you, but bigger to me!) tank and stand. It has been set up for fresh water, so none of the equipment she has will work for me. I need suggestions for lighting (I want to be able to keep soft corals, nothing fancy) and a skimmer (I have a prizm on my 29 gallon that would work for now, but I detest it).


Thanks!!

Oh, and I need all the help I can get with changing my fish and live rock, etc. What steps do I need to take?
 
nensley said:
I am getting a beautiful 55 gallon (tiny to some of you, but bigger to me!) tank and stand. It has been set up for fresh water, so none of the equipment she has will work for me. I need suggestions for lighting (I want to be able to keep soft corals, nothing fancy) and a skimmer (I have a prizm on my 29 gallon that would work for now, but I detest it).

I have a Prizm on my 55g, only been on there a week, and I want to get shot of it, might be worth investing, I know I'm going to! That's about the limit of my advice for the minute as I'm new to this!! :D
Click to expand...
 
Rushy said:
nensley said:
I am getting a beautiful 55 gallon (tiny to some of you, but bigger to me!) tank and stand. It has been set up for fresh water, so none of the equipment she has will work for me. I need suggestions for lighting (I want to be able to keep soft corals, nothing fancy) and a skimmer (I have a prizm on my 29 gallon that would work for now, but I detest it).

I have a Prizm on my 55g, only been on there a week, and I want to get shot of it, might be worth investing, I know I'm going to! That's about the limit of my advice for the minute as I'm new to this!! :D
Click to expand...

I've had a prizm on my 29 gallon for about a year. I still don't like it. I hope you have better luck than I did with it.
Click to expand...
 
Bigger is always better when it comes to upgrading tanks:D
A good set of T-5s and you can keep anything you want.
Are you going to have to move the 29 before you can set up the 55?If not,just fill the 55 about half full with new water and make sure it matches whats in the 29.Take half the water out of the 29 and add it to the 55.Add new sand or rinse out old sand and add it.Move the rock and aquascape,move the coral and fish,then add the rest of water from the 29 to the full mark,and your done:D
 
Ya ditch the prism skimmer. Skimmers are one of the most important pieces of equipment you will buy. I, along with many on this forum recommend Octopus skimmers. They're awesome for the money. Good luck and congratz on the upgrade. :)
 
Keaton said:
Ya ditch the prism skimmer. Skimmers are one of the most important pieces of equipment you will buy. I, along with many on this forum recommend Octopus skimmers. They're awesome for the money. Good luck and congratz on the upgrade. :)
Click to expand...



Hi! I looked up the Octopus skimmer and they all say for "in sump use only". I won't have a sump for my 55 gallon. To be honest, I don't totally understand the sump. I mean, I know the purpose, but I don't know how to make my own since this one isn't already set up for one, and, yes, I have looked at diagrams and read some info. I just don't think I can build one myself. Can you recommend another skimmer?
 
Octopus HOB is the way to go. I am very impressed with mine. Purchased from http://www.saltycritter.com/protein-skimmers/octopus-skimmers.htm.

A sump is very simple.
It is basically an extra "hidden" tank to keep all your maintenance equipment in (ie. skimmers & heaters).
The purpose of the sump is to give you additional "total tank" volume. If you have a 55g tank with a 20g sump, your total volume is 75g.
The more volume of water in your system, the more room to disperse impurities, etc.

A sump is also a good place to add a refugium. A refuge is a place to cultivate live food for your tank and house nitrate/phosphate eating algae (good algae).

You could add a sump easily to a 55g tank if you wanted, just utilize a siphon overflow. You can add this really at any time, it's just less money to do it at the beginning of your setup (this way you can get the skimmer to fit a sump rather than a HOB style).

Good Luck & congrats on your upgrade.
 
Thanks for posting the link. I thought decent skimmers had to be $200 or more. Those are much more affordable. I can see one in my near future (after the RODI unit is paid off).
 

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