Overwhelmed!!!

[shanet1975]

Afternoon....My family and I have decided to attempt to start up a saltwater aquarium. I have a 55 gallon tank that is currently empty on a stand in our living room. I have been reading and reading and printing and printing and reading a little more on what is needed and how to go about starting.
Since this tank was used for a boa, I was wondering if just a good scrubbing with soap and water would be sufficient enough to clean out the tank?
We, like many others, are on a tight budget...so, I was looking at the hang on the back filters. It is my understanding that with this, we wouldn't need a seperate tank under the tank, correct? So, we would need that, lighting (I was leaning towards a hood I saw on a site referenced in another thread with t5 lights (I'll have to look into that when I go to purchase). A protein skimmer, a heater and then the hydrometer and other test kits.
Does that seem like all the equipment I would need for a tank with live rock and fish? Any help or input would be greatly appreciated. And if anyone has anything extra laying around for equipment that would be great as well....
Thanks for your time.....

 

[Alexander]

glad to see your getting in the salt water game. as far as cleaning goes, there is nothing better than vinegar and water with some good ol elbow grease as far as most situations go. this is also very cheap. make sure you rinse it very well.

lighting needs depend on what you plan to do with your setup, if you are only doinf a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) then your lighting needs will not be as demanding as if you were wanting to have corals in your tank.

as far as filters go, a sump is actually a reletively inexpensive thing to get, if you build it. you would need to buy at least a HOB overflow or have the tank drilled. aside from that you are only looking at the cost of a tank (these you can find very cheap on craigslist.) if you are handy with plexiglass and silicon you can build this yourself and then you just need the cost of a return pump and piping.

if you go with a canister filter, just make sure you keep up really well on the maintainence for it and it will be fine. if it is left sitting and not cleaned often it can produce a high nitrate level in your tank. otherwise it should work just fine, people have used canister filters for years on their tanks, sumps are just usually the preferred way to go now.

 

[hibye]

red has you covered

 

[winyfrog]

don't forget a skimmer.

I would suggest a sump/refugiam. for your filtration like red said the sump can be put together fairly inexpense. Keep in mind you will spend less money if you set you tank up with good filtration from the beginning.

 

[Bifferwine]

Skip the hang on back filter and just get a good skimmer. If you have a good skimmer, you won't need a sump, but you will probably want to get a sump eventually, as you get more involved with your tank. Do not buy a Sea Clone. They are the worst skimmers out there, in my opinion. As for your lights, Redline is right, you don't need expensive lights until you start keeping corals, anemones or clams. For just fish and live rock, nothing special is needed as far as lighting goes.

 

[shanet1975]

Thanks for all the responses. Any suggestions on the skimmer and lights needed for a 55 gallon FOWLR setup? Any specific suggestions would be greatly appreciated....
So....All I would need would be a good skimmer, lights and a heater and that's it? I'm sorry if I'm not following as quickly as I should be....
Thanks again!!!

 

[SSalty]

Welcome to living reefs.

My suggestions

Skimmer- The Super Skimmer is nice as well as affordable
Heater- Get a Marineland Visi-Therm
Lights- Your standard Hologan light will do just fine (for now) When and if you want to keep corals, check back with us, we can help you decide.

 

[Piggy]

I have a Sea Clone and it does a great job. I have to empty it quite often. I do agree that if your going to do it do it right from the beginning. There are a few things I would of done differently if I would of known. Like make my own sump. It's pretty easy to get started. One thing I have learned is you need patience if you have tha you have it made. Just take it one step at a time.

 

[shanet1975]

Thanks SSalty......
So that would be all I would need to get started? Except for the test kits and all that jazz....
I was just checking out the super skimmers. How do they work? I see they can either be hung on the tank or sump hookup.
What exactly does a skimmer do?
Is it a sort of filter?
Thanks again...

 

[yote]

Every body else has you pretty well covered.But if you want to use a HOB filter,then I would suggest something along the lines of a Emperor 400.Just dont use the bio-wheels and change the pads at least every other week.

BTW
Welcome to the reef and the hobby.

 

[shanet1975]

Thanks Yote...
So it would be a hob filter and the suiper skimmer?
Shane

 

[yote]

Thanks SSalty......
So that would be all I would need to get started? Except for the test kits and all that jazz....
I was just checking out the super skimmers. How do they work? I see they can either be hung on the tank or sump hookup.
What exactly does a skimmer do?
Is it a sort of filter?
Thanks again...

Basically a skimmer uses foam to filter out the dissolved organic waste from your water before it can break down.So,yeah it is actually a filter.
With the coralife super skimmers you can use it as HOB or in sump,Plus they work great.I ran one on my 55 as HOB then moved it over to the sump when I upgraded to a 75.
As for how a skimmer works,It just uses lots of micro-bubbles to catch the waste and forces the foam into a collection cup that you'll empty every day or so.

Best I can explain it,my brains kinda fried this evening.

 

[yote]

I personally would run both.Mainly because the filter itself would keep a nasty looking film from forming on top of your water.

 

[Piggy]

If you plan on using a sump someday I would go with a skimmer that would either hang on the tank or goes inside a sump. The reason most go with a sump is better water movement and air plus you can hide all your other stuff in it so you don't see it in your tank.

 

[shanet1975]

That was perfect. Thanks yote. I now understand how a skimmer works....
Did you also use a hob filter with the super skimmer on the 55 gallon?
This will be cheaper than I thought....Light fixture, lights and the super skimmer from the sounds of it...

 

[yote]

Yep,I ran an emperor 400 along with the CSS65.
My only problem with the emperor was the salt creep they tend to cause.But thats no big deal either as long as you clean it off when ever you do a water change.

 

[shanet1975]

Sounds like a plan....When you said don't run the bio wheel, what did you mean? Isn't that what rotates the water?

 

[yote]

The bio-wheel is the little paper wheels that kinda spin in the water as it flows back into the tank.There as usless as tits on a boar hog when it comes to salt water though.Bio-wheels will eventually cause more trouble than there worth by causing high nitrates.

Come to think of it,You could also do away with the filter pads and drop some live rock rubble in the filter and more or less use it as a poor mans refugium.

 

[shanet1975]

So, the filter is more for water movement than to filter?
That's a done deal. The super skimmer and an Emperor 400 (or equivalent) filter, and a heater. Now for lighting. I was just checking out the halogen bulbs and there are so many different kinds. Is anything better than anything else?
ANd while we're at it. How about test kits and a hydrometer.....
Man, right when you think you have it all listed out....

 

[yote]

Your just getting a slight tast of salt right now my friend,lol.It only gets worse after you get wet and start stocking.

For right now,If you even think that someday you might want to reef,then go ahead an look into a good set of T5s.That way you want have to worry about upgrading later if you decide you want some corals.Which im pretty sure will happen once you really get started.
For test kits,I personally like the API kits, But thats just me.There are better kits out there.You'll want to start with a kit for ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate to begin with.Later on you'll want to add an alkalinity and calcium kit.
Instead of buying a hydrometer,go ahead and spring for a refractometer.99.9% of the hydrometers are inaccurate and need to be replaced every 6 months or so.