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[Jimboaf]

Hey everyone I am new to the saltwater world. After getting my scuba diving license this year, I wanted to start my own tank of saltwater. I have a 55g tank and I just put live sand bed in about 2’’ thick. I am running a Top Fin 60 rated for 300 GPH and a 200w heater. I just bought 5lbs Bali live rock, 5lbs Jakarta live rock, and 15lbs Fiji live rock. This is the amount of live rock that I can afford right now. The live rock should arrive tomorrow. I also got a protein skimmer that should arrive in a day. I have the water in the tank and the sand in and it’s been 3 days with the sand in the tank.
Anyone have any other things that I am missing, I plan on adding a sump in about a month.

 

[ErinCahir]

You really shouldn't use mechanical filtration for a saltwater tank. I'd scrap the Top Fin and just run the skimmer.

You're also going to need more rock. You can get dry rock fairly cheap. Marco rocks is a great site.

 

[Jimboaf]

I dont need any filtration at all?? There would be no circulation in the tank, would I have to buy power heads?

 

[ErinCahir]

Yes you would. You should aim for 20-40x an hour. In a 55 gallon tank that would be 1100 to 2200 gph total. This should be split over a couple powerheads.

And your protein skimmer is effectively your "filter"

 

[Jimboaf]

Thanks for the help

 

[little_fish]

+1 Erin

The rock is actually the source of your primary filtration, and the skimmer just helps out

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forums :wave: