I am looking to start a 55 gallon tank with soft beginner corals like mushrooms and some beginner fish i.e. clown fish. I am confused on how filtration works for salt water aquariums. What exactly will i need for a filtration system? From my understanding is i will need live rock and a protein skimmer and adequate work flow, as well as weekly water changes in order for my aquarium to run properly. If anyone can just clarify this for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Still confused about filtration
- Thread starter ajay
- Start date
ErinCahir
Sausage Wrangler
Yup. Live rock and a protein skimmer are all you need.
being that i am starting a new tank, can i get live and dry rock and add them to the tank without curing them?
grozier
something smells fishy
yes you can. I would think we all have done this just because the cost of live rock. Put them in and let the tank run for a while with your skimmer running or what ever filter your using. Once your ammonia spikes and then bottoms out to 0ppm then your tank should be done cycling and you can start adding fish.
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
If you get live rock, it's essentially ready to go -- it's already cured and all. With dry rock, it will become live with time. I actually started my 125 w/ just all dry rock. It just takes longer to seed and become live during the cycle.
AmberSunrise
Reef enthusiast
I have tried them all and the Koralia Hydor are always my favorites. I would get 2 of the 550s
Thank you everyone for their input. I just have a few more questions. Does it matter where i place the powerheads in the tank? Also in order to cycle a sw aquarium i just basically have to add either dry or live rock and let it sit for about 6 weeks correct? I was reading somewhere that some people said to drop a table shrimp into the tank and let that decompose and it will help cycle the tank is this true? Thanks again!
Ted
Living one day at a time
A raw unseasoned table shrimp, you dont have to let it completely decompose. A few days will do the trick. Once you see the ammonia level go up you can take it out, if you dont you will get a smell in the house.
chichimom79
reef junkie
+1 everyone! I also wanted to mention, for a 55 gallon tank you'll want 55-110 lbs of rock to properly filter the water. :)
Commodore Greenhorn
Reefing newb
I've seen this rule of thumb everywhere, of course, since I started reading. This feels like a dumb question, but one to two pounds per gallon is quite a broad range - is this down to bioload? One pound per gallon for fewer critters and two for many?
salt_for_brains
Alabama Reefer
The 1-2 lb thing is just a guideline range and nothing else. Personally I think the quality of the rock is more important than the quantity. If your rock is heavily porous you can get away with less lbs than if your rock was really dense like base rock.
