55 gallons set up

hello, I am trying to set up a 55 saltwater aquarium with life rock and plants, and I need some help from somebody with experience that can help me to select the things that I need. right now I have a list of the equiment that I am interested in.

1-55 gallon tank
2-fluval 305
3-coral life 65g skimmer
4- aquarium t5 light 216 watt
5-flubal u heater
6-2 wave maker
7-45 pounds of life rock

please can you tell me is this equiment is apropiate for my needs thanks

are you wanting to do just fish, or just corals, or fish and corals... I would get rid of the canister filter and go wit a sump.. will also need live sand, and salt to make saltwater, and a way of getting r/o water to mix with the salt... also need hydrometer to test the saltlinity ...

plantedtankdude wrote:

are you wanting to do just fish, or just corals, or fish and corals... I would get rid of the canister filter and go wit a sump.. will also need live sand, and salt to make saltwater, and a way of getting r/o water to mix with the salt... also need hydrometer to test the saltlinity ...

hi thanks for your coment, I really want to start my aquarium with life rock and about 8 fish, and then in the future add some corals. I was thinking to use the fluval 305 and a fluval u4, since I am a begiener and do not know much about the sump filter and how they work, besides that I going to buy 45 pounds of life rock that will complement my filtration. do you think that if i use that set up I would archive my goal. thanks

In no way would I consider putting any fish in there for about 2-3 months. I have friends that are marine folk, and their general rule seems to be about a month of the tank running with just rock and sand, then they add a cleaning crew, and about 2-3 months as I recall, they will add 2-3 fish maximum.
The cycling of a SW tank takes far longer to be settled and adding fish will set you back and cost you money.
They are always saying "Nothing good happens fast in a marine tank".

you could se the canister but you might have nitrate problems.., and i wouldn't add fish for at least 2-3 months... you got to go real slow with a saltwater tank.

When I set up my 75 gallon "reef" tank I started with just LIVE rock and sand and salt water for 3 months. Yes , I got Brown algae on everything , but that is part of the cycling process . At 3 months I added 100 snails . They cleaned up the algae and borrowed thru the sand helping to aerate and clean that . Constantly checking the water parameters until the tank was cycled . @ about 4 or 4.5 months , we added some fish.
My filtration was a wet/dry sump system . IMO it is the best way to go . It is easy to clean , change filter medium , and the best way to keep good bio in your system.
Good Luck , and keep us posted .
Welcome to the Box ,,, Ray

Ps. To add fish to an un-cycled tank will get expensive ! Salt water fish and corals are not cheap !

thank you for your comments guys. what about the skimmer would it work for my set up or there is another one better for about the same price

You will have to get that answer from some one else . I have never used one on either my 75 or 29 reef tanks . they been running for 5 years that way .
Ray

In the last 2 months I have been buying some of the things that I am going to need for my 55 gallons.



I just order this yesterday.


what I need to start my tank
-tank and metal stand-----128$
-Marineland canister filter c360---155$
-coralife fixture 260 watt-----320$
-40 pound of rock( I am planing to buy dry rock since I can get 40pounds for 98$)

what you guys think about my project I am very excited !!!

that skimmer, is good that is what i used for my 55g... the 40 pounds of dry rock will do if you get some live rock to seed it..

finally, after stopping my saltwater tank project i have retake it again. now the only things that I need to startit is:
1- reverse osmosis system
2-light fixture( I am planning to buy a 216 watt from fishneedit)
3- phosphate reactor

Looking good! Keep us posted!

Ditto post us up with the pics please