Noob's 55

[NoobSalt]

It's happening. Found a great deal on a 55 gal tank with stand today, just have to wait 2 weeks to go pick it up from the guy as he is on vacation. As it all starts I have a couple questions on some equipment that will be going with this here tank.

For filtration I actually plan on having a small fuge/sump combo that I will be building myself, but since that tank is actually my current tank, i'll be adding a Emperor Bio Weel 400 mechanical filter. Once the tank is cycled and I can move the live stock over from the small 12 over to the 55 I plan on turning it into a sump/fuge combo. Thoughts concerns?

The lights Im looking at are the super Actinic 420 T-5s and Actinic White 12000K T-5's. What do you guys think? Lighting is probably my weakest area of knowledge so any advice on this would be great!

Powerheads I'm not too worried about, I've got a couple Koralia's now (240 and one 750) and I think with the addition of the 1050 I should be ok.

and 60lbs of Arag-Alive sand to start with the 20lbs of live rock I have now - (I will add more with following paychecks)

Here is the list of the starting components I plan on getting, would love to know what you all think of the pricing/selection.

And once I pick up the tank, I will for sure start posting pics! I have a pic of the stand and it will def need a little paint job and I know you all would love to see the creation of this sump/fuge combo..I hope!

CD-12986	Arag-Alive Special Grade	$22.89	x	3	=	$68.67
CD-25878	Emperor BIO-Wheel Powerfilters Emperor 400	$36.39	x	1	=	$36.39
CD-29805	Super Actinic 420nm T-5 HO Fluorescent Tubes 48" 54W	$18.99	x	1	=	$18.99
CD-29806	Actinic White 12000°K T-5 HO Fluorescent Tubes 48" 54 watt	$18.99	x	1	=	$18.99
CD-72197	Hydor Koralia Evolution Pumps Evolution 1050

[Original Fin]

Very nice Noob...can't way to see it come together!Is it a standard 55 long? (48x12x21). What size is your current tank? I ask because 55 stands are super narrow, and the only standard sized tanks you'll get to fit in there are 10's. See if you can get the dimensions on the stand...if it's a custom stand, they may have made it a little deeper, but if it's a standard size, finding a sump that will fit will tricky.How many bulbs on that lighting fixture? 4 would be ideal and would allow you to keep just about any kind of corals, nems and/or even clams. A two bulb fixture would be ok for most (but not all) soft corals only. The color combination of the bulbs you have is fine, just find out (if it's used) how old the bulbs are. Any older than a year and it's time for new ones.For your powerheads, what you have is probably fine for soft corals, but I would plan to get more flow if you get into LPS and especially SPS; 15x or more for that.Having a mixed 55 myself, I have one EVO 1050 and one 750. It's more than enough flow, but my one complaint is that those models are fairly large and end up shading pretty big portions of my tank. It's also difficult to position 2 powerheads and not end up with any dead spots. It might work better in these long narrow tanks to use 3 or 4 smaller

[NoobSalt]

I am pretty excited my self. I'm pretty sure its a standard 55 but a custom stand that is a little deeper. The light is a 2 fixture, I'm putting new bulbs in anyways and eventually will upgrade to a 4 fixture. the tank ill use for a sump/fuge is a 12g nano cube, it will be tricky but I think I can pull it off. What do you think of the filter I listed?

as for the powerheads, ill look a little more into it as I have some time before I actually acquire the tank

I know the 55's are narrow but I think after working with a 12 lol, I can make some nice things happen!

[Original Fin]

Try to get that live rock in there as soon as you can...75-80 lbs total is just about right for that tank.
I wouldn't even bother with a biowheel/mechanical filter...it's just a nitrate factory if you also have the Live Rock. You SHOULD get a protein skimmer instead.



---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

Yeah def plan on it but it will take time so I figure before I can add more rock and skimmer, I'll put the mechanical filter on in the meantime.

[Original Fin]

As long as you don't increase your bioload from what you've got in the 12, there's really no need for a mech filter.
Add the rock and skimmer before you increase bioload, and you'll be fine.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

hmmm, really? You think with 3 fish, corals and inverts I'd be ok with just rock and sand??? Interesting.

[Original Fin]

I guess I was assuming a normally stocked 12.
3 fish is overstocked, but I still maintain that if you spent that mech filter $$ on rock instead, you'd be better off. I know it won't get you 60 lbs, but if the rock you already have is supporting 3 fish now, simply increasing water volume will go a long way towards diluting all that fish waste, even if your rock is on the light side biofilter wise.

It's a delicate proposition doing a transfer anyway. Whether you use a biowheel mech filter, or live rock, you don't get an instant biocapacity boost. It takes time for beneficial bacteria to colonize either to useful levels.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

Well, even with my 3 fish it's doing pretty good! They are fairly small fish, they just look a lot bigger when I post pictures. Anyhow, yeah I know transfers are tricky/risky but it's gotta happen at some point right? Plus, I figure my fish will like me as a god more if I am giving them more earth. I guess I could get like another 10-20 lbs with with the 40$ right, and that would last another 2 weeks till I get another paycheck and then another 10-20lbs of rock, then after that a protein skimmer?

[Original Fin]

Yup.

That's just how I would do it with a limited budget. Let's see if anyone else chimes in with different ideas.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

Ok, one last question for you though and anyone else who chimes in.

Will just the 20 lbs be sufficient even before I install the sump? B/c it will take a little bit of time before I can get the sump installed. You know since its my current tank...

[Original Fin]

My take on that is I don't see why not.
If it's already doing the job in your 12, all you're really doing is increasing water volume which can only help matters.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

Haha, no my 12 has a mechanical filter running on it.

[Original Fin]

Ahah.

Well then the all important question is, what type of biomedia does it contain (if any) and how much? Is it one if those built in deals where you couldn't use it on the 55? A wheel or wet/dry media could be tricky to keep alive in a transfer without the actual filter, but if it's just floss or sponges, that could just be submerged in a filter bag by itself near a powerhead...at least until your new rock becomes established.

I can't imagine the 12 containing that much biomedia anyway in such a small space.

Regardless, you will have the same problem with a new mech filter as it will not have any biological life established starting out.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NoobSalt]

Yeah its a built in deal so I cant move it along to the 55. Its basically nothing but 5 sponges, really fine almost felt like material that I added myself that I cant remember the name of, carbon, and some bio balls. Its worked out pretty good for me, I mean as of last test, (before the temp spike/coral deaths/shrimp death) I was reading the following:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate 0
pH 8.3
Cal 400
kH 9dkH
Salinity 1.024

[chrisfont23]

If you are looking for a skimmer, I just purchased an Aquamaxx HOB-1 for my 29g. I haven't installed it yet, but heard really good things. I will let you know how it goes.

[NoobSalt]

Yeah for sure let me know as I will be in the market for one soon!

[Original Fin]

Yeah its a built in deal so I cant move it along to the 55. Its basically nothing but 5 sponges, really fine almost felt like material that I added myself that I cant remember the name of, carbon, and some bio balls. Its worked out pretty good for me, I mean as of last test, (before the temp spike/coral deaths/shrimp death) I was reading the following:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate 0
pH 8.3
Cal 400
kH 9dkH
Salinity 1.024

Hey, you can't argue with success. Those are pretty good numbers considering the bioload and lack of skimmer. Cal and salinity could be a smidge higher, but really, that ain't bad. Are you dosing anything yet (besides water changes) to maintain Cal, Mag, Alk/PH?
What kind of fish do you have anyway? What's your feeding and water change regimen? You're doing something right...good job!

[NoobSalt]

I do a weekly waterchange of about 2 gallons, and I feed a bit of mysis/brine/whatever else is in the frozen food cube about every 2 days or so. I just cut off a piece of the cube and put it in a shotglass of tank water so it breaks up and then dump it in the tank and watch it vanish in mins. I don't dose anything at all.

In the tank currently I have a clown fish, yellow watchman, and orange spotted goby (All juviniles, so they are pretty small). The gobys don't bother each other at all, never fight for food or anything, and the watchman usually just stays in his cave with my pistol shrimp. I also have a green BTA.

Actually, the tank has been doing great until I went on vacation and lent the powers of God to a friend of mine and from there I've had a major meltdown but thankfully no fish have died in the process, just loss of corals and my skunk cleaner shrimp and my BTA is touch and go, im hoping I can bring the little guy back to life soon, I would hate to have another loss of life, especially my BTA.

[chrisfont23]

Yeah for sure let me know as I will be in the market for one soon!

Pseudo-blogging it here:
New Skimmer: Aquamaxx HOB1 (means old one for sale)