New to salt water

[gbtrain]

Hi everyone,

I'm just getting sarted in setting up my frist salt water tank, I've had fresh water for about 20 years. I'm planning on doing a FOWLR tank. Here is a list of every thing I have or I'm going to get and I just want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.

Things I have.
55 gal tank, light and stand
Hot mag. hang on filter.
Several power heads and air pumps.
250 watt heater.

Things that I need.
Skimmer, lookat AquaC Remora Pro. Any thoughts?
120 LBS of aquarium sand and 30 LBS live sand for a 4 to 5 inch bed.
50 LBS live rock.

The fish I was planning on are
4 green/blue Chromis
1 (pair) Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Royal Gramma Basslet
1 Angel Flame or Coral Beauty

Add Chromis frist and the rest over 6 to 8 months. ( After tank has cycled)

Well thats it for now any advice would be great.

Thanks,
Steve

[Meric]

couple of thoughts:

I use (2) 200W heaters on my 125G so if one heater fails either in the on or off position it is not enough to overheat the tank or allow it to cool down too rapidly. You might want to do the same but use (2) 100W heaters.

Also a sump may be something you might want to consider just to hide/hold all of your equipment.

A refugium is also another good investment to get later on to keep Macro Algae's to control nitrates.

The Remora Pro is the skimmer of choice by most people for a smaller tank (less than 75 gallons). It is a bit pricy but works well.

With that deep of a sand bed you might want to add a Jawfish/Dart Fish or Shrimp Goby and Pistol shrimp combo to your list. They will make a burrow into the sand and make for some interesting antics.

[cesar]

I woul dreally consider a Wet Dry filter since the tank is larger than a 50 gallon tank.





I use (2) 200W heaters on my 125G so if one heater fails either in the on or off position it is not enough to overheat the tank or allow it to cool down too rapidly. You might want to do the same but use (2) 100W heaters.

Also a sump may be something you might want to consider just to hide/hold all of your equipment.

A refugium is also another good investment to get later on to keep Macro Algae's to control nitrates.

The Remora Pro is the skimmer of choice by most people for a smaller tank (less than 75 gallons). It is a bit pricy but works well.

With that deep of a sand bed you might want to add a Jawfish/Dart Fish or Shrimp Goby and Pistol shrimp combo to your list. They will make a burrow into the sand and make for some interesting antics.[/QUOTE]

[cesar]

I woul dreally consider a Wet Dry filter since the tank is larger than a 50 gallon tank.

[salttanker]

I don't know if I would personally use a wet/dry system. A couple of canisters might be sufficient if you don't want to use a refugium or sump. Wet/dry systems have a tendency to attract too much nitrate creating lots of headaches down the road. Also, as meric said, make sure you get a good skimmer! This seems to be one of the most over looked products when setting up a tank. HTH

Mike

[saltjunkie]

you will be a lot happier with a sump/refugium combo to hid all the equipment, and have a secondary enviroment to enjoy...
i would bypass the HOT magnum.. and get the sump/fuge combo with a mag 7 pump
put your heater in the sump,,, put the skimmer in the sump,
put 1 or 2 ideally placed power heads in the tank for additional flow and you will be very satisfied!

[gbtrain]

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of a sump filter down the road, but with this tank I would need a overflow. Is there a overflow that stands above or are they all about the same.

Thanks,
Steve

[saltjunkie]

yeah, you can buy an overflow.. it hangs over the back of the tank..