10 gallon to 55 gallon tank questions

[homersimpsonlikesfish]

I currently have a ten gallon tank that is still cycling (no fish in it). I want to upgrade it to 55 gallons.

1) What color is best for the back side of the tank: light blue, dark blue, or black? Which will hide the algae better but still look marine like?
2) What is the best way to fill up the new tank without having to go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of water? Or can I use tap water just to fill the initial tank, but ATO can be distilled water?
3) How many gallons of water should I remove and replace weekly?
4) Would two "Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 75 Aquarium Power Filter" be enough for the 55 gallon tank?

5) Do I need to have a UV filter?
6) Would keeping very few fishes help make maintenance easier rather than stocking the tank to full capacity?

 

[Wrassenaround]

I currently have a ten gallon tank that is still cycling (no fish in it). I want to upgrade it to 55 gallons.

1) What color is best for the back side of the tank: light blue, dark blue, or black? Which will hide the algae better but still look marine like?
2) What is the best way to fill up the new tank without having to go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of water? Or can I use tap water just to fill the initial tank, but ATO can be distilled water?
3) How many gallons of water should I remove and replace weekly?
4) Would two "Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 75 Aquarium Power Filter" be enough for the 55 gallon tank?

5) Do I need to have a UV filter?
6) Would keeping very few fishes help make maintenance easier rather than stocking the tank to full capacity?

Welcome to Reef2Reef to start off with! I made similar upgrade last year, (20 gallons to 90 gallons) however I got a Red Sea tank with a sump, it appears you're not planning on having a sump.

1. Personally I like Black, the back side of mine is black and it "hides" the algae much better than I would think Light or Dark Blue would.

2. If you're leak testing the tank, water from a hose would be fine as long as you drain it all before refilling it up. For ATO yes you can use distilled water. I did with my 20 gallon before I purchased an RODI unit.

3. I do roughly a 10% water change each week so for you that would be 5-1/2 gallons. However it really depends on what your nutrients look like and how your tank is doing.

4. Not sure on this one, theoretically I would think yes but when I upgraded I have a sump now. If you have any possible chance of doing a sump or getting a tank that is "AIO" I would highly consider. It becomes much easier for customization on bigger tanks if a sump is present. I did run a Fluval HOB filter on my 20 gallon and didn't have any issues at all. It was a mixed reef tank.

5. IMO no, I'll let others steer you in or against this as I have never had one or felt it necessary for me to have one.

6. Yes, this is where the water change amount would come into play. With my 20 gallon tank I topped out at 6 fish, (2 clowns, 2 wrasse and 1 Anthias) I had one to many fish and after the 6th was added I was battling algae and nutrient issues constantly. I always follow the philosophy of leaving space for more fish as the current ones will enjoy more room and less competition but you also never know what you'll come across.

 

[Jedi1199]

I currently have a ten gallon tank that is still cycling (no fish in it). I want to upgrade it to 55 gallons.

1) What color is best for the back side of the tank: light blue, dark blue, or black? Which will hide the algae better but still look marine like?
2) What is the best way to fill up the new tank without having to go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of water? Or can I use tap water just to fill the initial tank, but ATO can be distilled water?
3) How many gallons of water should I remove and replace weekly?
4) Would two "Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 75 Aquarium Power Filter" be enough for the 55 gallon tank?

5) Do I need to have a UV filter?
6) Would keeping very few fishes help make maintenance easier rather than stocking the tank to full capacity?

You leave a lot of questions unanswered here.

Do you plan this to be a reef tank, or will it be a simple fish only with rock setup. The demands between the 2 are vast.

For a reef, your plan is dead in the water.. (no pun intended)

For a FOWLR you could be ok.

Years ago, when I lived in San Jose, I had a successful FOWLR tank that I ran with the tap "water" (aka chemical soup) I had. Adding inverts of any kind was a disaster.

For filtration That HOB might be ok on a FOWLR setup (and I caution against it)... for a reef, no, just flat no.

I ran my 55g reef on 2 canisters for a long time and it was a beautiful masterpiece of a tank. 1 was an old Rena filstar and the other was a new Fluval FX6. I would suggest watching the sales ate petsmart or petco for the FX6.

For the background.. That is a personal choice.. I had black on one of my tanks and the domino damsels disappeared against it... was amusing to see 2 white dots along the back glass, but ultimately I switched to blue for the contrast.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I currently have a ten gallon tank that is still cycling (no fish in it). I want to upgrade it to 55 gallons.

1) What color is best for the back side of the tank: light blue, dark blue, or black? Which will hide the algae better but still look marine like?
2) What is the best way to fill up the new tank without having to go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of water? Or can I use tap water just to fill the initial tank, but ATO can be distilled water?
3) How many gallons of water should I remove and replace weekly?
4) Would two "Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 75 Aquarium Power Filter" be enough for the 55 gallon tank?

5) Do I need to have a UV filter?
6) Would keeping very few fishes help make maintenance easier rather than stocking the tank to full capacity?

Great size upgrade.

1) What color is best for the back side of the tank: light blue, dark blue, or black? Which will hide the algae better but still look marine like?
Blue will hide algae better but black will highlight fish and coral. Utilize snails for algae control. Do not place tank if possible at or near a window which promotes algae

2) What is the best way to fill up the new tank without having to go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of water?

I would not recommend tap water but RO water. Hauling 5 gal jugs are a pain but worth it and even a starter RODI unit will suffice (RO BUDDIE). ATO should be RO water also as distilled is low in PH. For starters, the amount of Alk in tap water can potentially double this number easily and affect CA and PH not to mention content of heavy metals, chloramine, polluants, flouride and other elements not contained in sea water. Tap water also offers no ph buffering and note many areas have copper in their tap water which you do not want in your system. Next will be phosphates in water which will cause further issues.



3) How many gallons of water should I remove and replace weekly?

Its up to you. 10-15% is sufficient in many cases. Again a reason you want an RODI unit to create water in advance


4) Would two "Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 75 Aquarium Power Filter" be enough for the 55 gallon tank?

These are not efficient units and are mechanical filters and you want to have mechanical , biological and chemical to manage proper water quality. The aqueons will polish water and trap particles via the cartridge.
Chemical is what traps and breaks down chemical compounds such as feces and uneaten food often accomplished carbon and GFO
Biological is what utilizes the natural process of biological filtration such as use of ceramic nuggets, bio blocks, and microscopic bacteria surfaces as examples. Best is to add or use a hang on refugium such as Reef octopus or AquaMaxx unit and even add a hang on skimmer such as ice cap K1- or K2 100

Also add a couple power heads for needed water flow especially if you plan to house coral