Needing advice from advanced reefers

[william87]

Hi all! I’m looking for some help in planning for a future upgrade on my existing 55 gallon tank. I kept a 36 gallon tank around 15 years ago and it did well until I bought a house and had to break it all down to move. I was out of the hobby from them until now. I have two children and they started showing interest in aquariums. So I thought to myself what better time to start another reef tank! The wife was cool with it so I went and pieced together a budget build. I bought a standard 55 gallon tank with stand and hob filtration off fb marketplace. Was given two voyager power heads from a fellow reefer. Purchased two black box lighting systems off Amazon and began getting rock and live sand. The tank is still new and we have some fish that are doing well. Honestly I like the tank but I know I could do better. I didn’t really have any goals when setting up the tank aside that I really wanted to get corals and have something fun to look at and care for. I’m starting to realize that this is not going to be my forever setup. I want to upgrade (as money will allow) to something a bit bigger. I want to slowly get equipment and better lighting that o can use on this tank as well as a bigger tank for the future although I’m not sure what size that may be. I was thinking a 75 gallon just due to the footprint being close but I’m open to other ideas as well where maybe I could go bigger and stay within that footprint a bit. The wife wants bigger fish such as tangs so I know the 55 won’t accommodate that. Also lighting. What lighting could I use that would be something that I can grow coral and would fit the size of tank. I know I want to do a sump so that will be happening as well. I’m trying to set myself a solid game plan and goal so I know what to get and what to save up for. I’m sorry this is such a long post I just really don’t know who to ask lol

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Well, the first place to start is really figuring out what you want to keep - what fish, what corals, etc.

From there, you can figure out what size of tank you need, how strong of lighting you need, etc. and others can really chip in with some opinions and advice.

As is, all I can really offer is that a 75 would work for the small, bristletooth tangs (Ctenochaetus species), but not for any of the other tangs - so figure out which specific tangs your wife wants, and see what kind of tank size you would need for those.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Awesome welcome aboard again.

Definitely go with a drilled tank later on with a sump.

HOB equipment is just not as pleasant.

 

[exnisstech]

@ISpeakForTheSeas pretty much nailed it. Only other thing I can think of is are you good with plumbing and such so you can diy or are you thinking a complete system just assemble and fill? Bigger is always better when in doubt especially where fish are involved. IMO a lot of aggression issues posted about are because people are keeping too many or too large of fish in too small of a tank.

 

[william87]

I was planning on going with a ready made sump and hob overflow box if I can’t find a drilled tank. Or maybe even a canister filter setup possibly? I have a buddy running a fx4 on his reef tank and it looks great. Although a sump would offer so much more I think.