New and needing a little guidance….

[fellerr]

Hey everyone! 110% new to the fish world. I didn’t think this is something I would be doing…but here I am.
Little background, my son wanted clownfish. I said no…no…and no again. Lol After doing some looking and research with him, I am finding this very fascinating and really cool! I have always loved looking at the fish/coral at the zoo, but never seen myself getting into this hobby. Anyway, he is really into it, im really excited to do it, and it is something we can do together.

I have been researching and reading…a lot. Made a couple trips to the closest LFS (hour away), and trying to gather all the info I can. Unfortunately, I am not overly excited about the local store. I ask questions and get varying answers. I was told my 55 gallon tank is to small for a reef tank. Then talk to another employee who was telling me about his 13 gallon tank with two clowns and coral…wait what? The guy up front just deflated all my hopes of my 55 gallon tank being good enough and you tell me you have a 13? Lol

So here is where I am at. Right now, my goal is to have a few fish, few corals. Keeping it simple. Nothing crazy.

I acquired a 55 gallon pretty new tank. Its roughly 12” wide, 20” tall, 48” long. I thought this would be a good starter…albeit narrow…but should be fine to get us going. (Even though the LFS store guy said it was to small for fish to turn around in). Think this will be sufficient? Or should i get a 40/60 gallon breeder tank while on sale at petco? I dont want to start off to large. My plan would be to run this tank for a while. Couple years. Get my feet wet in the hobby, figure things out, and upgrade to a larger tank in the future. I do like the dimensions of those tanks vs what i have…but a free tank and stand was pretty appealing!

I went with a fluval 407 for filtration as recommended by the LFS. A sump wouldn’t work with the setup i have.

I did live sand and dry rock. The LFS said dry rock and live rock were basically the same and to start with dry rock since it was cheaper. Hopefully this was right. Its epoxied and in the tank!

Next up, i added two heaters/controllers. Most of what i read said they will fail..always have two.
Bought 55 gallons of salt water from the store…dumped it in, and have been adding “seachem stability” per label directions. Also adding a mysis shrimp cube every other day. (No fish in the tank, just building it up). Hope this is right…

We have been testing the water using API test kit…most of the latest updates I have been reading on here says these are junk and misleading! So far the ammonia is always at .5ppm. Ph 8. Nitrite 0. And nitrate 5-10ish.

So, think this tank will be ok? I’m open to opinions on the setup…anything I should change? I know one can go crazy adding all sorts of fancy equipment, but for now I would like to keep it simple.

Go easy on me….I’m trying to learn as much as I can before we add anything to the tank. I told the kids it takes a long while to setup

 

[fellerr]

Couple other pics to show tank size..

 

[Waters]

Welcome to the hobby ! Is your equipment ideal......not entirely......will it work....absolutely. Nothing wrong with the size at all (although like you stated, a deeper tank would be better but not for fish to swim around in, just for ease of aquascaping). You are off to a good start. Couple of things.......the LFS is incorrect in saying dry rock and live rock starts are the same. They can both be done successfully, but need to be handled a little differently. Also, I do agree that the API tests are not great, but they are fine for cycling a tank. When you start caring about actual numbers of Calcium/phosphates/nitrates/Alk then I would invest in some better kits. If I personally had to change anything with your setup, I would remove some of your sand. I like to keep it 1/2" or less or closer to 3-4". That middle depth area can be tough to maintain. What are you doing for lighting?

 

[TheSharksDen]

Is stability made for salt water? I used that in my fresh water tank personally. Great starter setup. My first tank was a Red Sea 170 combined with display and sump smaller than your tank here and I had coral and a couple clowns and sand sifter.

good luck and welcome to the hobby! Start a build thread so we can follow.

 

[fellerr]

Shoot…I must have misread that. I thought 2-4” was ideal. Easy fix if need be.
I got this tank and stand and figured it was a good starter. The sump sounded a little daunting to me vs a canister filter, and this tank cant be drilled. Maybe I should research the difference a little more…the 60g breeder is really catching my eye and the price is right!
Right bow the lights are plain leds…plan to upgrade later on as well.

 

[Waters]

Shoot…I must have misread that. I thought 2-4” was ideal. Easy fix if need be.
I got this tank and stand and figured it was a good starter. The sump sounded a little daunting to me vs a canister filter, and this tank cant be drilled. Maybe I should research the difference a little more…the 60g breeder is really catching my eye and the price is right!
Right bow the lights are plain leds…plan to upgrade later on as well.

Sumps aren't really complicated at all. Move water from the tank into the sump and back again. Really no different than a canister filter.....just larger . Can be a little more difficult using a non drilled tank, but a hang on the back overflow will work fine if set up correctly. Makes a world of difference if nothing more than hiding equipment...especially in smaller tanks where real estate is at a premium.

 

[bnord]

you are off to a great start and this tank is going to rock

agree that the sand is a little deep and a minor regret down the road, you can siphon it in the early water changes and it will whittle away along with the sludge

just go as slow and patiently as you have so far and it will be great for you and your son for years to come

Best of luck

 

[MoshJosh]

I would move the top rock, looks a little tall for my liking. Would move it over to the right and have 2 arches instead of one (just personal taste though). Also would mount the heater sideways towards the bottom (hidden behind rocks if the cord isn't to obvious), that way you dont have to worry about turning off the heater during water changes.

 

[fellerr]

Appreciate the feedback!

I read quite a bit about weekly water changes. Is this standard? I was under the impression that once it gets rolling water changes would be every 3-4 weeks. I am assuming this depends on the amount of fish in the tank and how the tests are reading.

After mixing up salt water…how long is it good for? I was told to use the premixed salt water in my 5 gallon pail within a week to ten days.

I went to the fish store…talked to a few people, got a few different answers. Came here to read. Got some more answers lol will just have to roll with it and address issues as they arise.

 

[MoshJosh]

Appreciate the feedback!

I read quite a bit about weekly water changes. Is this standard? I was under the impression that once it gets rolling water changes would be every 3-4 weeks. I am assuming this depends on the amount of fish in the tank and how the tests are reading.

After mixing up salt water…how long is it good for? I was told to use the premixed salt water in my 5 gallon pail within a week to ten days.

I went to the fish store…talked to a few people, got a few different answers. Came here to read. Got some more answers lol will just have to roll with it and address issues as they arise.

I change weekly but am trying to achieve ultra low nutrients. Some change 2 times a month, others 1 time a month, other never. Really depends on a lot of factors. . . mostly depends (in my opinion) on the bioload, nutrient export, and what kind of tank you are trying to achieve. . .

example:
If you are changing weekly but are bottoming out your nutrients, you may want to change less often. Alternatively could feed more/dose nutrients

If you are changing once a month and your nutrients are crazy high, you might want to change more often. Alternatively you could add a skimmer or chaeto reactor.

more than one way to skin a cat

 

[fellerr]

Is this a frozen shrimp cube i put in? Not sure how it would have floated over on this rock…

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Is stability made for salt water? I used that in my fresh water tank personally. Great starter setup. My first tank was a Red Sea 170 combined with display and sump smaller than your tank here and I had coral and a couple clowns and sand sifter.

good luck and welcome to the hobby! Start a build thread so we can follow.

Yes, I used Stability to cycle my saltwater tank. You need just a pinch of food to cycle. Not so much.

Suggest you run with a backup heater and both heaters on Inkbird controllers. It is most common failure. Also, use a grounding probe and GFCI switch. Sounds like your LFS personnel are not well informed. Check out Bulk Reef Supply videos on YouTube and articles here.

I change water every week to 10 days. Started with a canister filter too.

Welcome to the fun and challenge!