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
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