55g

[marlin]

i have a 55g that i will soon be setting up . i want to house a mated pair of false percs and some gobies, i would like to keep a lil bit of coral such as toadstolls. hammers, xenias, zoos, mushrooms. my question is what should i use for lighting and filtration. i plan on using about 50#ls and about 60#lr. any help would be great.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by marlin
i have a 55g that i will soon be setting up . i want to house a mated pair of false percs and some gobies, i would like to keep a lil bit of coral such as toadstolls. hammers, xenias, zoos, mushrooms. my question is what should i use for lighting and filtration. i plan on using about 50#ls and about 60#lr. any help would be great.
I'd say use a lot more sand if you are going to house any kind of burrowing goby. Also, you might consider bumping up the amount of live rock you are going to use.
Can't really help you with filtration, except to say get a good skimmer and be sure you have good, strong water movement throughout the tank (powerheads, etc.).
for lighting, you can't beat Metal Halides and VHo's on timers to represent dawn-noon-dusk effect.

 

[vanos]

All I have in my 55 G is 60 lbs. of live rock, protein skimmer and a uv sterilizer. Lighting for those corals you mentioned go with a power compact-260 watts.

 

[reefer123]

yes i second the PC

 

[fedukeford]

ya i have a 55 gallon w/ 260 watts and i have mushrooms, xenia, gagorian ( i know i spelled it wrong), star polyps, adn they are all doing GREAT

 

[marlin]

ok i think i found a good enough hlight a corallife powercampact and its like 560w, for around $600 , that most likly what ill use. now i need ideas on filtration

 

[airforceb2]

I would get a AquaC Remora Pro or Excalibur HV2. That should be all the filtration you need if you get good LR.
If you want, you can get the tank drilled and put a sump under the tank. That would be the best working and best looking idea but it is a little more expensive.

 

[jmick]

I’d double the sand and look at employing a deep sand bed (4” plus), which will be very beneficial! Also, you really want a quality skimmer and I highly recommend an Aqua-C Remora Pro (I use this on my 55 and it’s an outstanding product).
I’d recommend VHO, I have 440 watts on my tank and my Star Polyps, Xenia, shrooms and leather are doing really well. I bought it as a retro kit and with the 4 bulbs it was under $300. I prefer VHO because you have a wide range of bulbs to choose from. Then again, if you have $600 to burn you may as well by MH, which is superior to VHO and PC.

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by marlin
ok i think i found a good enough hlight a corallife powercampact and its like 560w, for around $600 , that most likly what ill use. now i need ideas on filtration
There is cheaper out there. Thats for sure. You will not need that much watts either.

 

[jdragunas]

i double-second that! with the corals you want, 260 watts will be perfect, and you can find it on that great auction site for about $100 shipped! You can buy MH for cheaper than the ones you're looking at too...
Jenn

 

[marlin]

ok thanks for all the ideas. ill go with 100#ls and about 70#lr. lighting for coralife 260w pc i believe ill use this and ill use the aqua romora c pro skimmer. thinking about a overflow box and using a sump aswell. if i dont use the sump is the lr ls and simmer enough?

 

[marlin]

ok since ive decided to go with the aqua remora c pro with a mag 3 pump, can i run my powerheads of of this? anlong with the 120#ls and 70# lr, is this enough filtration.thanks again.

 

[jdragunas]

maybe do 90 lbs of LR, and that'll be plenty of filtration!
Jenn

 

[airforceb2]

Originally Posted by marlin
ok since ive decided to go with the aqua remora c pro with a mag 3 pump, can i run my powerheads of of this? anlong with the 120#ls and 70# lr, is this enough filtration.thanks again.

?? Not understanding. You should have a powerhead running the skimmer and additional powerheads in the tank pushing water around.