Best advise you can give me please!

[lennon]

HI.

I am receiving my 55 gallon tank soon and wanted to get ANY and all advise, opinion and specifics on making this successful. I am going to do a lr, ls and fish tank for now. Would like to do corals but books tend to scare me away for now. Maybe I'll change my mind once you all give some advise.
If you can please maybe let me know your best purchases too..that would be great!
Right now, money is not an issue. So I can buy whatever will keep the tank in the best condition it can be in.
Thanks everyone. I don't know what I would do without this site.

oh, and I have read the book "the conscientious aquarist"...4 times.. :cheer:
I am going to quarantine everything before I put it in..and definitely not buy more than one fish in a 3 week period. I promise I will be a conscientious aquarist :joy:

 

[fishieness]

the best advise, and one you are sure to get form people of thise site all the time are....
BE PATIENT AND RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!!
lol. Dont go on a fish adding spree. Wait a while before adding another fish. use this time to take care of your current livestock and make sure that water conditions are right for the next addition. Also, do not believe everything local fish stores say. Some are great, but you never know. some are not, and some are not all the time. Do not do an impulse buy jsut because osmething is pretty. Ask if they could put it on hold for a day, then come on here. Someone is sure to give you the information you need to see if this animal or piece of equiptment is right for you and your tank.
good luck!!!

 

[fishmamma]

HI and welcome to the hobby!! Ok, this would be my advice for you going by what you mentioned above.
Start with your live sand/live rock plan using standard lights if any come with your tank. Stock only reeef safe inverts and fish.
If you need to buy lighting for your tank I would advise going with something that would give you 4 to 5 watts per gallon. That way you can do many corals should you decide you are ready which will probably happen sooner than you think.

I have the Current USA Dual Satellites on my reef tank and like the effect of the daylight/actinic/moonlight 24 hour lighting system. These also have a fan to help keep the temp down in the tank during the day. Metal halides are a good option if you don't want to limit yourself down the line to low and medium light corals.
I also think running a skimmer is really important but it is something that can be added down the raod as your funds allow. I have Aqua C Remoras on both my tanks but the are much smaller than your 55.
Make sure you have a couple of decent powerheads on hand for good circulation and flow.
I assume you already have a cycling plan in place.....you will need a refractometer (much more accurate than hydrometers) and a basic marine test kit as well to get you started. Maybe a good buffer. I like the Marine Buffer 8.3 by Seachem. Also a white plastic painters bucket type 5 gallon bucket or large rubbermaid bin, two heaters (diplay and water mixing) and an airstone or powerhead for pre-mixing your saltwater will be needed.
What are you thinking for your first fish??

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by fishmamma
HI and welcome to the hobby!! Ok, this would be my advice for you going by what you mentioned above.
What are you thinking for your first fish??

Thanks to all who responded so far.
The 2 fish I definitely need to have is the clown fish and regal blue tang..I'm sure you all can guess why..lol
After that..I plan on researching for the best and easiest things to maintain in the tank. I do not want to overload since I know this is not good and requires more maintenance But I do want to get things that are beneficial to the tank. Cleanup crew etc...
I will quarantine any fish that come in..but do I need to do that for the clean up crew?
Should I get a refugium? I had planned on it and money is not a problem. So I can get whatever it is I need and easy things to clean and maintain.
As far as lighting..I prefer not to do MH..I will have a canopy and I know those get VERY hot. I don't want to worry about heating issues and any kind of hazards. So I would be willing to sacrifice being able to keep certain corals in order to avoid MH.
I would need the light to have fans on the top due to the heat. Do the satellites have the side top fans..or just on the side.
Thanks so much for all the help!!
Melody

 

[fishieness]

a blue regal tang will not fit in a 55 gallon tank. They get rather large. and need a minimume of 6 feet of swimming space in my opinion. Please avoid this fish.
A refugium is ALWAYS a good thing to have. iw ould recomend it.
most types of lighting that get hot like metal halides and power compacts have fans built in to the canopy.
you do not need to quarenteen the cleanup crew. But do add them in about a week after the cycle and before any fish go in. But because of their exoskeleton, they do not get parasites like ick that need scales to attach onto. Plus if any parasites or toxins or anything is in the water, they get rid of it by molting./

 

[loodachris]

You know, on top of what everyone said above... one key point that is often overlooked but can playa major part in success of you tank is a lot like real estate...location location location.... what I mean is have a great place picked out for your tank (if you dont already) try to stick it in a place that has no to little sunlight, coming directly into the room, a place where there isnt always a lot of commotion (kids, dog...use you imagination) think about safety too.... try and cover all your plugs and connections with plastic bags to avoid drips or even floods and the salt. Where your tank is stored is a very important thing to think about. But definately put it in a place where you can show it off!! Good luck

 

[scotts]

Yep, ditto on the research EVERYTHING before you buy it. On impulse I bought a beatiful 2" fish. Then I found out about reasearching. I found that not only does the fish change color, it grows to 18" long. I know it is true because I was able to donate it to an aquarium and they had full grown ones there, yep they get that big.
HTH.
Scott

 

[merredeth]

My big advice is cycle the aquarium and slowly add fish. Like Fishieness said, "don't go on a buying spree." Add slowly so you don't get spikes.
Research anything you put in the tank and make sure whatever you buy your local fish store (LFS) keeps food in supply for whatever it is you are buying.
I have a VERY picky snowflake eel in one of my tanks and it will only eat San Francisco Bay krill.
My LFS ran out of the brand and didn't order it for several weeks because he didn't need to order frozen food. I purchased another brand he had and guess what has happened now? Not only have I tried every other brand and he won't eat it, but it appears to me the eel is on a hunger strike. I've soaked the krill in garlic, traveled far to get it his beloved San Fransico Bay Krill only to have him reject it. He won't eat feeder fish, won't eat blood worms - basically won't eat anything.
My lesson learned - make sure you keep plenty of frozen favorites on hand so you aren't forced to change brands and deal with the problem I'm dealing with.
If anyone has any suggestions for the eel, feel free to add your 2¢.
Denise M.

 

[fishmamma]

Lennon- the light I mentioned is a model designed to be used independently with out a hood. I thik there are kits you can install into your hood to get what ever bulbs you choose. "Retrofit" kits maybe..........somebody else better help you out here since I do not have hoods on my tanks.

 

[lennon]

I definitely do not want to use MH...so what am I limited to without having heat issues?
Thanks everyone!