Is this equipt. sufficient for my reef??

[jen73]

Hi! Ive always had a fish only tank, but have been starting up a reef over the past year. This is what I have, does it sound ok to you guys? Or what would you suggest??Any advice appreciated!!
Tank size 55 gallon
Millenium 2000 filter
Skilter 250 filter + protein skimmer combo(Ive been seeing bad review on these??)
1 small powerhead
220 watt pc
lunar lights
75 lb LR ( I know I need a little more, tryin to find some nice stuff)
1 clown
1 blue damsel
1 Naso Tang
1 Hawaiin Puffer
1 Lawnmower blenny
1 Royal gramma
3 curly q anemones ( 1 is splitting..yeh!)
1 tube anemone
red shrooms
yellow polyps
1 leather frag
button polyps
I add a capful of calcium daily, feed coralife invert gumbo twice a week, twice week Reef Plus vitamen and amino acid supplement. I keep my temp on 79 and salinity around .24 , 30% water change and filter once a month. To gravel wash or not???Im getting conflicting answers from 2 LFS. I would LOVE some advice from you pro's!!!! Thanks!!!!!!

 

[the reef]

I would say bring your lighting up to 4-5 watts per gallon and yes clean your sand it is acting as a pre filter not as much will get stuck to the sand say as the filter but needs matinence also perferabley when you take out your watter for your watter change

 

[the reef]

only add your calcium when it becomes to low

 

[puffer32]

If you can, switch to sand, and get another PH.

 

[fishamajig]

I second that, dont add calcium unless you need it, and you said you have 1 small powerhead , i think depending on what you want to keep you might want to invest in a few more power heads, they keep detritus from setteling and help with cyanobacteria prevention, plus some of the corals you might want to get require more flow. did you say you have gravel? If you did i would go with either a sand bottom or a bare bottom, i dont think anyone uses gravel in a reef tank, might be too easy to build up trates, and i saw no mention of an r/o unit. Believe me, I was using tap water for the longest time with nothing but trouble. I know the r/o units can be a bit pricey but you cant believe the diffrence once you start using one. good luck, it is an amazing hobby, and an addictive one.

 

[jen73]

Thanks for all the replies!! I'll start checking out RO units--our water here is really crappy anyway. I havent had any problems with anything yet--but I am into preventative measures. So, just take out the gravel i have in there now and replace with the bagged sand they sell at the LFS? Since Ive had my tank set up for over a year, I think closer to 2, do I need seeded sand??THANKS!!!

 

[the reef]

if your tank has been set up for that long i would only do half live sand that is seald and has little bit of water in it and could do half dead sand same sand exept dosent have the watter in it keeping it live sand the dead sand will become alive sand with given time and the half amout of live sand will help this prosses out

 

[the reef]

and about the power head could be to small I want you to add up your gph on your filter protine skimmer and your power head. tell me how many total gph that is you should have 10 gph per gallon of watter and if you dont have enough gph buy another power head that will make up the difrence you need if you dont have enough

 

[smarls]

Personally, YES, I would vacuum the sand. I have a CC bed in my reef, and if it is not regularly vacuumed, it will cause nitrates to spike. While you can get away with this in a FO tank, these spikes will have a harmfull effect on a reef tank.
On the same note, I would not rely on your current filtration. Personally I would keep the filter you have to run media through (carbon, phosban, etc), and to add circulation...but I would not use it as a "filter" per say. Filters can lead to increased nitrates, which again, can harm your coral.
I would ditch the "skilter" and get a decent dedicated protein skimmer.
From a circulation point of view, depending on what corals you want to keep, I would try and get my GPH of circulation up to 10-20 tmes your tank volume. So for a 55 gallon, you would want about 600-1200 gph circulating, with 600 being on the low side suitable to only a very few corals..
HTH, and good luck with the reef.
Stewart

 

[sw65galma]

Originally Posted by jen73
Hi! Ive always had a fish only tank, but have been starting up a reef over the past year. This is what I have, does it sound ok to you guys? Or what would you suggest??Any advice appreciated!!
Tank size 55 gallonSkilter 250 filter + protein skimmer combo(Ive been seeing bad review on these??)
1 small powerhead
220 watt pc lunar lights
75 lb LR ( I know I need a little more, tryin to find some nice stuff)
1 Naso Tang
I would LOVE some advice from you pro's!!!! Thanks!!!!!!
Fist off the Naso Tang is rated for 150gallons or larger...definaltey shouldn't be in a 55
You should ditch the skilter...Aqua C Remora is awsome...I switched my skilter over to it and it pulls out stuff in a day what the skilter did in a week.
You are not too bad on LR..
Definatley get another powerhead ..
Here's and excerpt from another site onthe tang.
The Naso Tang, from Hawaii are often more brightly colored than those found in other areas.
A 125 gallon or larger aquarium is necessary to provide plenty of swimming room, places to hide, and a tight-fitting lid to prevent jumping to escape. It is aggressive towards other tangs, but peaceful with other fish in the tank.

 

[jen73]

I ordered a powerhead tonight its a Rio 2500 it pumps 748 gph. Will that be good for my 55?? I have the skilter 250 filter/skimmer combo on now, it is skimming, but its all ive ever had so I dont know what to compare it to. From what im hearing its junk though. For right now, I can only afford to either put a new skimmer in or a RO unit. Which one would you do first???? My lfs told me most people just buy ro water and put 4 or 5 gallons in at water changes. What do you all think about that?? For someone on a budget what kind of skimmer and ro unit would you all recommend??Wow--you all are soooo helpful. Im trying to get a pic of my tank posted, but it keeps tellin me its too large even when i use paint to make em smaller. I'll keep tryin--i have a pic of my anenome splitting that i thinks kinda cool.

 

[jen73]

I noticed this starting to split last week. How long does it normally take for one to completely split???

 

[jen73]

Ok--think i got this pic thing down now..lol Here is a pic of my 55. Any suggestions?

 

[ravennreef]

That looks like an Aiptasia or glass anemone. They spread like wildfire. You will want to get rid of them. You can search this forum for more info. They can sting your corals. NICE TANK. Also, instead of having one large powerhead it is recomened to get a couple smaller ones for better overall flow.

 

[puffer32]

Even on a budget like most of us are, you want to invest in good equiptment! I love my aqua C remora. Use the one you have and save for a better 1 don't go out and buy another piece of junk cause its in your budget. Its pricey, but like with most things, you get what you pay for. So now you have 2 phs right? Much better then 1. Tank looks good, needs work, but you are on the right track. Get rid of that anenome its not a good one! Don't buy another one till you upgrade your lighting, they need strong light.

 

[diablo]

caution with the puffer!!!!!! they are fin nippers, but they are cute. you have mostly peace in your tank the puffer is probly going to be a bully.

 

[jen73]

That anemone is a curly q. I bought him off this site. Ive had it and 2 others for nearly a year. This is the first time one has started to split. I hear curly q and aptaisia look alot alike. Is 220 watt not enough?? I thought the rule was 3-5 wpg. That makes 4. Yeh, I want decent equiptment, I was just wondering which you thought was most important for this paycheck, ro unit or new skimmer??? Any suggestions for what kind of units??

 

[fishamajig]

tough one but if you ask me I would say ro unit. you already have a skimmer (even if it is a crappy one) and if you use r/o water you cant believe the diffrence it makes, I was not a believer till I recently got one

 

[puffer32]

I would go with the skimmer first, and buy RO water until you can afford an RO unit.