Looking for advice on skimmers and filters

[kmurray6155]

Hello all.........
I have a 55 gallon tank that I'm going to re-establish from scratch. Right now I plan to have live sand (might consider crushed coral), live rock and fish only. Can anyone offer suggestions or recommendations for a protein skimmer and filters? Previously I had the tank set up with a Emperor 400 Bio Wheel that seemed to do quite well. With that filter I also had about 60 lbs of live rock and 3 - 4" of live sand.
Thanks!

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by kmurray6155
http:///forum/post/2466377
Hello all.........
I have a 55 gallon tank that I'm going to re-establish from scratch. Right now I plan to have live sand (might consider crushed coral), live rock and fish only. Can anyone offer suggestions or recommendations for a protein skimmer and filters? Previously I had the tank set up with a Emperor 400 Bio Wheel that seemed to do quite well. With that filter I also had about 60 lbs of live rock and 3 - 4" of live sand.
Thanks!
First off, I'm going to recommend against crushed coral; it's a nitrate trap. Just go with sand. Also, you can use a hang-on filter if you want, but you'd be better off either drilling the tank or getting a hang-on overflow and using a sump over a hang-on filter... it's more effective in keeping your parameters good.
As far as skimmer, on a 55, you could really go with anything; they'll all skim about the same with moderate fish bio-load and coral. Most are rated 65-100g. On my 55 I have the cheap Prizm skimmer and it does just fine, and I've seen people who are happy with the Coralife Super Skimmer.
The rock and sand sounds perfect too, just be sure you have enough flow and it'll turn out nicely.