My New "Free" SW Tank

[storkmpj]

My Cousin gave me a "Free" 55g SWT, and now I am broke. This is the first tank I have ever set up and have been reading posts and other stuff for a couple of months, now ready to get the ball rolling. Here is what I have:
55g glass tank and stand, Undergravel Filter w/ 2 powerheads. a regent power filter(a larger one with 2 slots for filter media), a old glass heater(scared to use this), 2 plastic light hoods (really cheapy). Of this, the only thing I plan to use is the Powerheads and maybe the Filter.
After research and talking to 2 different guys at the LFS, I have ordered (mostly on line) the following:
A 48" 260W Compact Florescent light Kit, a Prism Deluxe Protein Skimmer (From this Site), 60lbs LS and 50lbs LR, and a new Heater (Stealth 200W).
I want to build this as a reef tank, Will this stuff get me started? I am trying to decide if I should go ahead and replace the Filter with a Auqualclear 110, but I don't want to go overboard and buy stuff I don't need especially when I'm still more than a month away from thinking about livestock.
Thanks for any advise you can give me!

 

[jtrzerocool]

welcome to the boards!

also you better get used to being broke cuz this hobby will do that to you in a hurry! as for the filter i would ditch it and look into somthing more like a HOB refugium. also if there is one piece of CRITICAL advise that i can give you it would be to take your time and research EVERYTHING before you commit to it! going to fast will most definatly lead to disaster. otherwise i wish you all the luck in the world!

 

[reefkprz]

First off, welcome to SWF.com message boards.
ditch the undergravel unit keep the powerheads. they are outdated tech for marine tanks.
good lighting for a starter reef you'll be able to keep almost all soft corals and samething for LPS corals, I reccomend not considering SPS without stronger lighting, but its a good place to start. I ran with powercompacts for several years and always had great tanks with them, I still have them on my smaller tank and sump.
I'm not familiar with that skimmer but I hear its good.
the aquaclear is better than the UGF (undergravel) as you get into this you may want to consider a sump.
I think your on the right track so far. Again, welcome to the boards. if you have any questions feel free to ask anything, there is also a search feature if your not finding or getting responses (some days are really slow sometimes you wont get a response for days) the search feature will help you find alot of your questions that have been asked many times. also there is the first thread in the new hobbiest section that has direct links to a lot of the information you may or may not need.

 

[turningtim]

Welcome to the boards and congrats on the new tank and doing your research FIRST!
First thing is send back the Prizm, much better skimmers out there and that is not one of them. Look into a super skimmer or an aqua c.
Keep the HOB (hang on back) filter for carbon or phosban you can also run filter floss in there to catch the big chunks if you wish just make sure you keep it clean. Your good with LR and LS that will give you the Bio-filtration nessasary for your tank.
Before you set anything up search the boards for sump or sump refugium. It may be wise to do these thing now before the tank gets put in place.
Keep the questions coming your off to a good start!
HTH
Tim

 

[alane67]

As a newbie myself, at first I didn't know how to get the right answers from search. At the top, you will see a search button, and a small advanced search under it. I use the advance search to try to find some info before posting. Try different words etc....I hope that helps.
Also, you are not allowed to post links to competetors sites out of courtesy to SWF.
But I find this link helpfull, and it is not a sellers site, just good educational information. I hope sharks allow it. Sharks are moderators. I am not a shark...lol I am a VERY new enthusiast too, and just trying to tell ya some things that have helped me. Good luck to both of us. OH! You can also subsribe to your own posts or others the replies will go your email, to let you know someone replied I think it says thread tools. Since I am posting now, I don't see it..lol but it is there

** link edit* any link that has sponsors, links, or a bulletin board on it is against the forum rules here. There are a lot of different links that are informative and a great source of information but are not allowed for this reason. thanks Mike**

 

[storkmpj]

Thanks everyone. I will look in to refugium and the different skimmer. I can definatly see that everyone does things a little differantly, but there is apparently a lot of defferent way to do it and still get it right. Thanks again!

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by Storkmpj
Thanks everyone. I will look in to refugium and the different skimmer. I can definatly see that everyone does things a little differantly, but there is apparently a lot of defferent way to do it and still get it right. Thanks again!

there are definatly many ways to run a succesfull tank, I dont even run all my tanks in similar setups, I have a HOB filter on one a sump/fuge on the other PC on one VHO lighting on the other, there are a lot of ways to syucceed in this hobby. the number one rule is patience, the number two is research everything, and number three (also number one) have fun with it.