New 55 Gallon Tank!

puff0224

puff0224

Member
I would like to hear some honest opinions on my newly established saltwater tank (6 months). It is the first time that I set up a saltwater tank and honestly its such a blast! I am new to the hobby and do not know much about coral, so if someone could evaluate the health of my polyp I would greatly appreciate it.
Equipment:
  • Emperor 400 Filter
  • CPR Dual Bak Pak Protein Skimmer
  • 9 Watt Turbo Twist UV Sterilizer
  • 2 Koralia II Powerheads
  • Standard All-Glass Hoods w/ Zoo Med Ocean Sun 10,000K Lamps
    Live Stock:
  • Porcupine Puffer
    Sleeper Banded Goby
    Turbo Snails
    Blue Leg Hermits
    Horseshoe Crab
    Sand Sifting Starfish
    Polyps






 
M

markeo99

Guest
what wattage lights I would say as far as coral you prob dont have enough light but the zoas look ok little stretchy how long have you had them
zoas dont take a lot of light so with them towards the top the could work
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
I have had the zoas for about 2 months. The current lamps are 15 watt 10,000K. I have coralife actinic lamps but they make my tank too dark. I would love to upgrade my lighting but I have dumped just about everything I have into the current setup (broke college student). I placed the zoas higher in the tank and moved some live rock around today so hopefully that helps them out a bit.
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
Mixed in with the live sand you can see a bunch of pink/blue beads that got dumped in my tank during the first week of setting up. I have hated them ever since they hit the bottom of my tank...anyone know of an easy way to get rid of them??
 
M

markeo99

Guest
you dont have enough light
and as far as the blue rocks get out your tweezer
how broke are ya I have my old odyssea pc's cheap prob need new bulbs but they work I upgraded to mh
 
M

markeo99

Guest
you are pretty set up I see decent skimmer stealth heater good flow
good aquascape to
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
thank you! Yeah...I know I dont really like the "fake" items in my tank but it does give it some kinda color. My plan was a fowlr tank...so color was going to lack....thus the plants. Unfortunately each "fake" item I take out...i realize how much money I wasted haha. Oh well...it was my first tank and my second one will be much better....i just need to wait for some cash
 
H

heart & sole

Guest
tank looks good i would try to minimize the microbubble iin the tank however...and +1 on removing the fake plants and colored pebbles..off to a good start though
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
I took 2/3 of the plants out last night...only left one in the corner so it doesnt look too empty. I have a container of live rock in the basement being cured. Once cured, I will be adding more live rock to the tank and the 3rd plant will be out! As for the pebbles....thats probably going to be a long, painfully slow process.
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
I picked up some nice live rock from the LFS yesterday and did some aquascaping...I am happy to say that all fake plants have finally been put to rest!!!! Let me know what you think of the new looks!!!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

LIVE ROCK:




 
xtreeme

xtreeme

Member
NICE! We have a 55 also. I need more LR but going 125 so.... I see you have pex pipe on the mj too heh. I have my backpack skimmer above tank, fed by mj and the pipe. Then it flows out to a aqua-tech 60 HOB filter. It isnt plugged in. HOB with Chemi-pure and that bio to stop some buble it has a cut out so if it clogs wont go over. Once I have fuge wont matter.
I got fiji rock local for $5 pound. Its good for filter some say. Need to take pic. If you want to see how I run the skimmer let me know.
 
puff0224

puff0224

Member
yeah...I will be going for a much larger tank in the future. I got into saltwater about 6 months ago and its about as addictive as crack. Anyway i'm trying my best with what I got.
 
xtreeme

xtreeme

Member
Know what you mean. I been in salt around 2 months and now $400 for tank. Never spent that for my other fish. That live rock will prob have some stuff die. The skimmer will make more skimmate.
 
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