New To This all

[scottghs]

Hello everyone
I have a couple of questions for you all. I just recently found this forum and am glad to see that there is
some place I can get some answers.
I am setting up a 50 gallon (36x12x18) tank that I used to use for a freshwater tank, into a saltwater tank.
Now, I currently have it set up and running with live sand, and it's been going for a week. My two questions
have to do with the filter and the lighting. I don't anticipate having coral in the tank, but I don't want to rule
it out completely. What I do know I'm going to have is at least a couple of anemones.
I'm wondering if this lighting will work for (at least) the anemones.
Coralife Lunar Aqualights Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights
36" 192 watt
(2-96 watt) 34" Square Pin 2-3/4-watt
And if so, would it be able to sustain any amount of corals?
Also, I have a Whisper 30 Power Filter in addition to the live rock and sand. I doubt that this will be enough proper filtration, but I would like suggestions on what I should use for my size tank.
Any other information is of course appreciated
Thanks,
Scott

 

[tizzo]

Your new so your not gonna believe me, but after you research you'll find it to be true... as far as filtration, live rock is the best. If you have 75 pounds in a 50 gallon tank, you will need no means of mechanical filtration. Meaning you can toss the whisper filter. Or put it on a qt tank.
As far as lighting, depending on the anemone, PC's will not be sufficient for most. I believe a condy would be ok, but the thing is, you only wanna put one anemone to a tank, (excluding that one splits), anemones will sting and kill others if they come in contact with each other.
PC's are ok for most soft corals, such as leathers, and mushrooms but if youever want stonies, then PC's will not be sufficient to sustain them in the long run.

 

[1journeyman]

Live rock and good water movement are crucial. Also research "protein skimmers".
Anemones need established tanks and very strong lighting. Do a lot of research on them.
Welcome to the boards!

 

[tizzo]

Oh yeah that... I was thinking it, but my A.D.D. butt forgot to add it.
Live rock should not eliminate the skimmer.

 

[oceanists]

You kind of have it reversed, It will work with some corals , but deffinatly not for anemones , they need MH regardless of what people say , with pc on that big of a tank it will only live for about 4 months then take the plunge ....... mushrooms however should do ok
As for your filter it wont do well either , I would research the word sump , buy your elf a 10 or 20 gallon and start building.
Not only will it give you a better filter it will add water volume making your tank eiser to maintain .... with power filters they dont do real well in saltwater because they eventually jam from sand calcium and salt build up

 

[acrylic51]

Tizzo summed it up pretty good......Toss the Whisper filter and think about doing a sump/fuge combo if possible......I don't totally believe in the LR theory as enough filtration, but some do.....I still believe you need some type of mechanical filtration along the way.....
Lighting will have to be upgraded depending what your planning on keeping anenome wise.....I don't think overall you'll be to pleased with the standard PC's.....MH's are expensive and aren't a must, but you might want to seriously look at the T5 light setups and they would be more than enough with the right reflector for anenomes...
A very important piece of equipment which should be your biggest investment right now would be the best skimmer you can afford.....I recommend AquaC, ASM.

 

[acrylic51]

Sorry didn't mean to be rude, but WELCOME to the boards!!!!!!!!

 

[scottghs]

Thanks for those quick responses. Mainly I am wanting an anenome to try and get a Maroon Clownfish to pair with. Probably a BubbleTip as I've read that is what they most readily (but not always) take to.
As for lighting I've done some looking into the T5 and have run accross the Nova Extreme T5 Fixtures. Some have the built in Lunar lights, some don't. Any personal opinions on this brand? I really don't want to get into the hastle and expense of the MH lights so these T5 lights look like they're going to be it.
Again, thanks for all the responses and the warm welcomes
- Scott

 

[acrylic51]

Nova systems are nice, but when it comes to Lunar lights I wouldn't use anything other than the IceCap leds....

 

[scottghs]

As I'm in an apartment right now for school and all, I don't really have the space for a sump. Would you recommend the Remora series Protein Skimmers by AquaC?
They seem to take up relatively little space (in comparison to the sump anyway) and for the smaller size of my tank they seem like a viable option.
I think I'm going to go ahead and wait on getting a lighting fixture (I still have the old FL from my Freshwater tank) since I am just cycling the tank and have no real need of a better one atm. That way I can split the costs up, and pretend like it isn't costing me so much money.

 

[sign guy]

I have heard (from acrilic) that aqua c skimmers are good and I love to recomend sumps but with that much lr you should be fine with a good skimmer. and welcome to swf.com

 

[sign guy]

hey, I am sorry to break your heart but in ten years when you look back and think "I could have bought a small weekend home with what I spent on my tanks" remember that statement about holding off on the lights lol

:hilarious

 

[kidwicked]

Originally Posted by Tizzo
as far as filtration, live rock is the best. If you have 75 pounds in a 50 gallon tank, you will need no means of mechanical filtration.

thats awesome.. are you saying you don't need ANY filters at all than?

 

[acrylic51]

AquaC would be a very good choice of skimmer.....I don't think Tizzo was saying you could go without a filter, but the choice is yours and don't think it would be a wise choice IMO

 

[kidwicked]

Well he did say no "mechanical" filtration at all.
If it is done in the wild than why can't it be done the same way in a smaller area that is supposed to replicate a piece of the ocean and how it functions?

 

[acrylic51]

I think it's a rather poor thing to do by not running a true filtration system on any tank.......Tizzos' information isn't bad or wrong and it is and can be done, but it's not just as simple as stuffing a tank full of LR and saying that LR is better filtration than anything......You stuff a tank full of LR and you cut down on flow inside the system and probably will have stuff trapped that you can't get out as well.
The wild is totally different from our systems that it' not a closed system....Our home aquariums are considered closed systems that we must monitor and constantly watch our parameters and water changes......We have to employ numerous mechanical things on our systems to replicate what Mother Nature does naturally.....From the water foaming on the beach, to he hurricanes, typhoons, and other naturally occurring events in the wild; all these things clean and purge the ocean of unwanteds and keep it healthy....
I would say that if you could do a constant water change throughout the course of the day you could probably be very successfull with a method like that, but most of us don't have the resources to employ that on our system.....If your running a 50 gallon tank with a huge sump/fuge area with plenty of LR and macros, such as Bangs' Lagoon, then yes it might work for you as well...but not many of us have room for a dedicated 900 gallon Lagoon......When you stuff a tank with LR you cut down on water flow and swimming area inside the tank......Mother Nature is constantly flushing itself with new water taking away excess nutrients and such, and to say just to rely on LR would be a total shame to say the least in your system.....I think Tizzo info is good and correct, but there is more to it than just adding tons of LR and saying that's plenty good enough........Alot of people rely on just LR and to say the least if you do you research as suggested a good percentage of your very good successfull tanks such as Steve West, Mark Melev and such they still employ, maybe not 100% of the time some type of mechanical filtration.........Again this is an area where you should really do some research on..
It almost comes down to saying that bioballs are nitrate factories and you should run rubble rock in your sump instead of bioballs......I beg to differ with most on that that if you submerge your rock it will still collect sediment and detrius and will still trap junk in or on it.....no different then bioballs.....you still have to blow that rock off, and most people don't know that you could take a small portion of your bioballs and rinse to get rid of the junk buildup on them if any over time, and you will keep the nitrates from becoming a problem........
Again just an area you should research and think alot of time people just put out to general of information to newer people that can be kind of misleading at times......And the statement of "NO Mechanical Filtration" is wrong IMO.

 

[kidwicked]

but can't you just use pumps for the water flow?
and use the little cleaner creatures to clean up any waste.

 

[mandarin w]

I agree with acrylic, I would use a filter, With all the money you will be putting into this tank, do you want to chance it. and have your livestock die from to many nitrates in the tank.
A 55 gal is a small tank, and with out a sump you only have 55 gal to work with. If something gets out of wack, in a 55 it will happen quickly. I wouldn't go with a whisper, (they are a waste of $$) I have never seen a 75 or smaller without running a sump, have nitrates below 20. And that is still to high. And as far as just useing LR, I beleive the article refered to very established, mature, LR. Not someone just starting a new system.
You could use a emperor 400 or use a canister filter. The aqua C I have heard good things about, There is also the Coral Live Super Skimmer, just throwing out options.
As far as lights go, Look for a nice little T-5 set up. The moonlights or ok. They help with spawning.
T-5 will handle an anemone and a lot of coral choices. just not the hard corals. T-5 are powerful, and run cooler than MH. and don't use as much electric as MH. MH are the best lighting though. It is the most natural. and the tanks looks better with MH's. The down side with MH's is they run hotter, and use more electric.

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by KidWicked
but can't you just use pumps for the water flow?
and use the little cleaner creatures to clean up any waste.
Not that simple there's more to it than that

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
Not that simple there's more to it than that
I disagree.. but Acrylic is right, there are a lot of different opinions.
Don't forget, however, that technically a good skimmer IS A MECHANICAL filter. Any no one will tell you to go with live rock and not go with a skimmer.
My 210 runs with only a skimmer. I followed the rules, however when setting up the tank. My rock is off the glass and I have serious water movement throughout the entire tank.