Newbie Fish...well everything Question

[nemosmama]

Ok this may be a long post and for that I'll apologize in advance .
My husband and I have decided to start a saltwater aquarium, this is something he has wanted to do for years and I always said no because of the percieved difficulty of the whole thing. However he has talked me into it

and we have purchased a 55g tank along with a filter, movement pump (I think thats what its called) skimmer and heater. I don't know off hand the brands and such but can get those if you all need them. Have done a ton of reading both from books, forums, websites and talked to our LFS guy. We are doing a FOWLR tank as it seems like the most logical and easiest course for Newbies. The tank has 55lbs of live rock and approx. 1 inch of sand (live) and it IS NOT ready for fish in any way. The rock, sand and water were put in yesterday in fact and we know we are weeks from fishies and even from the cleaning crew really. When we do get fish the plan is a community tank based around 2 false perc clownfish.
My questions are:
1-With the above setup whats the best cleaning crew to use, I've heard snails, others have said crabs and I would really kind of like to have a fire shrimp based solely on his looks also how many of each is advised for this size tank?
2-With the 2 false percs what else could live happily in the tank?? I have a one year old little girl and would love to get bright colored fish for her to watch. But aside from the clowns not a bit picky about what fish to get, though I don't really want damsels (even as starter fish)
3-How many fish?? Is five to many, not enough, just right, etc...
Again sorry for the length but I wanted to hit all questions at once if I could. The thing is I'll think of at least fifteen more as soon as I hit submit. Thanks for your time all!

 

[meowzer]

Welcome to swf...Sounds like you have a good start going with all your research....what type of lighting do you have, or lid?

 

[nemosmama]

Um, I'm not at home, all I recall is its a coralife 50/50 but I have the list of everything at home that I can post later this evening.
Oh and see another question I remembered...water. Is it best to buy water at walmart or use tap when first setting up the tank?

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Nemosmama
http:///forum/post/3031782
Um, I'm not at home, all I recall is its a coralife 50/50 but I have the list of everything at home that I can post later this evening.
Oh and see another question I remembered...water. Is it best to buy water at walmart or use tap when first setting up the tank?
Look into getting an ro/di water purifier....BUT for now if you have to buy it...buy it...don't use tap.
Just wondering what kind of top you have...some fish like to jump...LOL

 

[nemosmama]

Ok, I'll get the full list of what we have as soon as I get home and can look at it. As for jumping out I don't think any fish could jump out of this one it looked to me like it was pretty heavy and secure and it covered the entire top of the tank. BUT I know next to nothing on this stuff still

and will post a list of the full setup when I get off work. Thank you Meowzer

 

[deejeff442]

welcome to the hobbie.
first off one word of advice come here for advice not the lfs.
maybe one out of a hundred will steer you right.
you have a pretty good amount of rock so the system should carry a good amount of bioload.
alot of watermovement is key to a healthy tank.
not just a filter pump but powerheads in the tank.maybe post what pumps you have.you really cant have eneough flow.
it will put oxygen in the water and keep the algea away.
after a few weeks the tank will have an algea bloom they all do.
once the tank has cycled add the crew.
i like snails and emerald crabs i also have a few hermits.
fire shrimp is great for the tank.
if you stay in the 2-3 inch fish range i dont see why after the tank has aged 7 or 8 fish would work .
blennies are cool,gobies,cromis,no damsels although i have one but he is 10 yrs old.they can be a problem.
good luck

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Nemosmama
http:///forum/post/3031790
Ok, I'll get the full list of what we have as soon as I get home and can look at it. As for jumping out I don't think any fish could jump out of this one it looked to me like it was pretty heavy and secure and it covered the entire top of the tank. BUT I know next to nothing on this stuff still

and will post a list of the full setup when I get off work. Thank you Meowzer
LOL...you would be surprised what they can get out of...Do you have a canopy???
I like firefish...they jump

 

[nemosmama]

Ok heres what we have:
55g tank
1/2 & 1/2 hood with 2 18: bulb lights (2 coralife 50/50 bulbs)
Marineland Penguin 350B Bio wheel filter
Stealth heater (200 watt)
Coralife super skimmer
Hydar Koralia movement pump (400gph)
Instant ocean Hydrometer.
There are openings in the back of the top for the skimmer, filter, etc and no theres no canopy on it right now. Does that help??

 

[meowzer]

Anyway you can take a pic of your hood? what is 1/2 and 1/2?
Chocolate starfish need established tanks....after a minimum of 6 months old.
The koralis is a powerhead...should be a nano or a number 1...does it say on the box 400 gph isn't a big one.
You should get a refractometer to measure salinity...hydrometers are very inaccurate

 

[nemosmama]

1/2 & 1/2 top I don't know how to explain its just the top that came with the aquarium....guess best way to describe it is its almost like there's two lids on it. One on one half and one on the other its all one piece but you can lift one side or the other (or both) and each side has a light inside it.
Nothing on the boxes say nano or number one that I see. We have two of them

 

[meowzer]

Well I have a Koralia 1 box and on it it says 400gph...so you must have 2 K1's then
Did you buy this 55g as a kit?

 

[nemosmama]

Not a kit really. We bought it from someone that had it set up and decided to much of a pain to keep it up. They took the fish to the LPS and then sold off the tank and equipment....is that not a good thing? Before we put anything in it we filled it with water and made sure the skimmer, filter and motion pump worked.

 

[nemosmama]

I'm blind meowzer. It's a Hydor Koralia box that says 1 on the front of them both.

 

[meowzer]

NOOOo that's fine how you bought it, I'm still curious about the lights and the 1/2 & 1/2 thing?
Did he have SW in it or fresh? Make sure you clean it good

 

[nemosmama]

SW...Hippo Tang, Two Clown Fish, Damsels. Oh it was cleaned then recleaned

The lights were replaced by us and we got new wheels and such for the filter.
As for the 1/2 and 1/2 thing .... picture two 27 1/2 (I know it doesn't exist

) pushed up side by side. The way the two tops would look sitting next to each other is what this is...but its all one piece.

 

[meowzer]

I wouldn't use the bio wheels...you really don't need them for SW
Have you seenthe tops on FW tanks...is that what they are?

 

[deejeff442]

they had alot of work with the tank because those two little pumps didnt flow eneough ,the coralife skimmer isnt very good,and a bio wheel set is only good for a qt tank.
i think she means by 1/2 and 1/2 light is the front is the lid that flips up and the back half is glass where the light sits.
if so it is a fw set up.
i dont know what you want to invest but ,if you dont run a sump you will need to get bigger koralias #3's and some live rock.

 

[nemosmama]

no no no not at all that way. there is no glass or anything at all like that not in the least the lights don't "sit" on anything they are mounted inside the lid. They sell this tank at petstores yes but its not a FW setup at all...this isn't going to be able to be explained I guess. I'll have to just wait until I can get pictures or seek help elsewhere because I can't get pictures of it right now
What do you mean I need live rock??? I have 55lbs of live rock and 40+lbs of live sand now thats not enough for this tank??

 

[pete159]

Dont forget a high quality protein skimmer, they take a huge amount of gunk out of the water.

 

[meowzer]

55lbs should be ok....a little more wouldn't hurt...I'm sorry, but I am very confused about the top...YES a pic would help....BUT if it is the fluorescent lights they will be good for fish only, and limited...limited corals....
You will need another Koralia....maybe a K3 to add...You can use that filter..many don't like them, but it will be ok as long as you don't load your tank full of fish.
IDK anything about the coralife skimmers...sorry