Ok now for a real newbie.

abrasive

abrasive

New Member
Hi there,
I am gonna be setting up a saltwater aquarium for the first time here soon. After Christmas.
I am looking at getting a 55-80 gallon aquarium.
I have ordered some books an am waiting for them but I found this website and thought I would post.
I am going to start with a fish only aquarium.
What exactly is needed for fish only?
What kind of filter?
What kind of Rock/Sand/Crushed Coral for the bottom. Live or what?
What would be needed for lights?
Please be easy on me as I know these are pretty basic questions.
Thanks,
Andrew
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by Abrasive
Hi there,
I am gonna be setting up a saltwater aquarium for the first time here soon. After Christmas.
I am looking at getting a 55-80 gallon aquarium.
I have ordered some books an am waiting for them but I found this website and thought I would post.
I am going to start with a fish only aquarium.
What exactly is needed for fish only?
What kind of filter?
What kind of Rock/Sand/Crushed Coral for the bottom. Live or what?
What would be needed for lights?
Please be easy on me as I know these are pretty basic questions.
Thanks,
Andrew
Welcome! I would recommend a wet-dry like the one shown. Wet-Dry's are excellent in keeping ammonia low which is what u need in a fish only set up. I would recommend live sand for ur substrate and some simple pc's for lighting. Do you want to keep LR in ur tank??
 
abrasive

abrasive

New Member
Probally No live rock to start. Or is it better to have it with fish only. Its my understanding that even non live rock will eventually become live. Right? Does it help with cycling?
some simple pc's for lighting? Hehe told you I was new. What are these?
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by Abrasive
Probally No live rock to start. Or is it better to have it with fish only. Its my understanding that even non live rock will eventually become live. Right? Does it help with cycling?
some simple pc's for lighting? Hehe told you I was new. What are these?
u could get base rock instead of live. Ur correct that it will become live. Your fish would like rockwork for places to hide and swim in between. PC stands for power compacts. You may want to scroll through the abreviations thread on the site. Alot of peeps on here use the abreviations.. Ur live sand and a raw piece of shrimp will stimulate the cycling process. If ur gonna add Live Rock i would add it all at once because remember any addition to the bioload of ur tank can create an ammonia spike so adding alot of rock first during ur cycle will be beneficial than adding a bit here and there stimulating another ammonia spike.
 
abrasive

abrasive

New Member
Originally Posted by WHO DEY
u could get base rock instead of live. Ur correct that it will become live. Your fish would like rockwork for places to hide and swim in between. PC stands for power compacts. You may want to scroll through the abreviations thread on the site. Alot of peeps on here use the abreviations.. Ur live sand and a raw piece of shrimp will stimulate the cycling process. If ur gonna add Live Rock i would add it all at once because remember any addition to the bioload of ur tank can create an ammonia spike so adding alot of rock first during ur cycle will be beneficial than adding a bit here and there stimulating another ammonia spike.
Thanks so much for you help. I'll look up the abreviation post.
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by Abrasive
Thanks so much for you help. I'll look up the abreviation post.
ok, keep reading the many threads on topics ur curious about. This site has a wealth of info from experienced reefers. Feel free to ask about anything and good luck to you. Just remember that the hobby takes patience with adding slow or a crash can happen very quickly. Just keep that in the back of ur head
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by SWABearF16
The dudes/dudettes on this site are extremely helpful. I'm also a "noob" and will be ***) starting a SW aquarium once my house is built. Someone on the site sent me this link for acronymns. I found it quite helpful. Welcome! Maybe we can screw up our tanks together!
acronyms:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...light=acronyms
screwups??? Not on my watch
 
garnet13aj

garnet13aj

Active Member
I'd suggest sand over crushed coral (cc) you can keep a lot more fish/inverts. It's easier to keep clean.
 
abrasive

abrasive

New Member
Thanks again.
Couple more questions.
A friend said he has 2 penguin 160/170 filters I could have. Are these any good?
I will go with live sand then. How much is usually needed for a 55 galon aquarium? And could I mix in some green plain aquarium rock if I wanted to?
What is a protein skimmer used for? Does a fish only tank need one?
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by Abrasive
Thanks again.
Couple more questions.
A friend said he has 2 penguin 160/170 filters I could have. Are these any good?
I will go with live sand then. How much is usually needed for a 55 galon aquarium? And could I mix in some green plain aquarium rock if I wanted to?
What is a protein skimmer used for? Does a fish only tank need one?

well, i had two penguin 330's on my 55 and switched over to a sump and my tank has never looked better. It was a serious pain cleaning the HOB filters. I would recommend the sump. A protein skimmer kind of simulates a wave. you know the sea foam you walk through on the beach? It's pretty much the same concept of foam collection a skimmer collects. Tiny air bubbles push organic solids ie.. fish crap to the top and it is forced into the collection chamber. So yes, when u walk through sea foam on the beach your walking through fish poop.
 
joncat24

joncat24

Active Member
i am not familiar with the peguins,
You will need around 40-50 lbs of sand, and no do not add regular painted freshwater aqaurium rock.
protein skimmers remove disolved organic contents from your water, I would not wet up a saltwater tank without one. coralife ss65 would be a good one for that size tank...Good value, around $80 online.

48 hours worth of skim on my 180

 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by joncat24
i am not familiar with the peguins,
You will need around 40-50 lbs of sand, and no do not add regular painted freshwater aqaurium rock.
protein skimmers remove disolved organic contents from your water, I would not wet up a saltwater tank without one. coralife ss65 would be a good one for that size tank...Good value, around $80 online.

48 hours worth of skim on my 180
does the clss come with a remote drain?
 
joncat24

joncat24

Active Member
the ss65 doesn't come with a drain plug. the 125 and 220 do, but I dont use it . I just clean it out when it gets full. Usually time for a cleaning by then anyway.
 
who dey

who dey

Active Member
Originally Posted by joncat24
the ss65 doesn't come with a drain plug. the 125 and 220 do, but I dont use it . I just clean it out when it gets full. Usually time for a cleaning by then anyway.
gottcha, what happened to our defense 2nite??
which size skimmer is that one??
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
I have the ss220 and couldn't be happier with it, upgraded from a seaclone and can't believe how much the seaclone missed.
 
bluemantr

bluemantr

Member
Here is another advise from another newbie. I was thinking same as you I mean only FOWLR but beleive me when you start looking awesome reef tanks you will want to have corals too. Get best equipment you can effort it will save you lots of money on long run. In my opinion get your tank drilled before do anything and get a sump. If you go with live rock you wont need any other filtration. Live rock and live sand is your biological filter. Skimmer is very good thing to have even for newbies must have, because it will save you from lots of problems. I have Coralife Super skimmer 65 on my 29g and it works awesome. Seaclone and prizm doesnt have good reweievs. Start with RO water. Stay away from tab water. I wish i did start with RO but i did use tab water at the beginning, i had all type of algea problems until i switch over to RO water. Thats all i can remember for now :)
Oh last and most important thing, READ, READ and READ more. Ask questions here lots of pros will help you.
Good luck and enjoy
 
chuckcac

chuckcac

Member
Abrasive said:
Thanks again.
I will go with live sand then. How much is usually needed for a 55 galon aquarium?
QUOTE]
WELCOME!

check out the live rock/ live sand section of this website... there is a calculator for how much sand you will need for the desired depth...
Also, within the archives a FAQ of the forum there are some amazing 'step-by-step' methods for getting started, definitions of equipment, protein skimmers, cycling, etc.... check these out
Click to expand...
 
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