55 gallon setup

[yogoshio]

Hey guys! Some of you mentioned they wanted more info/pics, so I started this up.

This is actually an upgrade from a 20 gallon that is running on the other end of the room, lol.

So, here we go:

55 gallon standard with stand. Oak finish (it was free, so I didn't care! lol)

48" light system

Aqueon Proflex #1 sump (going to use fuge style and maybe jerry-rig

Eshopps overlfow

Rio 3100 return pump

Fluval 200 watt heater (currently in tank until sump is ready to be fiddled with)

Currently 60 lbs of sand--waiting to add sand from current tank.

Probably about 60-70 lbs of rock, depending on how I decide to make it look.

Not sure about livestock as of yet, but in my 20 gallon I have a tiny clownfish, maybe, maybe an inch long, amidst a dozen or so snails and as many hermits.

 

[Smitty]

Cool...can't wait to see it come to life.

 

[lunacris]

nice free is always good

 

[yogoshio]

In cleaning up, I've decided to let my bio stars from my old canister filter I was using to float in the return water to help spread the good bacteria around as well.

 

[yogoshio]

Question about flow:

I have a Koralia 750 and a Maxijet 900 (in powerhead mode, to match style as Koralia), as well as my sump return on the 55. Pumps are on opposite ends of the tank, and sump return is in middle.

Is this a good enough flow? Should I add more or change spots?

 

[yogoshio]

nice free is always good

Oh, nothings ever free....

The setup and sump I'm already in about $800....

 

[DanSreef]

Looking forward to seeing the build progress! Good Luck!

 

[Lil BamBam]

Oh, nothings ever free....

+1 on that You can keep adding powerheads until you think is plenty. I have 5 powerheads going in my 75 and still feel that I need another one Try not to have any dead flow areas in your tank, but go with 3 or 4 Koralia 750 IMO.. No such thing as to much flow!!!

Looking forward to seeing the build progress!

 

[EricTheRed]

You might have enough flow depending on what type of coral you'll be keeping. Most softies and LPS don't need high flow. In fact excessive flow can damage some LPS. If you go this route then you want to make sure (as LBB said) that you don't have any dead spots. If you feel you have enough flow in all areas of the tank and the detritus isn't allowed to settle on the sandbed then you're probably fine with what you have. If you want to keep sps, then you may want to re-evaluate. As an example, I have a 90G that used to be only softies and lps and I had 2 koralia 1100's, it was fine. Then I went with 2x 1600's when I transitioned to more sps. My next big purchase will be vortechs.

 

[FishBeard]

+1 on that You can keep adding powerheads until you think is plenty. I have 5 powerheads going in my 75 and still feel that I need another one Try not to have any dead flow areas in your tank, but go with 3 or 4 Koralia 750 IMO.. No such thing as to much flow!!!

Looking forward to seeing the build progress!

Or you could buy one mp40, spend as much as bambam has on all his powerheads, and STILL get more/better flow from that single pump in your 55... ;-)

But really, he is right, the only bad flow is no flow. I would definitely recommend at least having two of your pumps running off some sort of wave maker timer or controller to add an element of random flow to your tank, this will help with simulating natural water movement and make your corals happy.

 

[EricTheRed]

Or you could buy one mp40, spend as much as bambam has on all his powerheads, and STILL get more/better flow from that single pump in your 55... ;-)

This is GREAT advice. with all the ph's I've bought, I could easily have had 2 mp40's buy now.

 

[Lil BamBam]

Or you could buy one mp40, spend as much as bambam has on all his powerheads,

LOL!!! I'm crazy The good thing I didn't pay full price as they are used : )

 

[lunacris]

yea the mp 40 are great but what u have is also fine if and when u upgrade think about it or if u ever want to see the mp 40 in action let me know

 

[FishBeard]

I just put a 20 in my tank, same thing as a 40 just lower top end maxed out. You can check it out if you are ever in my area.

 

[yogoshio]

Well, since I don't intend on getting into SPS, then I think I'll be fine for now. I'm not even doing corals for a while anyway. Has anyone had success with keeping a lionfish in a reef environment? Will he go after the shrimp and whatnot? I think I already know the answer, but I'm holding out for hope...

 

[yogoshio]

Oh, and I looked up the MP40, holy crap!!! I can definitely see the value, but wow, those a re freaking expensive! I'll stick with my maxijet powerheads for $30 a piece Might not be the "best," but you get what you need without breaking the bank!

 

[lunacris]

i have seen dwarf lions in a reef but still need to watch out for your small inverts i wouldnt or cant because im always digging around in my tank and im alergic a accidental sting would probally stop me from breathing might do one in my fish only system tho no need to dig around in there lol

 

[EricTheRed]

Yeah, make sure it's a dwarf otherwise it will quickly outgrow your tank. However, it will gobble up small fish and shrimp, which won't leave you with too many other options of fish to keep with it.

In a 55G, you can't keep large fish and the lion eats small fish.......

 

[FishBeard]

I bought my mp20 brand new for $250 including shipping. Totally worth the 50% cost saving over the new mp40...

 

[yogoshio]

So, everything had settled down, so I started my rockscaping and breaking down my old tank, and then while adding the sand from my old tank, it's just as cloudy as was initially. So now my clownfish is in a bucket, and I'm scared to put him in. All my water (safe the refuse after it was stirred up) is in the new tank, which is loaded with twice as much pre-cured LR I got from a friend who runs a LFS that was already coated in corraline. Is it safe for me to acclimate him to the cloudiness? He's been in the bucket for 2 hours, seems perfectly content, no twitching or scurrying, but how much longer can I wait???