55g Aquarium (Saltwater Noob)

[makatak123]

Hey, I finally upgraded from my bunch of ten gallons to a 55 gallon Aquarium. I got it for a steal from one of my teachers ( Frank

Vasquez) for $60.00 for the stand, tank, lid, light, and filter. This is going to be a saltwater tank with reef safe fish only just in case if I want to get coral. Since I am a noob and only 12 years old please post your opinions! I am going to have a 4 inch deep live sand bed for my anemone when I get one. I don't know how much live rock ii should get. And is searching for used protein skimmers for my sump and refugium when I set it up.

Thanks for the help!
Michael

[makatak123]

(UPDATE) I have been looking at fish and was thinking about getting these: 1 yellow Tang, 3 Blue Chromis, 2 ocellaris clowns, and 1 Royal Gramma Basslet. Please tell me if these fish will work out. The only ones I am unsure about are the Yellow Tang and The Royal Gramma Basslet. I heard Tangs need a lot of space to swim and have aggression and the basslet are aggressive.

Thanks, Michael

[rage]

1st, remove your exact addr from your profile. You can leave city or zipcode if you want.

A 55g is small for a yellow tang, he may stress out. Ideally, you want 6ft long tank for tang.
The other fish are fine. The chromis may or may not kill each other. The clownfish are good, they don't really have to have anenome to thrive. My royal gramma was actually the most timid. Unfortunately he passed away recently for no apparent reason. Could be old age or could be that he did not compete for food well. He was very slow. I had to overfeed for him to get to the small leftover bits.

[makatak123]

What if I get a really small tang??

[rage]

If you really want a yellow tang, I guess you can get one. Don't get one too small either, any fish which is too small may not be strong enough to survive the move from the ocean to the fish store and to your tank. Get a regular one, just watch his behavior and see if he is happy in your tank. You may need to sell him later.

You will wait for your tank to finish cycling though, right?

[makatak123]

yes of course! I was just planning for the future. I was wondering if you or anyone else has experience with sumps, refugiums, or over flows, because my dad does not want me to install an overflow because it might flood. I was thinking instead of drilling the over flow have a pump in the tank pumping water to the Refugium/Sump. Will this work??

[makatak123]

UPDATE! I finally got the aquarium today! The dimensions of the tank are 48in long, 12in wide, 13in high. Since I am going to buy my substrate and live rock I have 4 questions. 1. What kind of substrate should I get? 2.How many pounds of live rock should I get? 3. How much watts should I need? 4. How many pounds of substrate should I get? Reminder I will have a sump and refugium. Thanks for the help!

[rage]

There are a lot of info on the net, this site included. You just need to look them up. For us to answer them, we would just have to retype everything others had done already.

[luisht]

I would say at least a pound of LR for every gallon, same for the sand IMO

[fishlvr10]

alrighty!!! You have so many questions! :) its great that you are researching your stuff before going through with anything. Research/knowledge is what drives a good hobbyist. Okay so about your livestock list: I'd say that the tang is alittle bit "iffy"..it could be done if you really really have your heart set on a tang-but just barely... I would take a look at some other fascinating species.......like idk a couple of engineering gobies or a hawkfish!! both would fit into a 55 perfectly and they add so much character to a tank! also, i agree that an anemone is never neccessary to a clownfish's survival so i would definetly recommend that you wait a couple of months to figure out if you want one or not. welcome to the saltwater side of things and i wish you luck!

[makatak123]

I decided to scratch the tang dream. I thought about my stick and was going to try getting 2 clownfish, 2 red firefish, 1-3 bangai cardinals. I will probally get one bangai cardinal. I am still thinking this through.

[makatak123]

Update, NO cardinals, starting to re think and starting to want a yellow tang. Does anyone know a good clean up crew for a 55g?

[afremont]

Not to rain on your parade, but that is a 33 gallon long tank if it's 13" tall. A 55 is 21" tall. Here is a couple of reference sites:

http://alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm

http://www.aquariumdimensions.com/

Just so you know when/if you need to medicate your tank.

Others may want to check dimensions against the charts to make sure they are buying what they think they are buying. There seems to be a good many tanks for sale out there that don't hold near as much water as the seller claims. I know that I bought a 29 off CL and it only holds 20 gallons. Of course a once over with a tape measure and I wouldn't have wasted my money on it, caveat emptor.

[makatak123]

It is a 55g aquarium. I just re measured the tank and it is 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21.

[makatak123]

ok, today i got 10 lbs of live rock and 40 of live sand. I aslo just put in my salt and water today (no de chlorinized) is my live rock and sand safe to be put in the tank?