55 Gallon Saltwater Tank

[enchanted]

Okay, after discovering my GSP can go full marine and do so naturally along with the fact that they can be okay with other fish I've decided to move my 55 Gallon to Full Marine. I have 2 55 Gallon tanks and the better one currently needs resealed so I am going to be doing that and using this tank.

What I have at the moment is the tank, 4x40W NO Lighting, AquaClear 500, and Penguin 170.

I'm going to be going with a sump design and would like to know if a 10 Gallon is large enough for this purpose?

Next is lighting, I want this to be a full reef setup, is 160W NO lighting going to work at all or is it just not enough?

Also, I did see the thread where Navare showed the bottom for liverock, but I didn't fully catch how to build this.

And finally, can a start with just a small amount of live rock and a large amount of base rock? Trying to keep costs on the basics down to begin with.

 

[Navarre]

Not sure what a 160w is?

But for any reef tank you need lighting and lots of it!

Any tank that has a capacit yof more than 40 gallons needs a halide IMO. the tanks then tend to be deep so a halide is required to feed the corals you will be wanting.

A 10 gallon sump is fine, if you can get more than even better but a 10 gallon will do fine.

Im not sure what you mean about the base of lierock? Do you mean the reefrack? IF so then what dont you understand about it?

As for suplimenting liverock with base rock...

Make sure the base rock is porous.. We have a rock over here called Reefbones and this is basically Liverock left to dry out. over time it wil becoe full live rock once again.
Tuffa rock or most other types of base rock is risky to use as its not really the same as liverock and can cause problems later on down the line.
If you can be sure that the rock you are using is dried live rock then this wont be aproblem.

If you wish to mix them both then i would suggest you have a minimum of 1/3 liverock to 2/3s base rock. If you have any less live rock then although the base rock will become live after a time, you wont get the diversity of life growing on it as the liverock wont be there in high enough quantities

 

[enchanted]

As for the Reefrack I was referring to the bottom of it. I understood the PVC part, but what was used as the bottom? Every thought I had was of sand going right down under the reefrack.

Not sure what a 160w is? = 160 Watts total. If this isn't enough would 440W PowerCompact work? As I said I'm trying to keep costs low and from what I understand of Metal Halide I would be looking in excess of $300 to do it. I can do two Jebo 4x55W fixtures for less than $200.00.

The base rock I am speaking of I found on a website, can't remember it off the top of my head, but it was highly recommended on a few different forums (the site that is) and I'm 99% sure it is dried live rock.

If a 10 Gallon is to small would a 15 or 20 be a better choice?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Navarre]

I dont like using watts per gallon as this is such a poor way to determine what type of ligting you need under the hood. for example.. if you have an 8ft long tank thats only 12 inches deep then 2 rows of tubes (4 tubes total ) should be fine would be enough to have almost all corals as the water isnt deep.. not sure how many watts these tubes are but around 30w maybe? this totals 120w of power?

If the tank is is 4ft long but 2ft deep (same volume) then you will need at the very least, 2x250w halides. this gives a total of 500w!

Basically you need to give the dimensions of the tank and what type of corals you wish to keep in there? Soft corals? Sps hard corals, lps hard coral etc?

In most cases I would advise T5s for a tank in all but the most difficult of corals (T5s are powercompacts i think? if thats what T5s are called in amreica) Soft corals and a few lps hard corals will live under these lights. If you want acroporas, millipora or montipora then halides are neded IMO.

If they are dried live rock then go get some! i have60lbs of the stuff in my tank! When i get the next batch of photos together i will post the piccys if the dried live rock in with the mature live rock. it looks bone white cos all life no it is dea.d but give it a few months and you wont tell the difference.

10 gallons is fine.. if you can fit larger then i dont see why you shuldnt. More water = better stabilit.y if you cant fit more then 10 gallons is better than 5

On the reefrack there is an acrylic barrier to stop the sand from going under the rack.

hope this helps.

 

[Great Lakes]

By GSP, I am assuming you mean a puffer..right?

Puffers are anti reef fish.

As for lighting, for about 75 bucks, you can wire up new ballasts that will produce nearly 500 watts from your 4 40watt tubes.

I did this over a 90 gallon with good results, so I am sure it would work well over a 55.

GL

 

[enchanted]

Well, I have read a lot on GSP and how people are keeping them in Marine and it seems that their are some tricks, especially to keeping them with the shrimp and crabs, but it can be done in a reef tank.

Actually, I could do the ballasts for $35 and ODNO the lights to double it at 320W using my current bulbs. But if I am going to have to upgrade lighting I would rather put the money into something of value such as PC Lighting.

T5 is a Flourescent bulb and the wattages vary depending on light, it isn't a Power compact and is more popular in Europe than the US. What I have are T12, but after reading what you have said then I think I should go with the 2 Jebo 220W fixtures for 440W total (4x55 * 2).

Alright, so my next question is what do I need for a substrate? I'm buying silicone next week to reseal the 55 Gallon that I'm going to do this with. I need to get the substrate in and the sump going before I move the puffers and I'm going to take the tank brackish first, but I want to make sure I have all the right substrate and foundation first.

Would it be a problem to put the dead live rock in first prior to putting in the live rock so it ends up on bottom?

Thanks for all the help and info.

 

[Puffer_freak]

Okay, after discovering my GSP can go full marine and do so naturally along with the fact that they can be okay with other fish I've decided to move my 55 Gallon to Full Marine. I have 2 55 Gallon tanks and the better one currently needs resealed so I am going to be doing that and using this tank.

What I have at the moment is the tank, 4x40W NO Lighting, AquaClear 500, and Penguin 170.

I'm going to be going with a sump design and would like to know if a 10 Gallon is large enough for this purpose?

Next is lighting, I want this to be a full reef setup, is 160W NO lighting going to work at all or is it just not enough?

Also, I did see the thread where Navare showed the bottom for liverock, but I didn't fully catch how to build this.

And finally, can a start with just a small amount of live rock and a large amount of base rock? Trying to keep costs on the basics down to begin with.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I do hope that you wean him gently onto full marine... don't just put him straight in...

I know nothing of marine, but make sure you put something nasty with him, so that he doesn't kill them!

Best of luck though!

 

[enchanted]

I will be migrating them to full marine. A GSP's life cycle is from freshwater to full marine then back to freshwater for breeding then back to full marine, etc...

Take a look at the 55 Gallon GSP tank here.


http/wetwebfotos.com/Home?actionRequest=...iew&userID=1918

 

[Navarre]

I would use Aragonite for the substrate. A good buffer for the tank.

You can add the dead liverock and allow this to mature slowly as the tank increases with salinity. However i would check water readings on a daily basis as the rock will need ot adjust each time to a new environment.

 

[enchanted]

What would be the best place (and least expensive) to buy argonite?

Thanks for all the help BTW. Do you have a link to that reefrack thread? I want to buy the stuff to start putting this tank together this week and hopefully have it up in a month or so to start going brackish, if not sooner.

Thanks

 

[Navarre]

Im afraid i dont really know where you can get Aragonite in the USA> Im sure a member here will advise you where to look though.

I will PM you the Reefpark link.

 

[Great Lakes]

Any marine lfs will have the aragonite on hand.

 

[enchanted]

Well, I would rather try to find somewhere other than an LFS. It is actually almost cheaper order online in regards to substrates then buying them at my LFS. Good fish prices, horrendous equipment prices (except tanks. )

 

[Great Lakes]

The trouble wit buying aragonite online is the shipping costs. It will usually addup to more than you would spend at the lfs.

GL

 

[enchanted]

Well, kind of what I was wondering if their would be anywhere other than an LFS to buy Argonite.