Advice please

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by Buzz1ightyear, Jan 21, 2016.

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  1. Buzz1ightyear

    Buzz1ightyear Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2014
    Messages:
    47
    Location:
    sonoma county
    hey everyone. I have started a 55 gallon tank and want to hear what you guys think I need. So far it has been up and running for 3 months. For filtration I have a sump that is about 20 gallons with a bubble magus c6 protein skimmer which seems to be pulling out good skimmate. I put 40 LBS of dry rock and 15 LBS of live rock in the display tank and a crushed corral substrate that's about an inch and a half deep. For lighting I have some cheap LED light that will grow soft corrals but probably not much else. My near future plans are to get better lighting build a bigger sump with a refugium and make a reef system. I was wondering if you guys think I need to add anything to make a healthy system. Do I need a better skimmer (I feel like mine is doing a good job). If I get 2 Kessil a 160we tuna blue lights will I be able to grow anything I want including LPS and keep clams. I would run those lights with what I have now. As far as dosing goes I plan to manually dose what I need and possible getting a dosing pump later on. What I have for livestock as of now is 5 snails, 5 reef hermits, a long spine Black Sea urchin, 2 clown fish, how many fish do you guys think I can keep successfully should I add more to my cleanup crew. What would be some good ideas for fish. I have been testing regularly and everything seems to be stable right now I let I cycle before I put any livestock in and that was about a month. I'm at work so I can't tell you what the test were at the moment. I know my SG. Was at 1.025 I think. I do 5 gallon water changes every Sunday. i am going slow with adding livestock and plan on adding a fish every 2 weeks until I have everything I want.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2016
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  3. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2011
    Messages:
    2,879
    Location:
    Geneva Switzerland
    pictures would give us a better idea of the physical set up but sounds like you are on the right track. you didnt mention a heater or power-heads in your setup if you are lacking those you might want to look into that. you probably started the nitrogen cycle with the live rocks you added so now you have to play the "waiting game". do you have test kits to follow the cycles evolution?
     
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  4. Buzz1ightyear

    Buzz1ightyear Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2014
    Messages:
    47
    Location:
    sonoma county
    I have a heater and my water is holding at 78 degrees I have 2 cheep powerheads that I got off eBay a couple of years ago. This is my second tank I had a 20 gallon fowlr before I moved. I'm working a 24 hour shift right now so pics won't come for a little while