pepper

Hey Y'all! I had a 55gal SW tank about 8 years ago and it didn't go well...it was the tank of death. Anyway, I want to do it again and this time I hope to get enough research in beforehand. I've been reading thru all the posts and y'all are all really helpful. I'm going to do a 55gal FOWL tank. Here's my list of questions...

1. If I use live rock and a protein skimmer do I need a power filter?

2. What depth does the substrate need to be (I plan on 1/2 live sand & 1/2 regular sand)?

3. I definately want ocellaris clowns and some tank cleaners. What other fish will go well with the clowns? What typle of cleaners do y'all recommend?

4. When do I set up the QT tank? At the same time I start the big tank or right before I'm ready to buy fish?

This is all I have for now. I'm sure there'll be more later in the process.

Thanks!

sgould

1) No.

2) Mostly a question of personal taste...1" or so is common. Unless you want to do a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) for nitrate processing.

3) Lots of tank mate options with the clowns. Got anything specific you are considering? For clean up crew, cerith snails, astrea snails, and nassarius snails are all good choices. Those are some of the more common examples, but there are others.

4) Thing about the QT is that it needs to be cycled just like the main tank, so you do need to have it set up and ready BEFORE you buy fish to put in it.

Tumbleweed

First off welcome to Fishlore. As for your questions.

1. No. With enough LR and Protein Skimmer a power filter is not needed. For a 55gal tank I recomend arond 65-75lbs of live rock.

2. Substrate depth is eintirely up to you and what looks good to you. I have a deep sand bed wich is 4-5inch. deep. There are pros and cons to a deep sand bed, a short sand bed "anything less then 4inches", and a bare bottom tank. So go with what looks good to you.

3. Clowns get along with almost all other kinds of fish, except there own kind. You can get 2 oc clowns and that would be just fine, but then I would not get any more or others. Then also stay away from large preditor meat eating fish they may want to eat the clown. At that size a 6 line wrase, or a darf angel, and maybe some green chromis might be a good choice. As for a clean up crew. A mixture of snails, and hermit crabs and maybe a skunk cleaner shrimp or 2 would be a good start.

4. You will need a qt tank as soon as the main tank is set up. However I don't qt my first fish because there are no other fish in the tank to infect yet. Also my qt tank is in a box in my garge and I only hook it up when I am going to buy a new fish or when I have a problem. I you a old power filter for this tank, and I keep the boi wheel from it in my sump so it has a bacterial growth on it for when I need it. I also tend to have around 20-30gal of water ready to use at all times.

5. A big suggestion I can make is also to use RO/DI water for your tank. You can either buy disstilled water at a grocery store or buy a RO/DI unit for your home and make your own. Personally since I have multiple tanks and make on average 30-40gals a week it was cheeper to buy my own unit for my home and to make my own water. Water treatments like Prime work, but a really sucsessfull tank will benefit greatly from purified water to start. Prime only nuetralizes the chlorine and chlorimine in the water, it does not remove or dilute many of the other chemicals that are in it.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions. The more you ask the better of an understanding that you will have and the better off you and your tank will be.

pepper

Tumbleweed...you suggested 65-75lbs of LR. If I use less rock than that would I still be OK w/o the filter or would I need to get one in that case?

Does the QT tank need to be cycled seperately from the main tank or can I just move some of the water over to the QT tank after the main tank has cycled?

I don't understand about the sump. What is it? Where is it? What does it do?

Oil_Fan

I can help you with those last questions.

I started with far less LR than what would be recommended for my tank size. I probably started with around 40 lbs for a 65 gallon tank. I then bought more. Some from Petco and then another 20 lbs from Liveaquaria.com. I'm probably sitting around 70-75 lbs now. If you've added fish, then just finish curing the rock in your QT.

QT: If you use water from your main tank, then no cycling is needed. Just keep the filter media in your tank or in your sump. Otherwise you'd have to keep feeding your tank some ammonia drops or another method to keep up the nitrogen cycle. Otherwise all of your bacteria will die. If the media is kept in a sump, the bacteria will all over it and then you just move it to the QT when you get a new fish or need to treat one with meds.

Sump: Most larger tanks have hookups for another tank that is kept underneath. This would be the sump. Basically a hose runs from the overflow and drains into the sump. It then goes through a few chambers and then a return pump moves the water back into the main tank. There are a couple of reasons for the sump. One, it increase the overall volume of water. Two, it give you a place to hide all of the ugly equipment like heaters, protein skimmer and such. Also you can put some LR rubble into to add to your LR total.

Hope this helps and welcome to Fishlore!!

sgould

This read potentially confusing to me, so I just wanted to clarify...hope no one minds. Moving just water from a cycled tank to your QT will NOT cycle your QT. You need to move some nitrifying bacteria, which is in the filter media or on the live rock. So, the important part of Oil Fan's point is to keep some sort of filter media in your cycled main tank, then move it into your QT as needed.

Oil_Fan

So I was a little tired when I wrote that.... heh

sgould

I can relate...I'm on vacation this week, so I've been staying up waaaay to late at night. Pass the caffeine!

pepper

Sorry...more questions!

1. Can I use some of the LR as the filter media from the main tank to the QT? If so, what do I do with it after meds have been added in the QT? I thought that the meds would kill the bacteria on the LR.
2. If I don't want to use the LR should I get a small power filter to move from the main tank to the QT?
3. I know I probably sound stupid, but is the sump just another tank hidden in the cabinet?
4. Back to an earlier question...if I start with a 1" or so bed can I later add to that depth without much hassle?

Thanks!

sgould

1) If you are just quarantining a new fish for a couple of weeks before putting moving it to the main tank, it's fine to use cured live rock. If you are putting a sick fish in QT with intent to medicate with an antibiotic, you just as well not worry about the QT being cycled. Antibiotics will kill off the beneficial bacteria, whether on LR or something else, and the tank is not cycled anymore.

2) That would work, yes.

3) Basically. A sump can be anything that holds water...another tank, a plastic tub, whatever. Typically it houses your skimmer, heater, etc, in order to clean up the appearance of the display tank. It is normally placed under the main tank, hidden by the cabinet.

4) Yes, but be prepared for a day or two of cloudy water.

pepper

Thanks for all the info y'all! Like I said previously...I'm sure I'll be back with more questions as I progress into the set-up and keeping of the tank.