My 55 Gallon Aquarium

[Budde]

Hello!

I have a 55 Gallon Aquarium. At this point it has gone through it's initial Cycle. I have a Hang On the Back Filter, with a Tetra Heater.

I don't have any pictures yet, I'll get those after this CyanoBacteria is gone.

Here is the Livestock I currently have:

• 1 Ocellaris Clownfish (Tank Raised)
• 2 Devil Damsels
• Quite a Few Turbo Snails
• Quite a Few Hermit Crabs

I have about 4-5 Pounds of Live Rock. 40 Pounds of Live Sand.


Planning on Getting in the Next Months :

• Powerhead(s)
• Test Kits - Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Calcium, Phosphate, Carbonate Hardness, Magnesium, Iodine, and Strontium
• Refugium/Sump
• Quarantine Tank
• PC Lighting
• More Sand - Maybe 20 Pounds
• About 50 - 52 More Pounds of Live Rock

I am guessing that you have kind of figured out what type of tank I am working on getting finished to call it a Reef. It is planned to have Soft Corals, Zoanthids, and maybe some LPS Corals.

Questions:

• Will I be able to have a Couple (2) of Mandarins?
• Can I add a Sun Coral?
• After I get the PC Lighting, will I be able to get a Anemone?

I'll add more questions if I get them.

Thanks,

[lReef lKeeper]

i would let the tank mature and the pod population really take off before adding even 1 mandarin. they will destroy an small pod population in a new tank withing a few days. i would recommend waiting at least six months AFTER you get all of the LR in the tank, the sump going , and the refugium running. the refugium will be a good place for the pods to breed in the system with out being eaten at a young stage. in a 55 i would olny add 1 due to 2 of them competing for food in a small system.

[Budde]

Thanks, Bobby. The plan is to have all of the Live Rock in there by the end of April (My Birthday is in April). Hoping the Fuge/Sump will be setup by the end of the Summer. Thanks, I will only put one Mandarin in there. Oh, and for those of you wondering if there is another way to feed those Mandarins. Melev (Marc Levenson) has made a Mandarin Diner... See: Melevsreef.com - Melev's Mandarin Diner


Thanks,

[Budde]

Oh, and Does anyone know about How Much it will cost me to build a DIY Sump/Fuge?

Thanks,

[lReef lKeeper]

cost will depend on the size that you want to go with. you can get plexi-glass baffles cut at HD or Lowes for pretty cheap and install them yourself with silicone or a weld on type of glue.

so it will realy depend on the size of tank that you want to make it out of.

[Budde]

Thanks Again, Bobby! I would like to Set it up Properly... So, The Fuge should probably be 20 Gallons, and the Sump should be what? What Equipment do I need to get to make this Sump work?

Thanks,

[Amphibious]

Hey Budde,

You've got me confused. Help me out here...

Originally Posted by Budde

I have a 55 Gallon Aquarium. At this point it has gone through it's initial Cycle. I have a Hang On the Back Filter, with a Tetra Heater.

How do know it has cycled because you also said this...

Planning on Getting in the Next Months :
Test Kits - Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Calcium, Phosphate, Carbonate Hardness, Magnesium, Iodine, and Strontium

You haven't bought the very basic test kits that tell you your tank has cycled. Yet you are telling us it has cycled. How do you know??? If you took your water to the LFS and had them test it for you, you can't trust them to give you accurate results.

I have about 4-5 Pounds of Live Rock. 40 Pounds of Live Sand.

You should have put 75 to 100 lbs of LR in the tank for cycling along with the LS. Now when you add LR in the future, you are going to have another cycle and very likely kill some or all of the critters you have. I don't car if the LFS or anyone else tells you, "It's cured LR, you won't get a cycle". People that make statements like that don't know what they are talking about.

Now to your questions...

Will I be able to have a Couple (2) of Mandarins?

No, you will not be able to house 2 Mandarins. They require live copepod and they would starve to death. IReef IKeeper recommends waiting at least 6 months after adding the rest of your LR, sump and refugium. I'd recommend waiting at least a year and then settling on one Mandarin. A 55 gallon tank may look big to you, it is not!!!

Can I add a Sun Coral?

After you have added the rest of your LR and the tank has cycled again, yes. However, Sun Corals require supplemental feeding. They are not like other corals that derive much of their energy from the symbiotic relationship with algae.

Oh, and for those of you wondering if there is another way to feed those Mandarins. Melev (Marc Levenson) has made a Mandarin Diner...

It is rare for a Mandarin to live long enough on live food, derived from pods in the tank alone, to be trained over to frozen food let alone pellet food. Marc Levenson is a devoted aquarist with years of experience and a gifted talent. Not many have accomplished what he has with his Mandarins. Simply copying Marc's "Mandarin Diner" will not do the trick. The fish have to first survive in your tank on live food and trained to take dead food. That could take months of intense dedication to the task and could result in failure because like every living animal some adapt some do not. So, it's not a sure thing.

Dick

[john0087]

Originally Posted by Budde

Oh, and Does anyone know about How Much it will cost me to build a DIY Sump/Fuge?

Thanks,

Hey, I recently added a sump, this is how I did it.

Some people here have DYI the siphon overflow, but IMO, that was too much risk for me. I went the teh CPR CS50 overflow box. It is rated at 300ghp. I also used the air pump to make sure that siphon was not broken.

CPR CS50 Overflow Box (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Overflow Box > External Boxes )

For my tank, I went to a local pet store and picked up a 30" long 30g tank. I went with the biggest tank that I could fit under the stand, but you could go as small as a 10-20g and save money.

For my return pump, I used a Mag5 pump. You could probably get away with a using a Mag 3 and save a little money.
Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 5 500 GPH Water Pump (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Water Pumps > Submersible > 500-1000 GPH )

Plumbing was a combination of Clear Vynal tubing (puchased at the hardware stove for much cheaper than at a LFS or even online dealers) and PVC. You can purchase a return "U" tube of make one out of PVC, I puchased one.

You can check out my thread here for a more detailed descreption of how I did my sump, but I recently re-plumbeed it, which I am going to post pics of the new plumbing later.

New Life from disarray - my Upgrade to a 60Gal

I filled my sump with 15# of live rock rubble ordered online. THis was dry uncured live rock rubble that saved me a lot of $$$$

All in all, you are looking at maybe $250-$300, which is still cheaper than the acyrlic sumps out there. You can DYI a bubble trap also, but I use the sponge filter on teh Mag and it works fine to keep junk and bubble out of the display system.

To make it true refuge, you will need lighting. Again, at the locak hardware store, you can pick PC light fixtures for a decent price. I ended up using my old 30" light fixture from my old tank.

This was my first sump set up, and all in all, I tried to keep it simple and cost effective. I am sure that other more experienced members have tips on more elaborate set ups, but this is working for me.

One word of note, I didn't see a protein skimmer in you list? I really do recomend one. The AcuaC line of skimmers are great. I am using an Aquamed skimmer which I really like as well. IMO, a skimmer is one of the most import aspecks of your filtration, along with live rock.

Take a look at picking a decent skimmer. Dare i say it, I would invest in a skimmer before a QT tank. You won't be wanting to add more fish in your system anyways until you can up the LR qty anyways.

There are HOB refuges, but I have no experience with them.

Good luck buddy.

Oh yeah, the most important thing I forgot to mention.....

LETS SEE SOME PICS OF YOU HARD WORK!!!!!!!

Good luck

John