I am interested in setting up a saltwater fish tank. I have a 55 gallon tank ready to be set up now I need to know what to purchase for it. Im not sure about what type of filtration to use to keep it as clean as possible. I also want to use artificial coral and was wondering if I need to have live rock in the tank also. any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
new to the saltwater tank world
- Thread starter sullie16
- Start date
Are you going to have just Fish or corals too. Most people dont use any filters with SW tanks besides a protein skimmer and some filter socks. Start reading here to get some basic info: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/sal...ll-need-when-starting-saltwater-aquarium.html
The wet/dry/bio ball is old school. You really only need a skimmer. A filter makes nitrates really high in a SW tank so you are better off with just a skimmer. You will only have fish so any skimmer rated for the tank should be ok, just check the reviews. I run skimmer less but use an algae scrubber for my total filtration in my SW tanks. I would say you should have some live rock, just my opinion as it does some natural filtering. Did you click the link in my post?
You don't "need" to have live rock, but the fish like it, it looks good, and it is beneficial to the water quality (as KcMopar said). You don't need a whole bunch to get the benefits, even 20-40lbs would be okay but having more makes additional hiding places for the fish as well as making a more natural looking setup. The recommended amount is 1 - 1 1/2 lbs per gallon but you don't have to have that much.
With a 55G tank you can still get away with no filter system at all if you keep up the weekly water changes and have good flow in the tank with adequate live rock. If you have a refugium you can use cheato to help suck up the nutrients and do less water changes or you can get or build an algae scrubber in the refugium and be just about water change free.