Muddy357

Well I am picking up my new light Saturday night so that I can grow corals, but after getting the light I really have no idea what else I will need to get? The light is an IceCap 250watt MH T5 LED combo for my 55 gallon tank I also picked up another powerhead 1050GPH to go with the 1400GPH that is already in the tank. I would appreciate any help.

Thanks for all of the insight guys. I plan on going to a couple different LFS's this weekend to get some ideas, I will be going to BRK for sure since they are where I got my 2 clowns from. I am going to look more into the cost of lighting depending on what I find out I might end up doing corals depending on how much the lighting will cost me.

My plan right now is get everything up and running and if everything goes well in a year I will upgrade to 250 gallon tank and I will have corals in that tank. My main concern with doing corals in my 55 gallon tank is the price of lighting for it. as per the fish jumping I do have the standard tops that came with the tank when I bought with the lights but I know that they will not work for corals. I primarily want very colorful fish that move around and don't hide all of the time.

Well I finally came up with my fish wish list for my 55 gallon FOWLR tank. But this is what is in the tank already, 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 5 astera snails, 8 small nassarius snail, 2 small bumble bee snails, 2 small emerald crabs, 1 scarlet hermit crab, and 5 pepermint shrimp. My fish list: 1 bicolor blenny 1 six line wrasse or 1 flasher wrasse 1 flame angel since I will not be using this tank for corals and 2 Blood red fire shrimp I hope that, that is not to many fish for that size of a tank.

Wow that was a lot of reading but after reading all of that, the way my 2 Ocellaris clowns are behaving is right on track for becoming a male and female pair, thank you so much for the information.

I bought my first pair of clown fish on Friday the larger one about the size of a quarter I was told was a female she was aggressive in the tank with the other clowns. And the smaller one about the size of a nickle is very passive and is always either beside or behind the larger one as they swim around the tank.

How do you tell if a clown fish is male or female?

What is the best hang on the back protein skimmer for a 55 gallon tank?

I will be getting the protein skimmer and the testing kit next week because I have to wait till my next payday.

I also was thinking about having Blue Ribbon Koi testing it for me.

I put the heater in place last night and the thermometer and the temp is holding at 76 degrees.... I refuse to pee in my tank LOL I will be taking a sample of the water to pet-co this weekend to get the water tested.

Thanks for the post, as things move further along there will be tons of pictures because I do photography on the side. If you every want some pic's taken of your tanks or fish let me know. As for the cycling process possibly taking longer I am in no hurry to start stocking the tank.

I had to shrink down the picture a lot but I have attached a picture of the tank.

I have a 55 gallon tank I do not have a canopy for my tank I just have the cheap tank lights on it right now that came with the tank when I bought it but I am looking into what I need to possibly do corals down the road.

Well I probably drove around 400 miles over the weekend going to different LFS and some not so local. I have 36 pounds of dry rock in the tank and 14 pounds of live rock, 40 pounds of live sand, and 40 gallons of water. I ended up getting a hang on the back filter Eheim 2042 Liberty 200 from Atlantis Aquariums in Richmond along with a Hydro Koralia power head size 1400 GPH. I have not decided on which protein skimmer to get yet but I will be picking that up later this week. I have attached a pick of the tank with everything in it. I bought 30 gallons of the water from pet-co and the other 10 gallons from Blue Ribbon Koi and Marine also I got a bottle of API Stress Zyme. If I am missing something please let me know.

The main thing I am trying to figure out right now is the proper filtration system I would prefer to have a sump but the stand for my tank has an open bottom and I have a 150 pound Mastiff that loves water and I know he would be messing with it non stop...

For right now fish only until I can get a ball park figure on how much I am going to need to spend on filtration system and everything but I would really like to do corals.

There are so many different fish to choose from the only fish I am pretty firm on getting right now is the Ocellaris Clownfish and the Bicolor Angelfish (A) other then that I am not sure I am still reading different charts and I have landed on any other fish that really have me interested.

Thanks for recommending this site I have found a lot of good information and I will be setting up a PayPal account tonight to fully register here. I did finally come up with a list of fish I do want to put in the 55 gallon tank. Now I just need to figure out what other equipment I need to buy. 2 Ocellaris Clownfish 3 Green Chromis 1 Bicolor Angelfish (A) 3 Stripe Damsel

Hello everyone I was told about this website from a guy at the pet-co when he heard me asking one of the people there advice. I am not new to owning fish but my last aquarium was about 10 years ago a fresh water 110 tall with 1 alligator gar and a snake head. I am now looking to get back into it again and I have purchased a 55 gallon tank and a stand but really have no clue where to go from there. I am not looking to start a predator tank mostly just want peaceful and colorful fish. Any help on equipment and good starter fish would be greatly appreciated.