55g reef build

[saltsavage]

Hey y'all. Just picked up a 55 gallon tank I am going to make into a reef tank. Wanted to get your ideas on equipment I should get that would do a good job. Don't want to go nuts on dollars either...got the tank and stand with a light for 100 bucks....

Any thoughts!?

 

[twilliard]

I started my first tank in 05 using a 55. It worked out quite well
The money associated with running my 55 back then was mainly from a lack of knowledge in equipment.

 

[NickNiz]

Ideally for filtration you would have a sump/refugium but that would get costly... When I had a 55 gal FOWLR tank, I had two Aquaclear 110 filters and a couple of Koralia power heads for water flow. Not sure if this would be enough for a reef though.

For lighting, you would want to go LED (my fav), T5, or Metal Halide. I'm assuming that the light that came with the tank is the standard one that came in a kit? If so, it most likely will not be able to support any corals that are photosynthetic.

For additional filtration, you could get a hang-on protein skimmer. Not sure how these perform but it can't be detrimental. Hope this helps!