Brand new 55G

[lilqtpierikki]

Hi everyone! I am brand new to this salt water hobby but I am excited I found the right place for info!

Ok, so I bought this 55g and stand from craigslist with a heater, protein skimmer (coralife), a penguin bio wheel 350 (has two filters), 2 hoods with a 50/50 reef light in each hood, and a circulating water fan (yeah I have no idea what it's called but it makes the current in the water....).

I am currently working on getting my hydrometer to read the 1.020-1.024. I'm not quite in that range yet but I just put the water in yesterday so I'm taking the water out and replacing it with fresh water to get down to that range.

There is nothing in my tank but my goal is to have a few corals and a few fish. I live in hawaii so I was told that the corals I found online that were listed as (easy) are illegal to have here, what the heck!!! So, is there any hawaii residents that know where I can get coral from?

I went to a great store yesterday and the guy explained quite a bit to me but i'm still confused on a few things. I do want to use a sump. The guy told me that I need to get a 20g tank and put a partition in the middle. Then to get a pump so the water will come out of the tank, down to the sump, and back up to the tank again. I am going to have quite a bit of live rock so I dont think i need bio balls, but do i still need to keep using the penguin bio wheel filter? He told me that since i'm having live rock that I don't need a filtration system....? I know the protein skimmer will go down in the sump as well. I guess i'm really confused on how to set up the sump and how it works. I've seen photo's with fuge and other compartments. I don't get it....

Also, my protein skimmer filled up overnight and i had to empty it. I have the knob open all the way so do I have to empty it everyday or once I have rock in the tank will it go down?

I have a few more questions but this is what I'm stuck on right now and I don't want to move forward til I have the sump installed.

Thanks everyone!!!!

Here is a pic of how I have it set up right now. (It's kinda cloudy because we had just poured the water in and it was still mixing. It's much clearer now.) The filter is on the far left with the current thingy. The protein skimmer is on the right with the heater.

If someone can

 

[Pkunk35]

Hi lilqtpierikki,

Welcome to the very terribly addicting world of saltwater fish keeping! I'm sure you'll love it.

You sound like you have a good start but also like you need to get some reading done as well in order to familiarize yourself with the process of starting a proper tank.

This was the second book I had ever read about SW fishkeeping, and I still think it's the best primer out there for getting started:

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner

I highly recommend you get this book (or any other reliable source of Aquatic info either in book or on web) so as to form the base of your aquarium knowledge. Trust me on this one if you are serious about the hobby, you'll probably be spending just as much time reading about fish/coral as you will be looking at them (probably much more).

Also, obviously you know, forums are great sources for modern and up to date info on the hobby as well.

Enough rant, I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can:

"circulating water fan" - Power head!

"...I do want to use a sump." - Sumps are great and make life much easier. Please remember that you will need a overflow before you can create sump plans.

"do i still need to keep using the penguin bio wheel filter?" - No. The Penguin is probably best used as a media holder (carbon, filter pads) but largely ineffective as a filter IMO. Your live rock is your filter along with the skimmer to a certain degree. Please also consider going with aragonite based sand for the bottom of the tank as part of the "filtration" process.

"I guess i'm really confused on how to set up the sump and how it works. I've seen photo's with fuge and other compartments. I don't get it...." - A sump is simply another container of water below the main tank that is fed via an overflow from the main tank. A pump is used to push water back from the sump to the main tank. I'm sure there are 10,000 examples on youtube you could see to get an idea.

"There is nothing in my tank but my goal is to have a few corals and a few fish. I live in hawaii so I was told that the corals I found online that were listed as (easy) are illegal to have here, what the heck!!! So, is there any hawaii residents that know where I can get coral from?" - Oceanrider is the only company i know in Hawaii, but perhaps you could start by asking them where to find properly caught and sold coral in your state? Oceanrider specializes in seahorse.

"Also, my protein skimmer filled up overnight and i had to empty it. I have the knob open all the way so do I have to empty it everyday or once I have rock in the tank will it go down?" - You can empty the canister as it fills up but they generally work better when clean. You can actually turn the skimmer off now (I would) and plug it in once you have live rock or livestock, you will need the skimmer at that point but not before.

BUT one question i have is...what the heck is skimming out of the water if there is nothing in the tank??? Strange, but all is well I'm sure. Just wondering...

Good Luck with everything!

 

[lilqtpierikki]

Argonite based sand? Not sure what that is. I was planning on putting puka shell as the substrate. That's really all they sell at the store i've been going to.

I'm not sure what was skimming. I emptied it out this morning and it's got a little less than 1/4 of water in it now... I'm assuming that it was all the salt, maybe? I've got it to the level of salinity now. YAY!

I will have to check youtube, maybe i'll learn more about sumps there and how to build one. I really don't want to spend $300+ on something i can make...

Thanks for the reply! Lot's of help!
P.S. how many powerheads should i have for a 55g? And where should they go?