Completely New to Saltwater Aquarium.. please help!

[Vixen498150]

Finally after 10+ years of being in the Freshwater Hobby I am wanting to take that big step into Saltwater.. However, I am a bit overwhelmed from all the research I have done and I want to know if my set up will be good enough and my fish will thrive. My plans are a 55 gallon FOWLR with a large clean up crew. Here is my list so far:
-50 lb of Live rock and Sand
-Jebao Master and Slave Wavemaker
-JBJ true temp titanium heating system (heater and digital heater controller)
-Reef Octopus Classic 100 HOB protein skimmer (up to 90 gallons)
- either a penguin Emperor 400 biowheel with monthly replacements of filter media pads OR seachem Tidal 110 OR Aqua clear 110 V ( Still figuring this out)
-48” Fluval Sea and Marine spectrum Bluetooth LED 59 watt

Any recommendations, opinions, advice etc welcomed thank you!

 

[JasonK84]

Finally after 10+ years of being in the Freshwater Hobby I am wanting to take that big step into Saltwater.. However, I am a bit overwhelmed from all the research I have done and I want to know if my set up will be good enough and my fish will thrive. My plans are a 55 gallon FOWLR with a large clean up crew. Here is my list so far:
-50 lb of Live rock and Sand
-Jebao Master and Slave Wavemaker
-JBJ true temp titanium heating system (heater and digital heater controller)
-Reef Octopus Classic 100 HOB protein skimmer (up to 90 gallons)
- either a penguin Emperor 400 biowheel with monthly replacements of filter media pads OR seachem Tidal 110 OR Aqua clear 110 V ( Still figuring this out)
-48” Fluval Sea and Marine spectrum Bluetooth LED 59 watt

Any recommendations, opinions, advice etc welcomed thank you!

What fish are you planning on keeping?

 

[Big G]

Really like your choice of the Emperor 400 biowheel. Have used them for years with great results for both fresh and saltwater. Primarily use it in my saltwater QT setup when a very aggressive filter is needed for lots or large fish in QT. Have found that the mfg pads to be a bit expensive though. I've been buying bulk filter media on Amazon and cutting it to fit and have had very good results. Really liked their smaller Emperor 250? But alas it has been discontinued. Argh. In the media container on the biowheel, consider using Fluval BioMax or Seachem Matrix as bio media. Both work great. Especially if you pre-seed (soak) the media in a bowl with Dr. Tim's/BioSpira, Turbo Boost, Turbo Boost 900, etc., for a couple of days before placing into the filter unit. When done pour the liquid into the tank. Best of luck on your new tank. Merry Christmas
Also a big fan of AquaClear filters. Some of them you may get a bit of noise coming from the impeller. Get a tube of Food Grade Silcone, and wipe a thin coat on the magnet on the impeller. Too much and it won't spin. This really helps to "seat" the impeller when first starting up a new filter. Really like them though. I have several of them for my QTs. In them I use a mesh bag for the bio media. Works great.
Welcome to R2R!

 

[cracker]

Hello Vixon & welcome to R2R . There is a lot of people here that will help You .

 

[lion king]

Sounds great, my choice for hob filter is the Seachem Tidal, reason being is the flow design. Other hob filters to be most effective need a media basket of sorts to direct the flow. The Seachem right out of the box, directs the flow downward then up through all of your media choices, it also is designed to skim the water surface and you can control the flow choice of surface or intake.

 

[Vixen498150]

What fish are you planning on keeping?

Cute Blenny!!!
My stocking idea so far is
2 Ocellaris Clowns
2 karden’s Cardinal
1 fire fish
1 Coral Beauty Angel
1 Royal gramma Basslet
1 Yellow tail Damsel
(Debating on a six line wrasse but I worry about aggression)
Serpent sea star, Blue leg hermits, fire shrimp, Pin cushion urchin and Turban snails

 

[Big G]

Most damsels can be real terrorists at times. But, take a look at the Saphire Damsel. Very peaceful and get along with others well. A small group of them are a delight. My wife calls ours the "Blue Man Group"
Dwarf angels like the Coral Beauty really need a mature tank to provide enough food (algae, etc.) for them to do well. They will hunt and peck all over the tank looking for natural food sources wearing themselves out on a new tank. Really like them, but you might want to put one in later after the tank has matured.

 

[Vixen498150]

Really like your choice of the Emperor 400 biowheel. Have used them for years with great results for both fresh and saltwater. Primarily use it in my saltwater QT setup when a very aggressive filter is needed for lots or large fish in QT. Have found that the mfg pads to be a bit expensive though. I've been buying bulk filter media on Amazon and cutting it to fit and have had very good results. Really liked their smaller Emperor 250? But alas it has been discontinued. Argh. In the media container on the biowheel, consider using Fluval BioMax or Seachem Matrix as bio media. Both work great. Especially if you pre-seed (soak) the media in a bowl with Dr. Tim's/BioSpira, Turbo Boost, Turbo Boost 900, etc., for a couple of days before placing into the filter unit. When done pour the liquid into the tank. Best of luck on your new tank. Merry Christmas
Also a big fan of AquaClear filters. Some of them you may get a bit of noise coming from the impeller. Get a tube of Food Grade Silcone, and wipe a thin coat on the magnet on the impeller. Too much and it won't spin. This really helps to "seat" the impeller when first starting up a new filter. Really like them though. I have several of them for my QTs. In them I use a mesh bag for the bio media. Works great.
Welcome to R2R!

When you’ve used the penguin biowheels do you prefer to keep the biowheels on or take them out? How often do you change the filter pads? Thank you for your response!

 

[Vixen498150]

Sounds great, my choice for hob filter is the Seachem Tidal, reason being is the flow design. Other hob filters to be most effective need a media basket of sorts to direct the flow. The Seachem right out of the box, directs the flow downward then up through all of your media choices, it also is designed to skim the water surface and you can control the flow choice of surface or intake.

I’m going to be honest on this one but I’ve only used the HOB’s with the filter pads, I’m very old school and after doing so much research about salt water tanks I’m learning more about sumps and different types of filter with different filter media and I am so lost (one of the reasons I joined r2r lol what kind of filter media does Tidal use and what kind of maintenance is there to it

 

[JasonK84]

Cute Blenny!!!
My stocking idea so far is
2 Ocellaris Clowns
2 karden’s Cardinal
1 fire fish
1 Coral Beauty Angel
1 Royal gramma Basslet
1 Yellow tail Damsel
(Debating on a six line wrasse but I worry about aggression)
Serpent sea star, Blue leg hermits, fire shrimp, Pin cushion urchin and Turban snails

Thanks, I love my blennies!

The yellow tail damsel could be just as bad as the six line if not more aggressive. I swear I'll never have another damsel!

 

[Vixen498150]

Most damsels can be real terrorists at times. But, take a look at the Saphire Damsel. Very peaceful and get along with others well. A small group of them are a delight. My wife calls ours the "Blue Man Group"
Dwarf angels like the Coral Beauty really need a mature tank to provide enough food (algae, etc.) for them to do well. They will hunt and peck all over the tank looking for natural food sources wearing themselves out on a new tank. Really like them, but you might want to put one in later after the tank has matured.

Oh! Most definitely in the future I will consider one then .. Thank you for the information! I want to work my way eventually into soft corals but right now I want to keep everything as basic as possible . How many would you recommend in a group? As far as the other stock idea would you say a pretty peaceful tank for the most part? My Malawi tank is enough for me to handle as far aggression control goes

 

[Big G]

I leave them on. I like the wheels doing their work adding O2 and helping with the bio activity. The trick is to clean them when done for a QT for example. Soak in bleach/water for a day. Rinse, rinse, rinse, and then allow to dry completely. If exposed to copper spray with vinegar, it causes any remaining copper to precipitate into a harmless form. Rinse, rinse, rinse, and allow to dry completely. And if you've had a particularly nasty disease/parasites in the QT, wash with hydrogen peroxide (use eye protection and chemically resistant gloves), rinse, rinse, rinse and allow to dry completely.
I change out the pads as needed when getting clogged with debris. Sometimes just rinse with clean water, wring out, rinse, and put them right back in the tank (this is for the bulk filter material I cut and fit from Amazon - way cheaper and works great).

 

[Vixen498150]

Thanks, I love my blennies!

The yellow tail damsel could be just as bad as the six line if not more aggressive. I swear I'll never have another damsel![/

I definitely want to look into the sapphire damsels that Big G recommended I don’t want to over stock my tank but I do want a “full” looking tank since it’s just a FOWLR

 

[Big G]

My Malawi tank is enough for me to handle as far aggression control goes

Yes, been there done that. But I just love those fish.
A small odd numbered group would be just great like 3, 5, 7, etc. We have 3 in our 90 and should have put in 7 or 9. Their dark blue color just glows in the tank with the right lighting.

 

[JasonK84]

I’m going to be honest on this one but I’ve only used the HOB’s with the filter pads, I’m very old school and after doing so much research about salt water tanks I’m learning more about sumps and different types of filter with different filter media and I am so lost (one of the reasons I joined r2r lol what kind of filter media does Tidal use and what kind of maintenance is there to it

A sump will offer more options and allow you to hide all of your heaters, skimmer etc below and out of view. It also adds water volume for added stability. Are there questions you have about sumps that we can help with or are you set on a HOB filter?

 

[Zotch]

How much money do you want to spend to start?

 

[Vixen498150]

A sump will offer more options and allow you to hide all of your heaters, skimmer etc below and out of view. It also adds water volume for added stability. Are there questions you have about sumps that we can help with or are you set on a HOB filter?

For the time being I am going to stick to HOBs just until I am comfortable, I’m not going to rush anything because we all know what happens when you get impatient LOL ..
eventually when I do add corals I want a sump and refugium maybe after we move into a house and I know the set up will be permanent and more space available

 

[Vixen498150]

Yes, been there done that. But I just love those fish.
A small odd numbered group would be just great like 3, 5, 7, etc. We have 3 in our 90 and should have put in 7 or 9. Their dark blue color just glows in the tank with the right lighting.

I researched into it a little and you have me sold on a group of them they are cute little things.. very gorgeous too

 

[Vixen498150]

How much money do you want to spend to start?

Being on a budget isn’t a problem as far as everything goes. I just want to know what I’m doing as far as maintaining everything and hooking everything up, I think my biggest fear is doing something wrong

 

[Big G]

For the time being I am going to stick to HOBs just until I am comfortable, I’m not going to rush anything because we all know what happens when you get impatient LOL ..
eventually when I do add corals I want a sump and refugium maybe after we move into a house and I know the set up will be permanent and more space available

Nothing good happens in this hobby (saltwater) quickly.