Ended up with a 55 I my hands?

[Decoda96]

What's up guys! Been reefing for about 3 months now!! For anyone who doesn't know Im a broke college kid with an addiction and a 10 gallon nano! anyways, somehow I ended up with a full 55 gal setup (lights, top, tank, heaters) and it's obvious to me this needs to be a beautiful salt tank!! I guess I'm just curious and have a couple questions for those of you with tanks around this size (so much bigger than I've ever had!!)

For starters what is my tank fish capacity? I was also given a free 5" moray eel who's currently chillin (and happy) with my clowns in the 10. The new tank will be for him mainly, a new pair of bigger clowns, and any other suggestions??

Also, I'm doing 48lbs of black reef sand.. what do you guys think for water movement? Right now I'm thinking about 2000gph?

As for rock.. I'm thinking about buying dry rock online (40lbs) adding 10lbs of live rock, some turbo start, shrimp, and letting the tank cycle for a month. Would the dry rock be ready by then??

Any suggestions are appreciated!!

Also, should I take my 10 down and merge the two together? Or keep both? Weekly water changes is still the plan until I can buy the 55 a HOB skimmer this summer.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Glad to see you have gotten a nice upgrade from a 10 to a 55. I am currently running a 55gallon reef so maybe my experiences might be of use. I am taking since you plan to move a moray into the 55 that this will most likely be a FOWLER tank? If so The tank can be a beauty just you have to be careful because eels grow big and will eat what they ca fit in its mouth. I never personally kept a moray eel before so I cannot say what the temperament . I just know from research some are more docile than others. Tank occupancy is up to you if you would like to keep the bioload low medium or high. Each contributing to maintenance. there is no set amount of fish or inches of fish any tank can have. To me it is how much maintenance you are willing to do to keep each fish happy fat and healthy. Dry rock is a great start. I wish I started with dry rock now due to the pests ive had to deal with such as crabs,mantis shrimps,aptasia and such. and if this tank is still dry as of now you might want to look into drilling it incase you change your mind and would like to do a sump and a reef tank in the future. Not saying you cannot have a beautiful reef system with no sump. I am currently running a reef with no sump and it is quite a bit different than running my other tank which has my sump. Some fish I love are firefish and chromis but gotta watch out they are feisty towards one another. well I guess i might have given you some basic infor might help might not. If you have any more questions I would be happy to help!