first saltwater aquarium

[heidi1966]

starting my first saltwater tank. have 55 gallon, salt water, live sand, heater, wave makers, cascade pump, waiting for my rock. what lights do i get?

 

[BackToTheReef]

WElcome and I think a good starting point is knowing what you want to keep. Are you looking at fish only or want to add some coral down the road?

 

[heidi1966]

I have had and still do, freshwater tanks for years. I have been wanting to start saltwater tank. Eventually I would love reef tank but for the beginning I am thinking fish only. Do I need to make the decision at the beginning?

 

[BackToTheReef]

So you can get away with a pretty basic light set up for a fish only tank but if you want to add coral/photosynthetic stuff down the road you might look at something that will either square you away right away like an LED set up that you can adjust intensity on or something that easily upgradable.

If I were to start with a fish only system in a 55 I would most likely go with either T5s (two tubes??) or a couple LED strips like the reefbrites. Both of these you can add to in a number of different ways down the road to meet the lighting needs of anything you might like to keep.

Hopefully some others will jump in with their thoughts. I'm a little old school so maybe someone else can jump in with some additional/better thoughts!

Good luck and post lots of pics of your journey!!!

 

[BackToTheReef]

Bump! Let's try to get you some more input and specifics!

 

[MugenReef95]

I had set up one my first saltwater tanks with a 55 gallon basic tank I ran a skimmer and Uv light just for better water quality couple hang on back filter 2 power heads and man it’s still running great to this day I like to keep it to remind me my beginning lol the hippo tang is not in there no more it’s in a bigger tank if anyone is wondering lol