Question by Peter: Buying a 55 gallon aquarium, want to set up a reef tank?
I am buying a 55 gallon aquarium on Craigslist with a 250W heater hood+lights and a Aquaclear 50 filter. I want to set up a saltwater reef aquarium (I have a decent amount of experience, in one of my tanks I have a 6″ Gold Gourami, 5″ long marble veil angelfish (about 8-9 inches tall), and a 4″ albino angelfish (about 6-7 inches tall) as well as an oto catfish and 2 cory catfish, cardinal tetra and two zebra tetras . I test the water daily (even though I’m a bit overstocked), 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite, 6ppm nitrate, I make up for the overstocked tank by using a Fluval 205 filter as well as a crappy Top Fin 20 gallon filter the tank came with. I also have another tank with 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, but 30 ppm nitrate (algae problem), it has a Marineland filter rated for 55gallons on it. I think I have enough experience to move on to saltwater, but I want to start big, my question is will the Aquaclear 50 as well as another Fluval 205 (on sale in P3tsm@rt **not sure about the rule regarding store names on answers** for $ 60) be enough to filter a 55 gallon reef tank (Fluval is rated for 40, the Aquaclear is rated for 50 though it’s probably only good for 25)? And will a 250W heater be enough to heat it? And finally, does anyone have any advice on what to stock a 55 gallon reef tank with, in terms of fish? And species of coral? As colorful and beautiful as possible. What else do I need in terms of equipment or anything (besides salt and live rock, obviously) for a salt water tank?

Best answer:

Answer by Lela F
If you are going to keep corals you will need a power head, maybe two. You want your water to rock back and forth like the ocean. Your filtration sounds good, and you are picking a great tank size. fish for that size would be:

Green chromis
Clowns
Gobies
Cardinals
Damsels (although they can be quite aggressive)
Anthias
I would say angels but they pick at corals, and so do butterfly fish.

That should be enough to get you started on fish. Now for corals, I would talk to the LFS worker and let them decide what would be best for whatever fish you decide to keep. Certain fish are not compatible with certain corals. So that all depends on what fish you want. Also you might want to get a protein skimmer, but your heater is fine. You will also need certain lighting, and again that depends on what corals you decide to get. Personally I would start slow with this hobby like maybe live fish only with live rock until you get the hang of it. Not that you are not experienced, it just might make it less expensive and easier for you:) I hope I helped. Also get a reef and SW testing kit by API. Test every other day.

What do you think? Answer below!