58 gallon tank reef ready tank...

[chunchma]

I am about to start my 58 gallon tank. Fish with live rock, How much live rock is recommended for a tank that size? Do I have to have live sand or can I just use live rock and still have a tank that will thrive?

I know about some unwanted pest on live rock like the mantis shrimp and aptisia. What other pest might I want to be aware of.

One last question: How well are Life Reef skimmers rated and what other companies should I look into for skimmer and wet/drys (minus the bio balls).

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Hey

Welcome to RDO

There is a whole school of thought that goes for barebottomed tanks with live rock. Personally I have 3-4 inches of sand in my 54 gallon tank along with about 70 lbs of live rock.

The only skimmer I can recommend is the Aqua C Remora Pro because that is the only one I have ever owned.

If you cure your live rock in a separate container it gives you a chance to remove unwanted hitchhickers.

Have fun with it


Bryan

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Chunchma, and...

IMO it's hard to give a good recommendation on how much live rock you'll want for your tank because it can vary in density quite a bit.

If you're going to use a Pacific rock like Fiji, it's generally light and porous, so 50 pounds would be plenty for filtration needs in a system that size.

If you're going to have a reef and want to leave room for corals to grow out I wouldn't go much more than that. If you're just going to have fish and you want a "fuller" look to the rockscape, you could use a little more.

As to your sandbed question, it is not required that you have one - many are successful with no substrate at all in their systems. IMO it's more of a preference thing - a lot of people prefer the look of the live sandbed.

As for Lifereef - they have a good reputation for making quality products - I think a skimmer from them would be a safe bet. Personally I use and like Euroreef, but there are other good choices.

As for a wet/dry without bioballs - that would basically be a sump. There's really no need to buy a wet/dry for this application - you can use just about any watertight container for a sump (a glass or acrylic aquarium works well).

If you want to setup a sump on your system (which is a great idea IMO), I'd recommend staying away from a hang-on overflow and having your main tank drilled and using an internal overflow.

HTH

 

[chunchma]

I'm sorry, I'm new to this and was wondering what IMO stands for?

 

[Anonymous]

Imo -- In my opinion

jk -- just kidding

afaik -- as far as I know

THere are a few for ya