Newbie - 55 gallon

[ming]

a 55 is a foot deep not 5 inches lol you can do plenty go look at my pics in my profile at my 45 african tank that is 12 deep 24 high and I think there is also a pic of my 55 w/ custom cabinet/canopy look at my sick aquascaping and tell me it sucks. Maybe his space is limited so a narrower tank might be a better option for him. 55 is actually the most purchased tank next to a 10 gallon.

I don't see any tanks with corals in any of the tanks in your photo album. If you want to put rocks and have fish only, a 55 IMO is just fine. If you plan to have a reef with corals, I would stay away from the 55 because of the hard time aquascaping. All of the tanks in your profile don't have nearly as many rocks as a typical tank with live rock (obviously because yours is freshwater and not a reef) which is probably why you have no issues with the narrow width.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I don't see any tanks with corals in any of the tanks in your photo album. If you want to put rocks and have fish only, a 55 IMO is just fine. If you plan to have a reef with corals, I would stay away from the 55 because of the hard time aquascaping. All of the tanks in your profile don't have nearly as many rocks as a typical tank with live rock (obviously because yours is freshwater and not a reef) which is probably why you have no issues with the narrow width.

Ming that comment wasn't directed towards you I was just saying in general. Yea there is only fish in those tanks but coral placement would not be difficult due to the type of rock used anyway very porous plenty of spots to stick stuff. Yea it's not all the way to the top but at the height it is it would get plenty of light penetration not to mention another layer could easily be added. I'm not saying a 55 is the greatest tank in the world by any means but as Barrie mentioned which is 100% true 55's are sold like crazy especially used I'm sure everyone see's them on cl all the time.

DRE..yea but he is also NOT an advanced reefer he is starting out probably wants something cheap to test the waters and see if this is even a hobby he wants to pursue full on. You people are thinking like advanced hobbiests he is thinking like someone wanting to try something new and not spend a fortune. Look how man people start with a nano..not much depth there but they work just fine don't they?

 

[Dre]

Triggerman, most times i agree with you but i would not recommend a 55 gal tank for a newbie not even for fish only .As the members already suggested 40 breeder ,50,65 or a 75 gal ,end of story.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Like I said I wasn't recommending it or saying it was the best choice all I was saying was that if he is just checking out if this is something he wants to pursue and he wants to make a minimal investment then the cheapest tank you can get thats a decent size is a 55 you can get a used one with metal stand for like 100 bucks not to mention that 48" lighting is more available than 36" because of the large variation of 48" tanks 33,55,75,90,110,120,150. What if this kid ends up feeling like it's too much to handle in 3 months? Which often happens with people just getting into such a complex hobby. IMO if he wants to do that then fine if he ends up deciding he wants to move forward with this he can always upgrade then and the same skimmer and sump could be used most likely for any of the other tanks everyone has mentioned. The only additional investment would be a different tank.

 

[Dre]

[PDF OVERLAY][/PDF OVERLAY]a 55 is a foot deep not 5 inches lol you can do plenty go look at my pics in my profile at my 45 african tank that is 12 deep 24 high and I think there is also a pic of my 55 w/ custom cabinet/canopy look at my sick aquascaping and tell me it sucks.[PDF OVERLAY][/PDF OVERLAY]

Nice tanks Triggerman, if you look at those pics carefull you will notice something about the fishes .In one tank with the most fish they are all swimming at the top and the other tanks with less fish they are all at the bottom.The fishes are trying to tell you something and we are trying to tell you something.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

What does where the fish are have to do with anything? I'm not sure the point you are trying to make. The 45 pics alot of the fish are on top because I always feed to get them all to come out when I take a pic. The 55 was just to take a FTS when I 1st redid the tank with the new cabinet,gravel and rock not really the fish if you look you can see the water was a lil cloudy. As long as the fish are not going to be huge it's fine. All my fish in the 45 were small. The fish I had in the 55 were outgrowing the tank and instead of upgrading since it was not possible as I was moving I rehomed them. There is many people and I'm sure many people here have ran a successful 55. I agree that a larger tank may be more fun to scape but it's really about personal preference. There was a guy recently who already had a 45 and said he wanted to set it up as a reef and the crowd chimed in with this same banter. He said "ya know what that's ok I'm going to use this tank anyway " and it looks beautiful..I'm not sure the member but I know he has a thread.

 

[masterswimmer]

As most of you know Saltwater Critters has sold literally hundreds of various sizes of tanks on MR and all the local clubs in the tri-state area. Out of all the tanks we've sold, I can say with 100% conviction that we have NEVER, EVER sold one single 55g tank to anyone. NEVER!!!!!!

For anyone to say that a 55g tank is a good size, I not only have to vehemently disagree, but also say you're wrong. It's NOT a good size. 48"x12.5"x21" is a horrible size. What you might be thinking is that it is a good volume. With that, I agree. A 55 is a decent volume but a horrendous size tank.

A 75g tank has just about 50% more depth than the depth of a 55g. That is a tremendous amount of real estate to work with. If you want to have ANY swimming space in the front of the tank (say even 4"), that means you're only working with 8" rocks AT THE MOST. And with that size, you're only leaving a whopping 4" of swimming space. How can this size/dimension tank be considered good? Will it work? Sure, some people can make it look decent. But that surely doesn't mean it, #1 looks good, #2 had an easy time aquascaping, #3 able to leave room across the back of the tank for fish to even swim there, #4 leave room around the front and sides for a cleaning magnet to get between rock/glass, and swimming room.

The negatives of a 55g outweigh the positives on so many levels I can't fathom how someone would agree to work with that tank after being made aware of the pitfalls of that aquarium.

Ok, just my $.78 (I couldn't stop at my alloted $.02) :biggrin:

Russ

 

[Imbarrie]

I could see it making a good sump.

 

[Stackbundles]

im leaning towards the 75 now. Does anyone have suggestions on where to purchase "live rock". I don't mind ordering online as long as the source is reliable.

 

[KathyC]

im leaning towards the 75 now. Does anyone have suggestions on where to purchase "live rock". I don't mind ordering online as long as the source is reliable.

Good plan
Sorry for all of the harsh words on the thread regarding a 55g as a reef, but they are extremely difficult to aquascape without a lot of rock leaning somewhere on the glass that louses up your flow, scratches the glass and looks more like a rock wall than a reef when you are done

The best place to get live rock is right here on MR in the For Sale Forum Watch for tank breakdown threads.
Also, some of our vendors carry live rock.

Placing a 'Want To Buy' thread for it is a good idea

Ordering 'live rock' on line is impossible. It would have to be shipped to you submerged in water for it to still be 'live' (as in zero die-off) and the shipping would bust any budget.
If you want totally live rock, you can either shop here or at any LFS that sells live rock. Do remember some of the store continually add rock to their for sale bins..so some may be more 'cured' than others. (spme stores seperate them).

Where in LI do you live - we can offer a few suggestions local to you.

 

[Stackbundles]

Thanks KathyC. I live in East Meadow. I visited aquarium adventure and they are selling live rock for $11-$14 a pound. Crazy. Any suggestions will help.

In any case I think Triggerman had a few good suggestions for the 55g and for a Newbie. In the long run for me, I think a 75g will be better. I just don't want to down the road (1 or 2 years) decide i want to upgrade to a larger tank.

Stack

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

A 75 is definitely a better choice I never said it wasn't I just said it was doable if you weren't 100% sure about this hobby. Times are hard and this hobby is probably one of the most expensive. This angry mob makes me want to set up my 55 as a reef LOL hmm my cichlids might be going in the 92 corner and my 8 bulb t5 might be coming off my sale thread :tongue1: