Back in NY I had a 20 gallon FOWLR tank that I used a single 50/50 Coralife bulb in and everything was fine.
Well, I recently moved to FL and my boss gave me a 55 gallon tank that I plan on making a reef tank. A guy that comes into the scuba shop actually collects and sells tropical fish and coral so he's going to get me live sand, rock, and sea water since the tap here in Homestead is HORRIBLE and I'd rather not mix my own water anyway.
Anyway... I plan on starting off with about 2" of sand and about 50 lbs of live rock. I have a Whisper 60, and plan on adding a sump, a protein skimmer and at least two power heads. In your humble opinion will this be sufficient enough filtration and circulation?
I guess to get to the real point, the lighting system has two separate lights/ballasts. It was originally a freshwater tank, and I know I have to change the lighting. I'm curious though, if I were to put corals only on one side of the tank, would I be able to just upgrade the one light head and use a 50/50 bulb in the other? Also, would I have to change the ballast out in order to use a stronger light?
Also, any suggestions on lighting systems would be great. I would like to have hard and soft corals, invertebrates, and fish as well.
Thanks for any help!
Well, I recently moved to FL and my boss gave me a 55 gallon tank that I plan on making a reef tank. A guy that comes into the scuba shop actually collects and sells tropical fish and coral so he's going to get me live sand, rock, and sea water since the tap here in Homestead is HORRIBLE and I'd rather not mix my own water anyway.
Anyway... I plan on starting off with about 2" of sand and about 50 lbs of live rock. I have a Whisper 60, and plan on adding a sump, a protein skimmer and at least two power heads. In your humble opinion will this be sufficient enough filtration and circulation?
I guess to get to the real point, the lighting system has two separate lights/ballasts. It was originally a freshwater tank, and I know I have to change the lighting. I'm curious though, if I were to put corals only on one side of the tank, would I be able to just upgrade the one light head and use a 50/50 bulb in the other? Also, would I have to change the ballast out in order to use a stronger light?
Also, any suggestions on lighting systems would be great. I would like to have hard and soft corals, invertebrates, and fish as well.
Thanks for any help!