# Starting Up 50 Gallon Fowlr



## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

Hi Guys, as the title says, I am going to be setting up a 50 gallon FOWLR. Couple questions about live rock, and substrate.

Firstly, I have been advised to get 35 kilos for my tank, is that a good amount, too much, or too little?

Secondly, When buying live rock, can you add it all at once, or can you add it over a period of time?

For substrate, can you use normal freshwater aquarium sand, or does it have to be coral or live sand?

Also, any fish and stocking recommendations would be great, as I have no idea what is good for this tank. I read that damsels, and clowns are good?

Thanks.


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

BUMP


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

get as much LR (live rock) as you want. there is no rule of thumbs as how much is a good amount its down to each individual. its also depends on what sort of fish your going to keep and if its going to be reef or fish only.

you can add LR all at once or little by little over time. it doesnt make any difference.

FW sand is fine for SW. as long as it hasnt been used before in a FW setup. just add it to the SW setup as normal. make sure to cycle the tank aswell :nod:

clowns are great fish. damsels in long term can be problematic as they get very teretorrial and aggressive to fish you might add later on. otherwise they are good aswell
theres a huge amount of fish you could get for a 55g.
dwarf angels, dwarf lions, wrasse, bangai cardinals, even a snowflake eel would do well in a 55g. just have a quick google search and see what you fancy.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Well...I use liverock for the bulk of my bio-filtration so if that is how you are going....you will want to start with quite and make sure it is fully cured. I use live sand as well....to me...it just gives your tank a leg up in cycling.

Im certainly not a salt guru....but when starting a new tank...I would suggest starting with live sand and live rock and letting it settle in for a week or so before you being adding fish. You will get enough die off from the rock and sand to jumpstart the cycle. Once you start adding fish....many people will use damsels to cycle the tank and then just return them after the tank has matured and balanced a bit.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Most things have been covered.... if you want a good deal on dry base rock to start your tank, check out marcorocks.com

As for how much, its up to you and what you like... but the more rock, the better. If you can setup a sump and stack it full of rubble, and house more than the display thats ideal.

Your main things for setting up a tank are:

RO/DI water... important, otherwise you will have algae problems FOREVER
Salt mix.. Buy in bulk, have it around incase of emergency
Rock.... You could add 100lbs of "base" rock (dry, no life) and some LIVE rock to seed the new rock
Sand... you can buy sand and also seed it with sand from a mature aquarium

Things that would be awesome to have
Skimmer
Sump
own RO/DI unit
ATO (top off evaporated water)

Once you get your tank filled, and the rock and sand in... it will prob be around 3 weeks (depending on many factors) until you should add fish or anything that you care about.

Words of wisdom:
"Nothing happens fast in a saltwater tank"

Ask lots of questions, and read as much as you can (reefcentral.com froums)... the more you know now, the less problems you might get into.


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

His Majesty said:


> FW sand is fine for SW. as long as it hasnt been used before in a FW setup. just add it to the SW setup as normal. make sure to cycle the tank aswell :nod:


Why can you not use sand that has been used in a FW setup before? I was hoping i could









About cycling, is it the same as FW? Like using ammonia liquid and all that? Or do you just stick the Live rock/sand in and then wait for the ammonia, and nitrite to hit zero and nitrate to be under 40ppm or something?

Ive got myself a RO Unit, and skimmer, should be comming soon. I also bought myself a floating hydrometer, but now have read that they are crap and not accurate, is this true?

Thanks for all your help guys.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

Why can you not use sand that has been used in a FW setup before? I was hoping i could









All the bacteria and organisms living from the fresh system will die in salt, and cause spikes.. you could tech wash the sand out, but sand is a whore to rinse first of all, and second of all while you rinse it with tap, heavy metals still be there.. why start your new extravaganza on a bad note... dont give the new tank syndrom blooms fuel. Hydrometers can be close to accurate, but rarely are. Best thing to do is test your water and bring in the sample you used to a lfs and have them refractometer it and test your accuracy of the hydrometer.

live sand would be my best bet since it doesnt need to be rinsed, rinsing sand again [email protected]


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

redbelly pretty much answered your question. best to get new sand rather than already used one.


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

redbellyman21 said:


> Why can you not use sand that has been used in a FW setup before? I was hoping i could
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats fine, I have just bought some coral sand. Is it ok to mix this with live sand?


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

yes that should be fine


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

jamesw said:


> Hi Guys, as the title says, I am going to be setting up a 50 gallon FOWLR. Couple questions about live rock, and substrate.
> 
> Firstly, I have been advised to get 35 kilos for my tank, is that a good amount, too much, or too little?* Its more of preference. What depth do you want? 2 lbs per gallon should be good*
> 
> ...


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

sean makes a good point when it comes to fish compatibility. This hobby needs to have balance and not be all impulse.. I know the impulse feeling as we all probably have felt it at one time or another. Sometimes its a piranha sometimes its a angler sometimes its a trigger.. lol all my weak spots! n e way if you see a fish that you would want in a store, and its rare, ask the fish store to hold it and do research all day long, but realize chances are they are not as rare as you might think. SO unless you see a pair of crosshatch triggers for 100 bux, never impulse buy. p.s. crosshatches are the most common of expensive triggers... way to big for a 50 but they typically sell for 1000 bux or higher


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

50g is too small for triggers. so stear clear of them.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

His Majesty said:


> 50g is too small for triggers. so stear clear of them.


Did I say to do that? If I did I am sorry. I was simply saying crosshatch triggers for a 100 bux buy and resell them! lol not to house them in a 50... sorry if there was a misconception


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

no i was just making sure the OP understood that no triggers would be comfortable being housed in a 50g for life. especially a pair of crosshatches


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

His Majesty said:


> no i was just making sure the OP understood that no triggers would be comfortable being housed in a 50g for life. especially a pair of crosshatches


good, I thought I might have slipped.... now I want a pair of crosshatches


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

depends on your budget, you can get some base rock and then add LACE rock which is cheaper
and will not disolve over time like most live rock will and lace cost 1.99 per lb

the base rock will start the cycle but will be longer to get done but your wallet will love you for that

the thing to remeber about SW fowlr tank is most fish will not tolerate the same species of fish
unless they are a mated pair of clowns. in a 50g are you planing on a predator tank or nice fish?
you could do a medium lion fish for a while in there but you can not have smaller fish after him.

or do blennies and pj's along with chromis etc. but you have to think about it now because trying 
to catch fish in a tank loaded with rock sucks.....ive done this many times...good luck

oh yeah, agreed with sean.....no coarse substrate, will spike your nitrates like crazy


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

His Majesty said:


> 50g is too small for triggers. so stear clear of them.


Im using my 100 gallon tank now for the salty. Can triggers go into that?


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

most triggers to house for their entire life at full size a 150g is better.
however a 100g will be fine until they reach the 10inch +mark as they are very defensive of their territory.
i would stay away from clown, queen and undulate triggers. they are better suited with tankmates who are more agressive.
picasso, niger, crosshatch, pink tail all will do well in a more community friendly setup


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