Hi all ! I am starting my first saltwater aquarium in a 55 gal tank. We have 5 freshwater aquariums spread throughout our home, so I am not a newbie as far as aquariums go.

I have done my research and pretty much have my game plan in place. I love corals, but being new to saltwater, I believe I will start with live rock and fish only and do a small coral tank after gaining some experience. I will add my live rock and live sand and let my biological cycle complete, I will then add my clean up crew, crabs, snails etc. and then fish last.

My questions are: One, how much live rock to add ? All of the info I find is conflicting on this topic. I know some people add tons of rock, but what is the minimum needed to sustain good biological filtration for a tank this size ?

Two , Do I need a skimmer or filter ? or both ? Again I am finding conflicting info, some say just skimmer , just filter or both. Any info here would be much appreciated. I am looking forward to starting my saltwater aquarium, but do not want to do so until I am completely sure of these things. Thanks

Okay, one more question. Now I am alittle confused after reading some of the other post here mentioning dead rock. I have not heard of this at all. Everyone keeps telling me live rock and several pounds of it, witch will cost me several hundred dollars. Is this only because they are trying to get me to buy? Where do I find dead rock and what is the live/dead rock ratio ?

Depending on the live rock, one to two pounds per gallon is a good figure. You want rock that feels light for its size as it will be more porous and support more colonizing bacteria than heavy, dense rock.

Some start with mostly dead rock and seed it with good live rock but I prefer all live rock personally.

Adding a protein skimmer is a good idea, it removes a lot of biological material which can be food for algae. I do not use any other form of filtration in any of my systems other than a skimmer and Phosban reactors with GFO and GAC medias.

+1
Macro Rock
MarcoRocks Aquarium Products
Mix em or match em. Its all up to you. You can use all Live Rock, or none at all.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

I had a friend in my reef club that had a wholesale business license so a couple of us got together and had 1000 lbs of live rock flow in air freight direct from Walt Smith. I ended up with 168 lbs of Kaelini for about $2.50 lb. I couldn't get decent dead rock for that.
You might watch Craigslist for someone in your area tearing town a tank or selling supplies, I see them all the time in Phx and some really good deals on quality stuff.

Thank you so much for the advice, it helps alot. The link for Marcorocks is much appreciated , I will purchase my rock from here at a much better price than the other site I had intended to use.

I do plan to use a protein skimmer and power head as well as a canister filter. I have learned that many saltwater aquarium owners use only a protein skimmer and live rock. However, being a new to saltwater I want to do all that I can to assure water stability. After gaining some much needed experience I may learn to maintain my aquarium without the filter.

Good luck with the new tank. I've used the macro rock and live rock together for a great look. I typically use about a pound of rock per gallon of tank water for a nice look.

__________________
Dave the Fish Guy