Welcome to
D-Fishman's 55 Gallon
Saltwater Reef Aquarium Pages
My wife and I started our 55 gallon salt water reef tank in March of 1997. It has been a challenge to maintain but it's worth all the effort - it's like having a piece of a tropical reef system without traveling to the tropics. Whenever we can get to a tropical setting, we enjoy snorkeling to see how a real reef looks and hopefully understand a little better how to maintain our little piece of the reef at home.
You'll see we aren't overly technical on these pages. I'm not an expert, and I rely on the internet, aquarium books and advice from our aquarium store for most of my information. For any in-depth advice, I suggest you talk to your local experts or do some research on the internet. That's the best way to maintain a salt water tank ... by being informed.
Original tank set-up in March of 1997
Our 55 gallon tank sits on an oak base, with one drawer for supplies and 2 doors to hide all the equipment underneath. We had it delivered and set up, then we bought some live rock, fish and corals, and thought we were all set to sit back and enjoy. Boy were we wrong! One thing that we didn't pay attention to, and should have, was the fact that you can't "have it all" when you first start a tank like this. We were impatient and didn't allow the water quality to stabilize before adding lots of fish and other things that disrupt the water quality. So, if you are thinking of starting a reef tank, do it by the book, wait until the water quality is stable and add a little at a time. It will be easier on the fish and corals you put in the tank - they'll live longer and you won't go broke replacing them every few months.
Healthier tank in 1998 - front and side views
As we got better at maintaining the tank, the life in the aquarium improved. We also started doing monthly water changes which we hadn't been doing due to some bad advice from our original aquarium store. We began to do monthly water changes, but as the tank matured, we were told we didn't need to do them quite as often. Now, when we do a water change, we usually replace about 25% of the water in the tank.
We switched to Power Compact bulbs after the first year or so. We have four 55 watt bulbs, two white (day bulbs) and two blue (actinic bulbs). We use a Rio 800 power head, positioned on the left side of the tank, which creates a good water flow for the inhabitants.
Looking better in 1999
In 1999 we added more live rock and better corals. The tank looked great, the fish were happy (two had been in residence almost since the beginning), and maintenance was getting much easier. We still did regular water changes and also checked water quality by testing the water with kits we found in our local pet store.
Digital pic of the tank in May, 2002
Our live rock has gotten so colorful over the years, with purple, lavendar, and maroon shades of coralline algae growing on them. We used to rearrange the rocks whenever we did a water change, just to give the fish a little variety. That way the fish had new hiding places and new little caves or holes to swim through, plus it gave us a different view of the tank every few months. When we moved in February of 2003, we had a professional move the tank for us. He set up the rocks in such an interesting formation that we haven't bothered to change it recently.
Most recent picture - the tank in 2003
The next two pages are a more in-depth description of the different coral and fish we've had over the years. Feel free to swim on over to those pages and find out more about our tank.
Visit my wife's pages too ... she has lots of tropical topics for you!
Thanks to Tropical Nights Graphics for the great look of these pages!