My 55 Gallon Mixed Reef (First Saltwater Aquarium)

[trellemania]

My most updated shot of the tank: Updated - September 9th, 2026

Origin story!



Hello! My name is Andres and this will be a progress journal of my first ever saltwater aquarium! I am brand new to the hobby when an opportunity arose from a colleague to inherit their saltwater tank as they had to move. Being experienced with freshwater tanks, having always wanted to have one of these, having watched all the BRS videos I could watch for years and being prepared to spend more than I care to share, I made the jump and am praying it will pay off in happiness lol

The deets:

55 gallon Aqueon normal rimmed tank. Had been running for 5 years with a HOB MarineLand Penguin PRO 175 Power Filter, SICCE Skimmer 150, 1 SICCE Voyager Nano 2000 powerhead, Live rocks, Glass heater and T5 bulbs. My colleague moving to Hawaii provided the opportunity and he sought me out because of my desire to one day own of these. The setup may have been "free" but I knew he was not taking the best care of the 2 clownfish, Chocolate Chip star and couple corals he owned (1 hammer , 1 duncan, 1 SPS I am still unsure of its name). Upgrades needed to be done and some equipment needed to be changed but I took the challenge.

Moving the tank from his home to mine included keeping 30 gallons of his water, all the live rocks, the livestock and filtration. The t5 bulbs were malfunctioning and he indicated they were known to shut off on their own... I went out and bought myself a Kessil AP9X per LFS recommendation and ditched the fixture for the T5. While at the LFS I also bought more live rocks because he only had about 10 lbs of rock total and I've read in most places that you want about a lb per gallon so I added another 40 lbs of rock. I also replaced his substrate entirely per LFS recommendation as it was not well taken care of. Bought CaribSea Reef sand to replace. Also bought one more powerhead 2000 since the single powerhead didnt seem sufficient to me.

Cycle:
Although the tank was running for 5 years and I kept a lot of the water and all the rocks I knew there would be a sort of restart to the cycle. I began dosing Microbacter 7 immediately after set up as if it was a brand new tank. The remainder water that I did not take from his place I made with my brand new RODI system and mixed to 1.026 SG with Reef Salt from Instant Ocean (orange) mixed from the night before.

Parameters as follows following initial set up tested with API master reef kit:

SG: 1.026
ALK: 7
Ca2+: 420 ppm
pH: 8
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 5 ppm
Temp: 78.3 F

Fish seemed content. Star seemed content. Corals were ***** ticked from the move but as expected.

Picture from that first night:

Fish include one snowflake clown male and one black and white female clown (unknown morph)

The unknown coral I was talking about

This was back in the end of March 2025 :)

More posts to come of the continued build. Any tips are welcome at any point as I am indeed a newbie but I care a lot about the health of the tank and research everything I can daily.

 

[trellemania]

2 weeks later and the tank has began to stabilize. There was indeed a restart to the cycle as my obsessive daily parameter checks showed spikes in Ammonia and nitrites at separate times. I did plenty water changes and dosing of Microbacter 7 for the first 2 weeks. Never more than 0.5 ppm of ammonia tho so the water changes never had to be more than 20 % as the levels went down to 0 each time. I did get my hands on a better rated filter and skimmer since the one my buddy had was rated for up to 30 gals so now I have a 60 gal HOB Aqua Ready HF-M Complete Filtration and Skimmer with live rocks inside, ceramic media, filter floss and sponges. The filter is now tucked inside this HOB AIO filter for better looks.

Stabilizing parameters at the moment:
SG: 1.026 Instant Ocean Reef Crystals + RODI- Mixed prior night to water changes (tested via Refractometer)
ALK: 7 (tested via API titration)
Ca2+: 420 ppm (tested via API titration)
ph: 8.0 (tested via API titration)
Ammonia: 0-0.25 ppm (Water change and more microbacter 7 when I see more than that) ((tested via API titration))
Nitrites: Maintaining 0 ppm mostly ((tested via API titration)
Nitrates: 10-20 ppm (excess of that I do water changes) ((tested via API titration))
Temp: 78.3 F (App on my phone with SICCE thermometer)

These are the inhabitants by the end of the 2 first weeks. Everyone seems to be thriving and the corals are now opening daily. I did forget to mention he had a couple more corals I forgot about: 1 candy cane, 1 Zoa/Paly plug on top of the previously named hammer, duncan, and unknown coral

I did add a CUC as he only had 3 margaritas. Added the following:

2 Turbos
2 Margaritas
1 unknown snail from LFS lol
5 blue legged hermit crabs of different sizes.

I will be adding more CUC as the tank algae needs show up

Things to improve:

-My picture taking skills. Wow that blue light is no joke lol any tips will be appreciated
-Need to get rid of that star- I learned the chocolate chip star is not good for a reef... my buddy had no idea lol talked to my LFS and they said they'll take him for store creds so yay on that
-Figure out the Kessil AP9X light ranges- Currently I have it set at the peak of day to Color: 50 Intensity: 23 UV: 50 Red: 18 Green: 0. 10 hr cycle. So far no serious algae problems other than the daily scrubbing of the glass from some diatoms (i think lol)
-Feeding schedule- I am trying not to shock the fish and continue the daily pellets Aqueon Tropical Fish food my colleague was feeding them but I know this is not the best. Have started to give Mysis shrimp in the AM and some pellets in the evening.
-Coral locations. I changed them all up when I moved the tank and added rocks. I have them all on the sand for now as I rather them being underlit for now.
-Lid- bro had 1 glass lid on one side of the tank... I need to figure that out but the weird dimensions from the 55 gal make it hard to find a good source. Any tips happily taken!


Pics from 2nd week of April :) more to follow

 

[trellemania]

April 26

Ok now we are mostly caught up! Over the last 2 weeks the tank has continued to stabilize and I have continued to dose Microbacter 7 but at a slower rate as it does seem the bacteria in the tank has been able to keep up. I am starting to see some brown looking algae (diatoms or possibly hair algae as it is filamentous) and some greenish algae (diatoms? lol praying it nothing huge but it is keeping to one corner and the glass itself). Here is a pic of that algae:

LFS recommendation was more CUC for now:

Added an assortment of 5 snails and 5 more hermits. Also added 1 cleaner shrimp.

Lights:
Found this online from another member of R2R and inputed it to my AP9X for now:

Will keep an eye for algae getting worse and act accordingly but I was expecting this as my colleague did not keep up with the algae and there was some on the tank before I redid the whole thing.

Livestock:

The 2 clowns have been eating well and seem to be thriving. They are being fed mostly frozen thawed mysis and other krill mixes for omnivores plus the occasional pellet.

The starfish is now gone to the LFS in exchange for store creds lol I did get one coral in exchange:

1 single chalice

I could not contain myself lol had to get it.

Chemistry:
I have started to dose All For Reef at 10 ml/day at the beginning until we reached desired ALK and Ca per my LFS recommendations and today's daily parameter checks are as follows:

SG: 1.026 Instant Ocean Reef Crystals + RODI- Mixed prior night to water changes (tested via Refractometer)
ALK: 9 (tested via API titration)
Ca2+: 440 ppm (tested via API titration)
ph: 8.0 (tested via API titration)
Ammonia: 0 ppm ( 15% Water change and more microbacter 7 weekly is keeping it at bay) ((tested via API titration))
Nitrites: 0 ppm (tested via API titration)
Nitrates: 10 ppm (tested via API titration)
Temp: 78.3 F (App on my phone with SICCE thermometer)

I am now going to back off on the All for Reef until the ALK starts to drop again. I want to understand how much the coral is taking before I do more.

Overall I think we are going in the right direction :) Expecting some great challenge to show up soon such as algae or a pest but so far nothing past cycling balancing. Praying we stay like that lol. At some point I want to add more reef safe fish but I want to wait a couple months of a balanced cycle before that happens. More corals to come tho thats for sure.

Any tips always happily taken!!

 

[Anna K]

Love the photos you've been getting of the tank!

I have been interested in getting AFR, but I was told I didn't need it until my tank matured a bit. What type of light do you have for the tank? I've never seen one like that before.

 

[trellemania]

Love the photos you've been getting of the tank!

I have been interested in getting AFR, but I was told I didn't need it until my tank matured a bit. What type of light do you have for the tank? I've never seen one like that before.

Thank you Anna! I am trying to get better at getting pics of the tank because that blue light is hard on the colors on my phone's camera lol Maybe I'll invest in a real camera at some point

As for the AFR- It was recommended by my LFS since the tank was semi-cycled already but Im not too sure. I am doing very little dosing until the corals start to uptake the calcium from the water column but I will let you know how it goes lol!

The light is a Kessil AP9X! It was pretty expensive sitting at around $750 and it was probably the most expensive component yet but my LFS recommended it as a big investment as it will be able to support SPS one day

Thank you for visiting my thread! I will be checking your 40L AIO because the pictures look awesome!

 

[trellemania]

April 27

Welp the coral bug has latched on to me. Being that parameters have continued to trend well and algae seems to continue being kept at bay by the CUC, I finally accepted some friends from my LFS.
Updated pic with the new corals in the tank after their dip, acclimation and post-ticked off moment (getting a lil better at this pictures thing):

Total coral list so far:
1 Hammer
1 Torch/Frogspawn hybrid (? didnt know that was a thing but it was sold as that lol picture to follow the list)
1 Ironman Chalice
1 Rock with Pulsating Xenia (Always wanted one of these :grinning-squinting-face: I know they are seen as a nuisance by some but idc I love it lol)
1 Candy Cane
1 Unknown coral from a friend (Possibly birdsnest?)
1 Unknown coral from the person I inherited the tank from (see my previous posts for the close up)
1 set of Zoas (unknown name)
1 set of Palys within the Zoas (It came like that lol)
1 Duncan

Skimmer is finally settling in and seems to be broken in! I started to lower it and make sure my foam is not too wet!

Last set of values:
SG: 1.026 Instant Ocean Reef Crystals + RODI- Mixed prior night to water changes (tested via Refractometer)
ALK: 9 (tested via API titration)
Ca2+: 420 ppm (tested via API titration)
ph: 8.0 (tested via API titration)
Ammonia: 0 ppm (tested via API titration))
Nitrites: 0 ppm (tested via API titration)
Nitrates: 10 ppm (tested via API titration)
Temp: 78.3 F (App on my phone with SICCE thermometer)

Lastly, I meant to go for an auction from @AquaSD for just a couple new inhabitants and ended up going a little crazy winning corals left and right... Many new friends will be arriving this week!! No other fish other than my clowns yet, I plan on waiting for a couple months but am looking to add some fish with jobs lol in particular algae control or sand sifting variety. Any recommendations are happily taken!!! I am indeed still a newbie lol

 

[Gjedde]

For fish maybe a flasher wrasse and a blenny? Id say toss another fish in before too long. I dont think you need to wait months. How are your phosphates?

 

[trellemania]

For fish maybe a flasher wrasse and a blenny? Id say toss another fish in before too long. I dont think you need to wait months. How are your phosphates?

Really? I was scared to add more so soon lol! Should I continue Microbacter 7 dosing up until the new fish settle in? Flasher wrasse is a serious possibility they attract me for sure. For the blenny do you think like a lawnmower blenny? Im still reaseaching all the blenny possibilities and wow there is quite the variety!

Phosphate is sitting at 0.25 tested by Salifert ! I will start adding that parameter to my updates!

 

[ozs]

For taking pictures of your tank, I recommend something like this. Pictures turn out so much better for showing friends or posting on here with questions.

https://shop.orphek.com/collections...oral-lens-kit-for-smartphones-and-dslr-camera

 

[trellemania]

For taking pictures of your tank, I recommend something like this. Pictures turn out so much better for showing friends or posting on here with questions.

https://shop.orphek.com/collections...oral-lens-kit-for-smartphones-and-dslr-camera

Thank you!! I just ordered one!

 

[Anna K]

I did all of my five fish within a week so I wouldn't have to deal with any aggression issues. It seemed to work for me!

 

[Gjedde]

You could add a fish per month easy, especially with adding the microbacter.
Lawnmower blenny is a great choice. Im on the hunt for a starry blenny myself.
My tank has been running since mid january. I have added:
2 clowns
1 damsel
1 hawkfish
1 mccoskers flasher wrasse
1 dusky wrasse 5”
1 chocolate tang 4”
1 blue jaw trigger 4”
1 yellowhead jawfish.
My nitrates are nearly undetectable. I am adding another three fish this week mostly to up my nutrients load.

 

[bubbgee]

Love the photos you've been getting of the tank!

I have been interested in getting AFR, but I was told I didn't need it until my tank matured a bit. What type of light do you have for the tank? I've never seen one like that before.

You can dose AFR but only if you’re testing regularly and know how much alk and cal your tank is consuming. Preferably if you have a good amount of sps or lps. If you have mostly soft corals (zoas and mushrooms), water changes would be enough to maintain parameters.

 

[trellemania]

You could add a fish per month easy, especially with adding the microbacter.
Lawnmower blenny is a great choice. Im on the hunt for a starry blenny myself.
My tank has been running since mid january. I have added:
2 clowns
1 damsel
1 hawkfish
1 mccoskers flasher wrasse
1 dusky wrasse 5”
1 chocolate tang 4”
1 blue jaw trigger 4”
1 yellowhead jawfish.
My nitrates are nearly undetectable. I am adding another three fish this week mostly to up my nutrients load.

My 3 yr old daughter is going to go bonkers once I start adding more fish lol. This is great news!

I just started following your thread love the way everything is coming together!

 

[trellemania]

You can dose AFR but only if you’re testing regularly and know how much alk and cal your tank is consuming. Preferably if you have a good amount of sps or lps. If you have mostly soft corals (zoas and mushrooms), water changes would be enough to maintain parameters.

Yes, I agree with this. I check the ALK and Ca2+ twice a week until the tank is fully stable but I hear once a week is ok?

 

[bubbgee]

Yes, I agree with this. I check the ALK and Ca2+ twice a week until the tank is fully stable but I hear once a week is ok?

It depends on your lifestyle and your style of reefing. I like everything automated because I'm in IT and a data addict so I look at the pulse of the tank every time I get.

Just find your happy way of doing things and adapt as your tank grows. Some like it simple, some like the gadgets and gizmos. Some are just happy with water changes. At the end of the day, as long as you're happy looking at the tank in front of you, it's a win.

 

[trellemania]

It depends on your lifestyle and your style of reefing. I like everything automated because I'm in IT and a data addict so I look at the pulse of the tank every time I get.

Just find your happy way of doing things and adapt as your tank grows. Some like it simple, some like the gadgets and gizmos. Some are just happy with water changes. At the end of the day, as long as you're happy looking at the tank in front of you, it's a win.

That is a great philosophy! Thank you!

 

[Gjedde]

My 3 yr old daughter is going to go bonkers once I start adding more fish lol. This is great news!

I just started following your thread love the way everything is coming together!

My three year old daughter loves our hawkfish. That could be an option.

 

[trellemania]

My three year old daughter loves our hawkfish. That could be an option.

The flame hawkfish at my LFS has been staring at me pretty intently every time I walk in....

 

[Gjedde]

Thats a fun fish.