[Hairytank]

Welcome,

I did the same thing a long time ago and kept SW fish only with Live rock for about 10 years in my current 46 gal bow and it is pretty good, but I am in the process of looking for a larger (110gal) system as I want to move into corals. The 55 will likely be good to start with and see if Saltwater is something you want to stick with, but you have to ask yourself what do you want to be keeping in the tank? If it is fish and liverock, then as long as you stick with the right sized fish and stock levels (Imperator Angels would not be good. Up to15") you will be good, but if you want to try your hand at the more difficult corals then a larger system will be desirable, as this increases stability.

By the way, I initially tried to run the tank with canister filters and no sump. This worked OK, but in the long run you will kick yourself for not having a sump as it is less work overall. I found that canisters can be a pain to maintain properly and therefore can cause elevated nitrate levels and therefore algae issues. Just look up information regarding canisters and nitrate on the web for more info.

I am using a LifeReef Overflow box and had some very good success (no floods), but again in the long run it is better to have the tank drilled. This will prevent some of the potential problems involving flooding.

The Coralife Skimmers are notorious for overflowing if they don't have 1) constant water levels 2) the air intake nozzle cleaned every month/week. In fact, I cleaned up a total of two floods due to my CL SS 65, my wife was not happy...This was when I was using it as a hang off the back. If you have a sump, you can hang them on the inside of the sump, therefore removing any flooding issues. They are OK skimmers, in terms of pulling gunk, but again in the long run you will likely switch over to an in sum skimmer.. Having said all that, "don't look a gift skimmer in the collection cup" it is a good start, just keep it clean and maybe even a safety bucket underneath.

Well, those are my long winded thoughts...