Sounds like that would work well for you... eheims are outstanding. However, if you're going with a 55 gal I'd condsider the eheim 2217 instead... awesome filter at a great price. I'm currently running a fluval 305 and an ac110 on my 55 gal and although they do a great job, I wish I'd gotten an eheim 2217 over the fluval 305... much better filter imo. And i don't think I need to explain how great the ac110 is.