Taking the dive

[Dctrojan]

First, I would like to commend everyone for contributing to such a great forum. I've found so much helpful information prior to ever starting my tank. I would like to introduce myself, I am a current college student and veterinary technician. My ultimate goal from this forum is to learn, and hopefully contribute to the forum. I Finally started a saltwater reef aquarium after years of wanting and months of contemplating, I acquires a 55 gallon tank and stand. I also own a 55 gallon freshwater planted aquarium as well. At this time, I would like to just introduce what I have Acquired so far for the reef tank:

Filtration-
Protein skimmer - reef cyclone 100
30 gallon DIY sump with 10-15 gallon built in refugium
The refugium is empty and I will be buying LR today for it.
DIY spray bar from sump
CPR double overflow
600 return pump (petco)


Lights
2-145 Watt LED fixtures each led 3w, approx 50/50 Blue/white
2-20 watt 405 NM UV LEDs (will be here Monday)

Water
7 stage RO /DI filter system
DIY reservoir and auto top off (in process)
Instant ocean reef crystals salt mix
Instant ocean reef accelerator.

Last Friday, I took the plunge and went to a local fish store , where the owner proceeded to help me start my saltwater aquarium.

I acquired:
15lbs LR cured ( had coralline and all types of critter on it)
15lbs base rock
50lbs aragonite
Salt mixes
Sea urchin
Hitchhiker from LR (fan worms,glass anemones, mollusk, polyp colony, brain coral)

Water chemistry-
Ph-8.0-8.2 (how do you Make the water more basic?) baking soda?
Ammonia-approx 0 ppm
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0

I put the tank together that day and a week later here I am and the tanks running flawlessly. Today I am going to buy some more supplies for the tank.

LR for the tank and sump
Live sand (sump/refugium)
Coral additives
Possible hermit crabs
Ca and P tests

Some questions I have:
When should I start adding fish?Coral?

Should I add a circulation pump?size?

What kinds of additives should I prepare to get to keep corals?
I want to keep both sps and lps eventually.
L


I would like to get some opinions on the setup and any advice to someone new to the hobby. Although I am still a college student, I've already received a bachelors of animal science and I'm currently working on my masters in animal science before vet school. With that said, any educational information you may have probably will help myself tremendously.

Please excuse my grammar and possible misspelled words. I am using the browser on my iPad. (Not the best for typing)

Thanks everyone for any information and for the contributing to a great forum.
,Dalton
Dctrojan

[Dctrojan]

Here's a picture of the tank thus far.

[fishgate]

Welcome!

Isn't this Aiptasia? Aiptasia is not a desirable addition to the tank and people expend great time and energy killing it. It does not surprise me that a local fish store would give/sell it to you however.

Hitchhiker from LR (fan worms,glass anemones, mollusk, polyp colony, brain coral)

[Dctrojan]

Yes I believe it is. I've gotten maybe like 5 of them total. Any way to remove them? I've heard a shot of boiling water will do the trick? And some shrimp will eat them? Any idea about the orange algae. It's like a fluorescent orange.

[Dctrojan]

I just boiled some water and dosed the ones I saw. They retracted back into their holes.

[fishgate]

If they are stressed they will spit out babies. I used AiptasiaX and it worked very well.

Not sure what the orange stuff is - could be cyano.

[Dctrojan]

Originally Posted by fishgate

If they are stressed they will spit out babies. I used AiptasiaX and it worked very well.

Not sure what the orange stuff is - could be cyano.

Any advice for me when I buy live rock today?
Anything I should stay away from?
Are the large mollusk attached to the rock desirable ?

[fishgate]

I don't think live rock is worth the extra money. It is "live" because of the established bacteria colonies on it, not because of the hitchhikers, some of which are undesirable. Base rock or dry rock will become live with a few weeks of being in a tank.

Usually mollusks are desirable as they are filter feeders. I don't know of any that are bad.

[Lynxone]

Hi and welcome.

You definitely want some more rock in that system but whether its live rock or dry rock is up to you. Both will end up live. Generally you want about 1-1 1/2 lbs per gallon to provide plenty of surface area for bacteria to grow. As for the aptasia, I would advise dealing with it now while its easy to get to. The urchin might be a problem while your tank cycles, he may not survive it.

As for some of your questions

8-8.2 is not a bad ph level and I wouldn't advise chasing ph numbers anyways. Instead, concentrate on the big 3: calcium, alk, and magnesium.

Yes you should get circulation pumps (power heads). Flow is important and different corals require different flow rates. You mentioned wanting sps down the road and those generally like very high water movement.

I would wait to add any livestock until the tank cycles completely. Tons of info on this site regarding the cycle. Most importantly, have patience. Nothing good in this hobby happens fast.

Hope this helps....

Good luck!

[Dctrojan]

I was under the interpretation that my tank may have just a small cycle since the rock is fully cured? Also i was sure to minimize the time in between the store and my tank. Correct me if im wrong. Thw tank had a tiny bit of ammonia like 3 days ago and now its back down to 0. What kind of sand should I use for the sump refugium.

[Dctrojan]

Also the urchin seems to be sticking next to a spot of dead live rock and eating. All the polyps ans corals that came on the live rocks seem to be all thriving ive actually got alot of new growth in the last 2 days.

[Lynxone]

Originally Posted by Dctrojan

I was under the interpretation that my tank may have just a small cycle since the rock is fully cured? Also i was sure to minimize the time in between the store and my tank. Correct me if im wrong. Thw tank had a tiny bit of ammonia like 3 days ago and now its back down to 0. What kind of sand should I use for the sump refugium.

Using live rock can definitely help with minimizing the cycle. I was concerned about the small amount. The problem is even with live rock you can have die-off in the transfer. If you've been monitoring carefully (which is sounds like you have) you may be ok. Keep it in mind as you add more live rock though.

Sand for refugium....most folks prefer some sort of aragonite. I really like tropical Eden reef flakes but you have many choices here. I'd stay away from sand with silicates and I would use well rinsed dry sand over "live sand" both because is cheaper and also you won't have the die-off cycle risks. I am skeptical about live sand in a bag.

[Dctrojan]

Thanks everyone for the help. After going to the fish store I bought several new things as well as got my 30 gallon sump up and running.

15 lbs premium cured LR
40 lbs bulk rock. (15 lbs for the refugium)
15lbs aragonite (refugium)
4 lg snails (not sure what kind yet)
10 sm hermit crabs.
Kent coralline tec additive
Kent micronvert
Anastasia X

I've placed all the LR in the tank, 25lbs bulk rock in the tank , and 15lbs bulk rock in refugium . Everything's looking great at this time. What kinda lights will work for the refugium ? I've got a 40 inch marine land led from pet smart on it now.(all I had)

I've also placed a 500 gps circulation power head in the tank to increase the water flow.

What's the best way to dose the tank with the additives and when?

I've also zapped the little glass anemones with the X stuff. I hope I found them all.

[acabgd]

Why are you buying all these coral additives? You don't need these at all, you're just wasting your money.

[Dctrojan]

Eventually I'll need the additives plus the LR has a ton of coral and all kinds of duster worms. I figured they would need to be fed to stay alive .

Here a picture after the new LR.

[Sun357]

In general people don't 'need' additives for corals.

If you can pull the rock out you can use a lighter and scorch the aiptasia off the rock if you find more.