First Reef Tank Need Advice 29 Gallon

[do294706]

Yesterday I started my first reef tank. I have had much sucess with freshwater tanks in the past and am ready to take it to the next level. I am using a 29 gallon tank. I plan on using a 10 gallon sump as well. There is a picture of the tank bellow, as you can see the water is still cloudy from setup yesterday and rearangment of dry rock plus addition of live rock today.

Filtration:
I am curently using a Hang on Back filter, With the biowheel removed, as well as a powerhead for filtration. Over the next week i will be aquiring the materials to build a overflow box, as well as a sump to replace the HOB filter.

For the sump i will be using a 10 gallon aquarium. I plan on using a proteen skimmer in the sump as well, WIll a air pump one be adequate or do i need to bring out the big bucks for a expensive one?
What size pump would be sufficent?
Should i use a refugium?


Lighting:
I am currently using a single bulb that came with the tank. I already have two 150 W MH ballists and plan on building a hood that will incorperate one or two 150 W Metal Halide bulbs, as well as sufficent colling fan flow.
Is it neccisary to use 2 bulbs or just one?


Live Rock:
Yesterday i have purchased 30 lb of dry rock, and added salt and sand to the water. Today I got a few pieces of live rock and added them to the rop of the dry rock.
Does it look like i need more?
What should i be expecting to see and when?


Inhabitants:
I am not trying to rush this process, When is the right time to add the first fish, and how about coral When to add that too.
What are the best types of fish and coral to start with.
What about a clean up crew, when is the right time to add that and what are the best things to add?

[Jocko]

I'll hit a few things:

-Skimmer: I wouldn't bother with an air stone skimmer. There are some decent hang-on skimmers out there and you can usually find a good deal on them used from fellow reefers.

-Lights: I'd go with a single 150 watt.

-Rock: I'd get a little more rock. It can just be base rock if you want. The dead rock you have doesn't look very porous. So you might want to try and pick some up that has more nooks and crannies for bacteria to grow in. You've seeded the tank with some live rock, so that has introduced life that will able to spread over the dead rock.

-Before you think about adding any livestock, I'd finish getting the sump set up and get your rock situation sorted out. I'd do that before the skimmer and lights, because that will sort of establish the "foundation" of your system. You're going to want test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Keep and eye on those. While your tank is cycling/rock curing you can keep working on the other equipment.

-Once your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are at zero you can add a small cleanup crew. Keep it small, there won't be a lot of food for them at this point. But this will start to increase the bioload of your tank a little. That will allow the bacteria population to start growing slowly.

-You want to keep an eye on those test kits. Once things get back to zero, you can think about adding a fish. You always want those readings to get back to zero before you add anything new.

-I would avoid using any of those techniques like a dead shrimp, or "ghost feeding" as that will actually increase the amount of time it takes for your tank to stabilize and mature.

Good luck!

[89Foxbody]

is that Nature's Ocean rock? Cause I got 50lbs of it and it's not nearly as porous as I would have liked. Needless to say I wouldn't recommend it. I got 50lbs from BRS as well and the box was twice if not 3x as big.

Anyways, I agree with pretty much everything above.