55 gallon

just start cycle with live rock.

 

lol ok

 

I would read the book you were given and look into one by Bob Fenner called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. It will walk you through all the steps.

I would make sure your LR is on the glass bottom so that future critters don't topple them with burrows. If the sand you bought was live it will have bacteria, etc in it to deal with the nitrogen cycle. If it was out of water when you brought it home some of that bacteria/ life in the sand would have died which will start a cycle in your new tank. Just monitor your levels closely. Don't skim during the cycle as it will remove proteins which are used in the cycle and broken down. Buying more live sand will not really help you here. More live rock ALWAYS helps.. IMO.

I would not use a canister filter. A HOB with a bio wheel would be ok and one converted into a small fuge would be a good idea if you don't have the room to make a sump. I would DEFINATELY get a skimmer, and don't necessarily trust the LFS employee. Some are intelligent, helpful people, but some don't know what they are talking about, and feed you crap. You'll learn this as you read and educate yourself.

I would go with a small 4 bulb T5 fixture on your tank minimum for future corals. I would also have more then one power head. The koralia 3 is good, maybe get a couple small ones like Koralia 1 or 2's. Point them towards eachother to get good turbulance. Make sure you get all the appropriate test kits.. refractometers are better then hydrometers, and look into a TDS meter to test the water you use. You will find your tap water will have dissolved metals like copper, iron, etc.. and arsenic, chlorine or chloramine. An RO/DI filter will get rid of this and with a TDS meter you can measure to make sure your water is 0ppm. Test your tap water and I will bet it is well over 100ppm. Mine was 200ppm.

Run carbon in a phosban 150 or like reactor to help eliminate these chemicals, etc prior to adding live stock. Until you buy a filter I would use distilled in the water cooler containers. The place I get mine from measures 0ppm!

Just some info to help.. just remember to take things SLOW.. and don't buy a mandarin like I did as my first fish (he is still alive thanks to info I got off of the internet from folks on sites like this).

Mistakes will be made but follow the advice on here and you will have minimal losses and enjoy the hobby alot more!

 

You won't need a protein skimmer until about 12 weeks after you set up the tank, providing you don't jump the gun and toss a bunch of fish in there too fast.
Otherwise there is no bioload, so no need for a protein skimmer yet.
A canister filter is fine, and great to run carbon, phosphate remover, etc in it, and it also acts to create flow much like an extra powerhead. I use the Fluval 305. I just prefer them over the hang on back filters.
I have a #3 and a #2 Koralia. You'd be fine, maybe better with 2 #3's, depending if the coral you want likes/dislikes high/med/low flow. There will always be spots in the tank where the flow is lacking; it happens depending on rock setup, etc, and is difficult if not impossible to avoid 'dead zones'.

 

guys this is a fowlr and yes i do have a skimmer thanks for the comments. i have read the whole book 2 times and still refer to it =] i think my next upgrade is gonna be that canister filter and yes i do have the appropriate tests kits its a api salt water master kit. im lucky enough to have nice lfs workers they all own at least one tank. the owners are marine bios. =] they tell me what corners are ok to cut and witch ones arnt and tell me how to make some diy stuff. and they give you a lot of hitch hikers with there live rock

 

If you have about 60 lbs of live sand and at least 30-40lbs of good porous live rock, you should be able to have that 55 cycled in 4 weeks. Just keep the skimmer turned off for now until you need it later. Any new pics?

 

yahh pics laster its with me cell though. yah when i get home its 6:00am

 

mlfs sells live rock a $7 a pound its pricey but the best qualty

 

i have to move or take out the sand right? cuz im seeding the sand below and the sand below isnt the best

 

check the classifieds for people tearing down established systems. I got my rock for $3.50/lb and it was all VERY nice. Better then I saw for sale at any of my LFS.