My first ever saltwater tank

Hello,
I just wanted to show everyone my first ever saltwater tank setup and get some feedback or advice on what I should do with it!;D It has been running with sand, salt and rock for 3 days now and I'm waiting for the cycle to complete. I am going with a FOWLR and want to upgrade to a reef tank in about a year or more.

My setup:
37G tall tank (top fin) with led lights
45lbs of live rock
7lbs of quikrete play sand as the base (very thin layer)
30lbs Oolite Aragonite sand
Top fin 40 filter
200w heater
maxi-jet 400 (running as a circulation pump)
700 GPH flow rate

I have a million questions, but I'll only bother you with three for now.

1. Should I get another maxi jet and run them as power heads or is one circulation pump just as good?

2. Should I get a protein skimmer before I add my fish?

3. Is it okay to use a dead shrimp to kick start the cycle?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

The 2 larger pieces of rock perched on top I would move down or secure them.

Othewise your off to a great start, congrats.

 

1. I personally prefer the more circling motion (keeps everything in your tank moving and there are no dead spots) but if your only going to have fish I think you should be fine with one.

2. I would wait a bit on the protein skimmer. You tank needs that good bacteria to kick up the cycle and a protein skimmer would only extract it. But once the fish are in and the cycle is done, I would most definitely get one.

3. Yes, that would definitely work.

 

Thanks to both of you, I defiantly like to hear that I can wait on the skimmer, cheapest I have found is $109. As for the rock I'm kind of at a loss I just can arrange it in a way that looks nice to me but I agree those two should be moved.

 

Do not buy a SeaClone skimmer wait until you can afford a better type if that was the brand your were looking at.

Do not be afraid to brake up the pieces of rock, just smash it with a hammer. Or take those 2 round pieces and place them under the piece in front of the heater.

 

I was looking at the sea clone or a bak-pak2 because they are so much cheaper and I don't plan on having a sump for such a small tank. I have heard some bad things about the sea clone though, what would you recommend ?

 

I would be tempted to get a AquaC Nano Remora or even the CPR Bak-Pak 2. Stay away from the Hydroslim as well it's worthless. Just keep looking around and see what others recommend.

 

I would spend the extra cash on an Eshopps PSK-75H (HOB skimmer) if I were you. They have come up in price recently, but you should be able to get one around $140. I use one on my JBJ 28 nano and love it!

There are some other good options as well. This is just the one I am familiar with. Stay away from the Coralife Superskimmer 65 as well. I had zero luck with mine, even after modding it.

 

I would definitely 2nd this one. Sometimes a chizzel and a hammer can be your best friend.

 

I wouldn't run a tank without a skimmer personally once you get fish in there. I run coralife skimmers on my both of my tanks and they work great. They pull out so much gunk. Also buy oversized when looking for a skimmer.