New tank set-up with pics and some questions

Hello,

This is my first marine tank. I set it up over the course of the last two blood-sweat-and-tear-filled days. It's a 55 gallon tank with live rock and sand. I had to do a lot of cleaning because I bought it used and it had a considerable amount of algae and salt crystallization in the tank, cabinet and wet/dry filter.

Filter:
The wet/dry is a proclear aquatics 75. I have a heater in the return sump (see pic taken from above). The skimmer on this thing is really finicky and I had to really mess with the attached pump so that it was not pumping out water to the "gunk catching receptacle" too fast. Now it seems to be foaming fairly slowly into the cup at the top, which I assume is par for the course?

Inside the tank I have a 2 inch sand bed, some live rock (not yet arranged into its final positions in the photo) the overflow filter and wet/dry return and a maxi-jet 600 powerhead. I have some more Caribsea live sand that I can add as well...should I?

Where is the best place to position the maxi-jet 600 powerhead? The outlet on it is kinda skewed to one side and right now I have the outlight kinda angled towards the wall nearest it on the side of the tank. Should I have it angled toward the middle of the tank instead? Should I also get a 2nd powerhead for a 55 gallon?

Lighting:

I have some run-of-the-mill flourescent lighting now, but I just ordered this (48" version with timer) which I hope to use to cultivate my inverts:

Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Lunar Aqualights Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

I also bought a glass top so that I can lay the lighting directly on top. The canopy opens on the top and back, so I'm hoping that the fan on the light will keep everything cool enough.

So, when should I start testing for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite? I have a bag of crushed coral also, should that be added to the tank before I attempt to introduce any coral? How do I administer this calcium also, the bag doesn't really have great instructions.

Finally, when I am ready to add coral and the maintenance crew (snails, etc). Can anyone recommend a site where they might have some kind of package deal of different kinds of hardy soft-corals sold together? It seems like it's very expensive to buy individual frags of 5 different corals. Any suggestions to get the first inverts in there on a budget?

Thanks, will add more pics as the set-up progresses!

 

you will want another powerhead for sure, for bett water movement. having a glass top is usually detrimental to a tank in regards to the gas exchange. and also it wont allow the proper light to get into your tank for corals to flourish. if your gonna be adding the cc , might as well do it now. looks like youve already got a sand bed there? so probably no need for the cc. since youve started to cycle, you can start testing your params now. for a practice and to monitor the fluctuations to see how the cycle is moving along. also do no water changes while your tanjk is cycling, it will just prolong it. the calcium is already in your water, test to see where your at. with water changes this will add back all the used up calcium and other trace minerals and such. and if i think 0f anything i will add to it.

 

Thanks! I will begin testing water parameters tomorrow. As of now, I only have ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and pH tests. What others should I buy before getting coral? Alkalinity, phosphate and Ca?

Also, can anyone recommend a good website for getting the inverts from? Are any package deals available? (I'm on the East Coast (US) if that matters at all)

 

remove the BIO Balls as they are a nitrate factory also what media is in your cannister filter. I would only add carbon and gfo later down the road. keep everything else out of it. thats what I used mine for when I set up my cannister filter. then I bought a dual media filter from BRS and love it....

 

hey tango, yes those are good tests to have also. important ones too. reefcleaners a sponsor here wil lsetup you up with the perfect cuc. and i agree on the bioballs, they trap alot that leads to nitrates

 

reefcleaner heard nothing but good things

 

Alright BIO balls are made to collect bacteriaand decaying mater from the water right? Thats what LR Does also. BIO balls/Live rock pretty much do the same thing. So your telling him pretty much their the same thing. Nitrates are a part of nature in the ocean, and correspondingly in our tanks. As waste breaks down in your aquarium, it cycles from ammonia to nitrite to nitrates. The first two are highly toxic to marine life, and we make it a point to make sure our tanks test zero for these. However, nitrates aren’t as bad, and sometimes are even a little beneficial.

 

Ok, couple of things...terminology I don't understand:


Question 1:
"cannister filter"?: is that the chamber that the bio-balls are in? Or is it the cylinder that I've been calling the protein skimmer. As far as I know the only media in any of them are filter pads, the bio-balls and a sponge for mechanical filtration. I will remove the bio-balls right away.

So, either way, later on down the road I should add carbon and gfo. Now I don't really have a clue what these are. Activated carbon? I should add where and do I need to buy a special sort that fits neatly into the filter or am I going to be dumping something in?

Finally, what's a "cuc," before I ask reefcleaners to set me up with one?

Thanks!

 

Yes, but bioballs don't have the properties to break nirates into hydrogen gas, live rock does. Bioballs are fine though if maintained.

 

Ok, I've done a little digging, is it necessary to put live rock in the chamber where the bio-balls are or can I leave it empty and rely on the amount in the tank?