New to Coral... opinions on setup?

Hey guys,
I have had my tank up and running for roughly 6 months now, and am going to start priming it for hard/soft coral. I have spent the past two days reading thread after thread of information, and have made a list of what I need to get in order to have a healthy tank. It is extremely likely I missed stuff or don't know what I am talking about- so any feedback is really appreciated! I want to make sure I do this right the first time around and avoid stupid mistakes. Here is my current setup (sorry for some of the spelling... I don't have the bottles in front of me

29g tank, 20g refugium w/ chaeto macro algae
~40lbs of live rock
aquamarine mini protein skimmer (may be upgrading to AquaC unless I can get the stupid thing to work properly)
MH 150W pendant
Koralia 3 powerhead
RO/DI unit
coral rack/tees for new coral

For additives/suplements I have:
strotnium/magnesium
calcium/alkalinity buffer
two fishies coral cleaner (for new coral)

Food:
ZEObak, ZEOfood7 amino acids, ZEO something else cant remember the name
phyto/zeoplankton

I guess my few direct questions would be what other additives/supplements would I need? And would I need any other foods on hand?
I haven't started looking into what actual specimens I will be getting, but I am going to be looking for suggestions on starter coral in a few weeks once I get everything prepared.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

 

what kind of coral do you plan on having? just random corals? mixed?
or an SPS dominated or LPS dominated?
if its a mix i think you are good to go. ( marine snow is good to have too)
im not sure on an SPS tank but im guessing you have what you need for supplementing.
You can PM "dingo" i think he knows his stuff pretty well.

 

Thanks for the response! I was planning on doing a mix, both LPS and SPS along w/ soft corals. I am also getting ready to order a calc/alk mix from BRS as well as a carbon/phospate reactor. I am going to get it all set up and take some time to get my water parm's in check. I will post up what my water is looking like in a few weeks once I get some of the new stuff in the tank!

 

Sounds like a good start.
Make sure you have a liquid test kit to check for Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, Ph, a refractometer etc.. ;D good luck

 

With the BRS order I plan on getting a refractometer
Already have all the test kits except one for calcium/phosphate just to keep my eye on it.

Thanks!

 

Have you run through what will be you rnormal lighting cycle? If your light is too close you could run into a cooling problem. Smaller tanks tend to heat up pretty quick. May need a fan (or a chiller)to keep the temp consistant.. I woudl start with the fan if needed first (chiller will cost ya)

 

I took that into consideration. Currently I am just running a 50/50 bulb (MH is on its way) with a top on. My tank is currently at 82 degrees. If I take the top off, it helps with heat and drops it a few degrees (around 80). With a fan I think I can take off another 5 degree's because I keep the AC on in my room, so it would be blowing cold air on the top of the water. I am going to shoot for a 79 degree temp, and am fairly certain I can hit this range without a chiller.

How long should I keep the MH on for? I have blue actinic lighting for night time (for aesthetics)

 

k+ for catching that. You may or may not need a chiller, depending on your water temperature under those MHs..

like he said, before you add any livestock see what the effects are with the MHs and then see if a fan does it or if you will need a chiller.


EDIT:...usually 8- 12hrs.. is the light period.