Starting my first Reef Tank

I am very new to the saltwater aquarium reef hobby. I have just got a 55 gallon tank it has one overflow tank into my sump and a pretty decent sized pump for my return. In addition to that i have a thermostat, a good sized circulation pump and it also came with a uv light and pump. It has 65watt 10,000k coralife lights. This is the third day of my new hobby. The first day i added salt and started my system up for the first time. Seems to be running pretty smoothly, except for my tank is turning black. Note to self stay away from old charcoal filters. Evidentally the charcoal seeps out of the bag. Trying to run system to clean it now. Any suggestions what i should do next after i re-clean my tank. Thanx

 

go to the fish store and get some GAC(granular activated carbon) and run that either through a filter, reactor, or bag of it in the sump near some good flow...

that should clean and clear the water up in a few days...

 

Thanks for the info. Gonna get some GAC just went and bought some live rock. Question, will a lower salt level affect the live rock at all. and also how long do you think rock can survive out of the tank ?

 

The least amount of time your rock is out of the tank the better. I'm pretty sure up to 24 hours but somebody would have to confirm this. I had a friend with the black water problem... she didn't "pre-rinse" the carbon to activate it or what have you.

 

BTW, Welcome! Everyone loves pictures here, so don't be shy! Good Luck!

 

Thank you for the great info. I will definayely upload some pictures all i have are a couple from me assembling the tank. As for the black water problem i have solved it. After numerous filter rinses i believe all the charcoal dust is finally gone. The rock i picked up had a few small animals on it and even a baby star fish, Hopefully they all survive. I appreciate all the help i can get thank you.

 

Welcome to 3reef.

 

sounds good. so how much rock did you get? any sand? the hardest part of starting this hobby is waiting for the cycle to complete. just be patient with this and all will fall into place.

welcome to 3reef. any questions just ask..... happy reefing

 

Day Five of my Saltwater Reef startup, everything that i can notice so far seems to be going just fine. I checked the salt level it is a lil low but nothing a little bit more salt cant fix. And my ph is just a lil high but also easily fixed. Other than this so far so good. The tank is pretty much crystal clear now after using the GAC and rinsing my filters repeatedly. Dont laugh but i only have one small piece of live rock and only about 25 pounds of sand. Hopefully this weekend im gonna purchase some more. What should be the first actual life that i can add to my aquarium after i run the cycle? And how long does the cycle actually take? Will old dead rock become alive again if left with live rock in a tank? So many questions, thank you for all the help. I m gonna try to put up some pics and write on here frequently to keep updated.

 

yes live rock will seed dry rock over time, i would try to make this next time for rock your last for a while anyway. You always run the chance of another mini cycle and phosphates leaching out of the rock everytime you add more rock or sand. After the cycle is done or when your trates are fallen i would add a cuc to help fight the algea outbreak you will be having, diatoms are first and everybody goes through it. Get some gfo and a reactor ready and a good skimmer is a must in my opinion.