Starting Up

I'm attempting my journey of starting a saltwater tank. Ive decided to start of with a fowlr. I have a 46 gallon. Right now i have 40lbs of sand and a couple pieces of rubble that came with the sand. I just ordered 50lbs of reef cleaners base rock. The sand i ordered from another place came in sooner so i put it in a little earlier. Being a beginner forgot to rinse my sand so I did get some cloudiness. Luckily my hang on back filter did a good job of removing the sediment suspended in the water(with the loss of some filter pads) within a couple hours. I will be adding rock when I get it. My filtration needs to be upgraded and so does my lighting. This will all be happening soon. I will be posting pictures and updates often so if you care to take a look I would be glad to answer any questions. If you see anything wrong that I am doing I would appreciate advice.

Before Anything(except pump and heater)

Right after adding sand slowly

After 2hours

Added lava rubble

After 5 hours(pretty clear)

 

Welcome to 3reef.

Excellent start.

You may want to think about adding a smaller/med power head once you get everything set up.

 

Welcome... Isn't Lava known to release metals from the rock?

 

yeah, the lava rock sold for aquarium decor is not true lava rock, using real lava rock can be catastrophic, they do indeed release harmful metals into the water.

 

yea the lava rock is harmless since it isnt really lava rock. I will be removing it soon though when i put the base rock in.

 

Rocks should be in soon.
Tank at night