How am I doing so far ?

[Alexxn]

First off I'd like to thank everyone who has answered questions for me so far - this is a very informative forum with alot of helpful people !!!

I just started with saltwater and setup a 30 gal FOWLR tank. A week ago I filled the tank (salinity checked of course) and used a thin layer of live sand. Last night I put in 30 lbs of live rock, I have a heater keeping the temp at 78 degrees, an Aquaclear HOB filter running a sponge and carbon, an Aqua C Remora skimmer running, and 2 Koralia 400gph powerheads running as well. For lighting right now all I have is 60 Watts of standard fluorescents running for 6 hrs a day (I will upgrade this soon)

Does this look OK for the next few weeks or so to get everything all cycled ? Any suggestions ? I will wait a good 4 - 5 weeks for fish and a clean-up crew.

Thanks in advance !

[IMG]http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/tank.jpg[IMG]

[BurntOutReefer]

yuppers.......starting off good.

[cdangel0]

Sounds like you did your homework, good for you.

Was the rock cured or un-cured? You may not have to wait the 4-5 weeks if it was cured - you may be good to go in under 3 weeks.

Just keep testing your levels, and keep asking questions, there's always more to learn.

[Alexxn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9072775#post9072775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cdangel0
Sounds like you did your homework, good for you.

Was the rock cured or un-cured? You may not have to wait the 4-5 weeks if it was cured - you may be good to go in under 3 weeks.

Just keep testing your levels, and keep asking questions, there's always more to learn.

One of the pieces has what I think the guy at my LFS said was some sort of macro algae ? Its a fuzzy green color, on one of the rocks, maybe 4 or 5 spots an inch in diameter. The others have a little purple on them......I tried to post a pic in here but if you copy and paste the link you can see....please don't mind the lousy rock arranging !

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Can't see a picture:(

[Shagsbeard]

You will want to move the rocks you have there away from the side glass. Cleaning is going to be a problem. Circulation too will be improved by moving away from the glass.

Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite numbers. Once they become essentially unreadable you're ready to add a clean up crew.

[Alexxn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9072952#post9072952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shagsbeard
You will want to move the rocks you have there away from the side glass. Cleaning is going to be a problem. Circulation too will be improved by moving away from the glass.

Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite numbers. Once they become essentially unreadable you're ready to add a clean up crew.

Ahh good point....I will definitely move them away from the side glass....I need to learn some good arranging technique....:D

[Alexxn]

The picture should be fixed now...I just got a prefilter box for the skimmer and I have to rearrange the rock...PH is 8.2 and no Ammonia yet.....

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/tank.jpg

[petoonia]

What type of fish are you thinking of getting?

[Alexxn]

Just a small pair of clowns and (if possible) one othe small fish...and a good cleanup crew of course :)

[Abraham1907]

If you are not going to add anything other than fish, there might not be any reason to upgrade your lights. They don't benefit from the lighting (perhaps they glow a slightly different color) from a health standpoint. You might think about adding an actinic flourescent bulb for that blue ocean look though.

[petoonia]

You could definately put another smalll fish in there. If you maintain the tank really well you could probably get away with two more small fish. Maybe a blenny and a small goby with a pistol shrimp.

[Alexxn]

Well I was also looking at some point (once the tank matures) to add some corals as well...that's where better lights would come in

[petoonia]

I think you should be ok. Maybe just one small fish then. Honestly if it were me I would probably add two small ones. Just take it slow. Post pics in the future when you start adding stuff!!! Good Luck!!!!

[Alexxn]

So things seem to be moving along quite nicely....just about a week with the live rock and I see alot of little "bugs" running around the rocks, some macro algae on a rock, and an interesting thing growing out of one of the rocks towards the back of the tank, it's a small (@ an inch) tube with alot of little "hairs" growing out of it....water parameters show nothing - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates......I guess the rock was very well cured....I'll keep everyone posted !

[Alexxn]

So another update a few weeks out....tank appears to be cycled (gotta love the fully cured Live Rock!) Water parameters look good, no fish yet, maybe in a few weeks when I am finished traveling. Here are some shots of what I have so far, let me know what you all think !

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/IMG_0697.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/IMG_0698.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/IMG_0699.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/alexxn/IMG_0700.jpg

[edwing206]

wow, looks very good. i like the zoos

[petoonia]

The tank looks great!! I really like the aquascaping! Its going to look great once it is filled in with corals!

I just have a couple pieces of advice for you. The caulerpa on the rock in the fourth pic, get it out of the tank ASAP. That stuff grows fast, and will eventually get out of control.

You may want to move your green star polyps down to the sand bed, from what I've been told they can easily grow onto the other rocks, and become difficult to remove. I guess it can be a problem if you ever want to place other corals on that rock. Another tip I learned about the GSP is place it on your sandbed then place some rubble around it and when it grows you just cut it and you have instant frags.

Good luck!! I cant wait to see more pics!