New tank (Comments and suggestions please)

[timmmmeh]

Hey Guys,

I'm pretty much new to the SW hobby and I just wanted to share some pictures of my tank right now and seek some knowledge/suggestions. As of now, it's a 55 gallon tank, with a built in sump on the back. I have about 45lbs of live rocks and 50 pounds of live sand. The tank has been running for about a month and all the test results look good.

Here is one of my two clownfish and a blue velvet damsel.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/trinleslie/DSC_0543.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/trinleslie/DSC_0532.jpg

Here is a picture of a live rock with some stuff that came with it. Can anyone give me the names of these? I don't know what they are, but they look cool. What would I need to do or feed them if I want them to stay alive?
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/trinleslie/DSC_0550.jpg

Here is a picture of my entire tank
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/trinleslie/DSC_0535.jpg

And here is my protein skimmer. It's a very very cheap one with a rio pump. At first it would just overflow with water, but now it seems to be working okay. The water comes out brown, so i'm guessing that it works okay? I know it's not a very good one, but would this be okay for a FOWLR tank? I plan on running a prefilter/u tube overflow to another sump so I can use a good protein skimmer in the future. OR do you guys think this protein skimmer would be okay for me to keep ONE anenome for my clown fish? For the sump right now, I have bio balls, but I am going to replace that wtih LR rubble.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/trinleslie/DSC_0552.jpg

Thanks for taking a look at my tank and any suggestions that you may have.

[sage_commander]

Those tentacled critters look like aiptasia. Pest anemone. Look on here for ways to get rid of them. They can spread and sting corals.

Looks like a sun coral right above those. I think they're filter feeders, but I'm not sure.

You'll probably want to add more live rock as you can. You have less than one pound per gallon, and you need about 1.5 for an effective bio filter.

And learn all you can from here. This place is invaluable for information.

[Flavum]

The coral above the aiptasia looks like closed up zoanthids to me. just give them light.

start knocking out those aiptasia ASAP they reproduce like crazy.

your tank is off to a good start it looks like :)

give us an update sometime

[timmmmeh]

Can I simply just pull those aiptasias off? I read some threads and it suggests using chemicals.

[Packersfan21]

Pull them off and they'll grow right back. I've never had apitasia in my tank but I've heard that Joe's Juice works well.

[seb187]

peppermint shrimp work well too

[Packersfan21]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12559237#post12559237 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seb187
peppermint shrimp work well too

Yes, but he said that his tank was a fowlr.

[seb187]

good call i missed that

[timmmmeh]

Is it bad to put peppermint shrimps in a FOWLR tank? What about a coral banded shrimp? I was at the LFS and they look pretty cool.

[kau_cinta_ku]

nothing bad about putting shrimp in a FOWLR but if you do, watch out for adding any fish that may make lunch out of them.

I not sure if I would mix a coral banded shrimp with other shrimp though, coral banded shrimp can get mean.

[timmmmeh]

How can you tell if your skimmer is skimming correctly? Does my skimmate look okay? I'm not sure if it's doing it's job correctly, but the water looks pretty brown. I don't really plan on keeping any corals, but maybe ONE anenome in the future. Would it be okay with teh skimmer I currently have?

[timmmmeh]

Can someone please help me out here? Thanks.

[Mariner]

You don't mention the size or brand of that skimmer, but it looks very small for a 55g tank, and the fact that you mentioned that it's cheap is not a good sign. I don't know of a good skimmer that's cheap -- although some are certainly less expensive than others.
You want your skimmer to consistently produce foam and skimate (yellow/brownish liquid in the cup). On a 55g, the skimmer should be rated for a tank at least that size, but the way most manufacturers rate skimmers, it wouldn't hurt to have one rated for twice that size.
A FOWLR doesn't NEED as much skimming as a reef tank, but it would do better, and you'd have fewer problems with algae and water qualilty.
If you are planning on getting an anemone for your clown, they require excellent water quality and good lighting and a reef keeper with at least 6 months experience, IMHO :)
Mariner