New to Saltwater, any advice greatly appreciated.

[Streetmagus]

Hello all!

I've decided to finally start a saltwater aquarium. I have experience with freshwater, for many years. I've never had to cycle a brand new tank myself, so I'm starting and being patient with the new tank for saltwater.

I decided on a 55 gallon, due to space and being new to the hobby. I did not want to start with anything smaller since I hear it's not for easy for beginners. 55 gallon is my largest option. The stand I have doesn't really allow me to have a sump, and I'm not able to drill the tank anyway.

So far, I've purchased 60lbs of live sand from LFS (Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand), Hydor Koralia 1150 and 1500 powerheads, and a Fluval 300w heater. The tank came with some mechanical internal filters (Tetra Whisper 30 gallon filters).

What I've done so far: I have mixed RODI water, about 45 gallons with coral life salt, ran the power heads and heater (77F) for a few days and it all seems to have mixed. SG @ 1.024 at the moment. A few days ago I added all the live sand and turned off the powerheads due to cloudiness. I'm still waiting for everything to settle, before testing the water again. I tested for ammonia and nirate/nitrite. They're all at 0PPM. Tested Phosphate and is about 7.9.

What I will be doing: Adding 30 lbs of live rock. LFS told me minimum I can do is 25lbs, but recommends 55lbs of course. I want as much room for the fish to swim as I can get. I'll also add a protein skimmer and clean up crew.

I'll be adding the live rock next week, and also shopping for a good hang on back protein skimmer. I'm looking at the Octopus BH-2000 at the moment (Does anyone recommend it? is it overkill for my setup? ie. should I get the BH-1000 instead?)

Once I add the live rock, should I throw in a shrimp to decompose to create ammonia? Or should I just add the LR and wait for the spikes in ammonia/nitrite/nitrate?

My goal is to keep a couple of fish, and eventually corals. I want a pair of clownfish. Due to the size, what other fish is recommended? What should I look for in a clean up crew and when should I add the clean up crew? Should I ditch the mechanical filters that came with the tank? I also want to add corals sometime in the future (when I'm ready), is this a good idea with my tank setup? What else may I need?

What should I do now, other than wait? (Currently just waiting for my LR)

[acabgd]

With "Phosphate" at 7.9 I suppose you actually mean pH, which is something else. PO4 is phosphate.
Add LR, add some ammonia source to get it up to 3ppm, wait for ammonia and nitrite to get to zero and you're good to go.

[lakereef]

read as much as you can! research, research, research. More you know the smoother it will go.

[steve76s]

Other then reading a lot, I would get a good test kit and add a small deli shrimp to kick start your cycle. Then test regularly and don't forget to top off with RO water. Once ammonia and nitrite go down to zero, do a 25% water change, add CUC and off you go. Remember to add fish slowly and that would suit your size tank.

[Streetmagus]

Yes, haha I meant pH not sure why I said phosphate. Is 7.9 okay?

I have been reading a lot and continuing to do so. There is so much information out there that there are mixed opinions on a lot of topics.

Should I add the shrimp now or wait until the LR arrives? How many pieces? I would prefer adding pure ammonia but I'm not sure where to get pure ammonia and how much to add.

[steve76s]

Just one deli shrimp is enough. I pinned it down with a toothpick so that I could find and remove it once ammonia started spiking.

[Bowels]

It's good to have live rock in there but if you have a sand bed the bacteria can grow there and you can add Rick later(your supposed to add the tuck first before sand tho so it's more stable and critters can't dig under it)

[Streetmagus]

Thanks guys for the response. I did some reading and opted for using fish food (I hear it's slower) but I'm in no rush, waiting for the LR anyway.

So will my tank setup be fine once it's all done? I mean will a good protein skimmer (such as the Octopus BH-2000, two 30g filters and two powerheads be enough to sustain this 55gal tank that will eventually have corals and fish?

[acabgd]

Thanks guys for the response. I did some reading and opted for using fish food (I hear it's slower) but I'm in no rush, waiting for the LR anyway.

So will my tank setup be fine once it's all done? I mean will a good protein skimmer (such as the Octopus BH-2000, two 30g filters and two powerheads be enough to sustain this 55gal tank that will eventually have corals and fish?

Wait for LR, unless you already have substrate (sand) in your tank. The bacteria need a place to grow, unless you have LR or sand, there's no place for them to multiply.

Your tank will be considered "new" for the next year after it's cycled. Therefore, you have to stock it slowly. Add 1-2 fish, then wait a few weeks, check that your parameters are still okay, then add another if you want.

With a new tank you will go through many "phases" of algae blooms, cyano and other things, until your tank stabilizes fully and finds its sweet spot.

You can add the clean up crew after your cycle is complete. "Cycle complete" means you've observed a significant spike in ammonia (up to 4-5ppm), then a spike in nitrites, then nitrates. Once your ammonia and nitrites read 0 you can do a water change to lower your nitrates to an acceptable level and add your CUC.

After a week or two, if your tank still reads 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, you can add some fish.

You will also need light for corals. If you want to get some SPS corals down the road, you should consider buying a light that can support them from the onset. Reefbreeders seem to offer one of the best price/value ratios right now, check their offers.