Upgrading, need help with...everything?

Hi everybody!
Basic gist is that my parents are letting me upgrade from my 29 to a 55 gallon tank! BUT, it must be finished before I go to school in the fall. I'd like y'alls input on...everything, since all of my knowledge is theoretical and not learned. Thanks!!!

The 55 gallon currently holds a neon tetra, a small shoal of white clouds, a platy fry, multiple pond snails, lots of algae, and water sprite/elodea/duckweed, and some aponogeton bulb plants. I'm moving most if not all of these outside for the summer. Are there any precautions I need to take?


I've never medicated the tank before, but I fill it up with garden hose water. Do I need to worry about copper deposits or something?


How would you recommend cleaning the tank? Vinegar and bleach, followed by taking a razor to the glass to get rid of the majority of the algae, wash it outside, and let it dry in the sun? Do I need to worry about solids leftover in the tank from rinsing it with garden hose water, and allowing that water to dry?

Filtration will consist of macroalgae, a coralife super skimmer (65 gallons), and an Eshopps micron filter, as well as the live rock.

I'd like y'alls input on the corals, macroalgae and fish inhabitants please! Without further ado, the stocking list in order of addition:
pair of Nematoleotris magnifica (red firefish)
pair of Pterapogon kaudernii (Banggai cardinalfish)
pair of Stonogobiops nematodes (Barber pole shrimp goby)
pair of Chrysiptera hemicyanea (Kupang damselfish)(already in the 29).


Sessile Invertebrates (in order of addition):
gorgonian fake GSP
various mushroom anemones that I already have
Some sort of Capnellid (I'm leaning towards Kenya tree) that I already have
Galaxea coral that I already have
Maxi-Mini anemone (Stichodactyla tapetum)
Any suggestions, preferably not toxic (i.e. zoanthids) or release toxins (i.e. leathers)
Orange, purple, and green Montipora corals


Mobile invertebrates:
hermit crabs and snails
Alpheus randalli snapping shrimp pair
Thor amboinensis trio


Additional:
home cultured amphipods (gammarus spp) and copepods (Tisbe biminiensis)
Caulerpa prolifera


Am I missing anything? Anybody have additions?

I'm thinking of going with BuildMyLED's 14000K Reef Spectrum for main lighting @medium setting. Does anybody have comments on these guys? It's my first LED light, so I want to get everything right.


For moonlights, I'm thinking 2 TrueLumen LED Lunar lights, set to be on at all times, one on each side of the aquarium. Am I supposed to attach these to the LED fixture? Or are they supposed to hang off of the tank?


This should be enough for some lower light acropora or montipora, correct?

I've got about 30 pounds of rock/rubble in the 29 gallon already. But, buying more live rock would be much more expensive. I'm planning on buying off of BRS, and am trying to decide which rock is best. I need lots of crevices, and at least one cave for the damsels, firefish, and cardinals. I've also heard that Pukani is porous, but laden with phosphate. Reef Saver seems good, but I've heard it's overly dense. Fiji seems suitable, but I'm buying about 40 pounds of it, which is a lot. Pukani and RS appeal due to price, but I've heard bad things...Fiji looks...appropriate-ish, but it's so expensive...


Sand: I'm thinking about 1 inch of oolite sand for 3/4's of the tank. The other 1/4, which will have very little rock, will be a caulerpa forest, with mixed substrate 3" high to facilitate building opportunities for the snapping shrimp. Is there a way for me to naturally partition the two to decrease mixing?

Thanks for the help!!

Ok, vinegar, got it! I can just use regular white vinegar, right?

umm...which corals are noxious? I know that the galaxy coral will sting the heck out of everything, but aren't the soft corals pretty neutral? Is it the kenya tree?

I don't have the time, nor professionalism for making my own LED, besides, my parents would probably not be happy with me playing with all sorts of toys like those.

I've got a Barracuda RO/DI unit, so I can easily get my own water.

Question about the rock. I'm thinking that I should acid wash/dip all but one piece of the rock. The remaining rock should be intensely scrubbed, and arranged inside the tank with the acid dipped rock to allow for natural cycling to occur. Any leftover phosphate would be removed by the Caulerpa, which would be in the tank already, and soaking up the phosphates and nitrates/ammonia/nitrites left over from cycling.

Does everything else look fine?

Still have questions....

Also added a few corals to the stocking list: Trachyphllia/Welsophyllia, and Scolymia. I think that I prefer hard corals that have large mouths, that way I know where to feed them...

Again, thanks Muttley!
Pics will probly be sporadic as I try to get everything together...

On a completely different note, is there a way for me to replace a single pane of glass in the tank? I've been looking up a lot about drilling the 55, and found that most are made of tempered glass. I can't upgrade, I can't replace with a new one, and I sure can't find a new solution quick. The tank is rimmed, so maybe I could cut off the rims via razor blade, then DIY eurobrace, while replacing one side of the tank with nontempered glass for drilling?