my first salty

[smallcrpt]

I just got a sweewt deal off CL. 150 for a 55 gallon w/ a stand. It has a prizm protein skimmer, a whisper filter w/ DIY skimmer, and a rena xp canister filter. There are two power heads also.
Theres a good bit of substrate, but i think its partially or mainly coral, so i've read thats bad, whytho?
Theres some live rock, i have no clue how much, but hopefully somoeone can venture a guess.
So far my inhabitants are a yellow tank, royal tank, 3 stripe damsel, and a yellow tail damsel. and a few small snails. and hopefully 5 mollies that as of right now i'm getting used to saltwater through the drip process. its been about 2 hrs.

My first purchase will be a cleanup crew and most likely two "nemos" as my wife likes to call them. (clownfish)

Any other suggestoins would be greatly appreciated. I've never done SW before but i couldn't pass up this opportunity of a 3 yr old cycled tank.

When i moved it hear, i did about a 40% water change with new SW

Thanks.
chris

 

[revkkoolaid]

ouch who beat the crap out of your yellow tang dude? or is that just a bad angle?

yeah I would ditch that crushed coral. . .its a waste trap. . ..esp that deep.
Use really fine sand or none at all (barebottom) At least take a bunch of it out. BTW be careful if it has been a while since you moved it you could have so serious toxic gases built up down there. I use a thin layer of crushed coral in my 75FOWLR (<fish only with live rock) just for cosmetics to fill in the gaps around the LR. But I have a 10x turnover rate in that tank as well as a Niger Trigger and a Tuskfish that constantly dig up the bottom lol. There is never really any build up in it. Plus I do partials in that tank weekly. With a layer like that you risk some serious build up down there and some uncontrolable nitrate levels.

If I had to guess how much rock you have there I would say somewhere around 50lbs.
Depends on the density really. I have 80lbs or more in my tank but its all in 15-20+lbs massive pieces so it really doesn't occupy much more space than your stack.

That is a good deal for 150 . . hell the rock would cost you that much.
that'll get ya started. lol. now get ready to spend a ton of money on other crap

trust me you will

oh and not to be a party pooper but. . .
I dunno if those fish came with that tank of if you bought them. . .but FYI. . if you don't plan on uprading to a bigger display I would sell/trade in the tangs and get that little 3 striped damsel outta there. There are much better fish for a 55 that don't grow as large and aren't nearly as aggressive. Esp if your gonna try keeping Nemo with that stock list.
He will most likely get pwned in a 55 with that liittle rock work with those bullies.

welcome to world of saltwater!
good luck and have fun!

 

[smallcrpt]

just what i was hoping for.
ya that tang and if i could get a better picture of the other royal tang, i'd show you,but she likes to get wedged in the rockwork.
So any reccomendatoins on removing/switching to sand?
do i take the crushed coral and put it in a flowable bag so i don't get a mini cycle?
a new saltwater place just moved in up the street a bit and its really great in there, so hopefully they'll have some ideas and take them off my hands..
-chris