First off, your live rock and sand will cycle the tank for the most part. That being said, they do offer lots of filtration, but by no means in the world should they be your MAIN filtration. If you can go to a target or something and get a plastic tub, and at your LFS get an overflow setup, this will act as a crude protein skimmer and will add volume to your 33 gallon tank (a small tank by itself, but with a 10+ gallon sump, is great). If you plan on doing corals, then a protein skimmer is neccesary, otherwise not really. Lighting for sw is the same as fw, if you have any money left over or in a few months, you might want to upgrade to power compacts or T-5 lights, so that you can grow macroalgae and get some O2 in the tank that way, it looks nice, and is a good food source for most fish.
Before getting fish, start off with 5-6 snails and 2-3 hermit crabs, these will tell you if your tank is ready for fish. If they live, go ahead and get fish, if not fix something. After you get snail and hermits, some good fish to start with are clowns (A. percula, or A. oscellaris are fantastic, the others can be territorial). Other good starters are chromis (not damsels), and cardinals. All of these fish are community fish that dont get to big (generally). The problem that i see with cycling a tank with clowns, is that at $20+, thats an expensive fish to have die right off the bat, whereas chromis are $6-$8, and snails and hermits are $1.99. If you want a group of clowns, get them small (under 1.5") and only when they are in the same tank at your LFS and are not fighting. Otherwise there could be a battle as to who becomes the dominant female.
Sorry Pufferpunk, but i completely dissagree. Backpacks are extremely outdated, and crap if you ask me. A sump is infinitly better and easier. the amount of live rock depends on the type and size of rock you get, it usually works out to being 1 lb per gallon or so, but not always. Your sand bed should be about 1 1/2" deep (you can figure this out by multiplying the area of your tank by .086, this will give you a decimal, round that number to the nearest 5 or 10, i.e. a 20"x20" tank has an area of 400 sq in, 400 x .086 = 34.4 or 35 lbs of sand).
Good luck with your first sw tank!
Before getting fish, start off with 5-6 snails and 2-3 hermit crabs, these will tell you if your tank is ready for fish. If they live, go ahead and get fish, if not fix something. After you get snail and hermits, some good fish to start with are clowns (A. percula, or A. oscellaris are fantastic, the others can be territorial). Other good starters are chromis (not damsels), and cardinals. All of these fish are community fish that dont get to big (generally). The problem that i see with cycling a tank with clowns, is that at $20+, thats an expensive fish to have die right off the bat, whereas chromis are $6-$8, and snails and hermits are $1.99. If you want a group of clowns, get them small (under 1.5") and only when they are in the same tank at your LFS and are not fighting. Otherwise there could be a battle as to who becomes the dominant female.
Sorry Pufferpunk, but i completely dissagree. Backpacks are extremely outdated, and crap if you ask me. A sump is infinitly better and easier. the amount of live rock depends on the type and size of rock you get, it usually works out to being 1 lb per gallon or so, but not always. Your sand bed should be about 1 1/2" deep (you can figure this out by multiplying the area of your tank by .086, this will give you a decimal, round that number to the nearest 5 or 10, i.e. a 20"x20" tank has an area of 400 sq in, 400 x .086 = 34.4 or 35 lbs of sand).
Good luck with your first sw tank!
