New here..... First Reef Tank

[Wyatt57]

Hello everyone
Started new tank 55 gallon
40 lbs Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ sand
20 lbs CaribSea Aragonite sand
30 lbs CaribSea South Sea base rock
Aquaticlife RO-DI filter
Instant Ocean SeaClone 100 Skimmer
TopFin PF75 power filter
Instant Ocean Reef Crystal's
800 gph Wave Maker pump
Maybe I will get a fish by September.

 

[mattdg]

That's a nice first setup. Enjoy it and welcome to the hobby!

 

[Wyatt57]

30 more pounds of dry rock and I am disappointed. I really do not like the way my tank looks now. My mistake was not getting all the dry rock at one time. Nothing to do but empty tank and start over again.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Wyatt57]

We back......
Ok I got water back in my tank. I went from sixty to around 45+ pounds of dry rock. I tried aquascaping and it looks better than just a pile of rock. Recycling day2

 

[Wyatt57]

Day 10
Salinity. 1.025
Ph 8.2
Ammonia. .25
Nitrite. 0.0
Nitrate. 10.0
No fish yet

 

[Jeffcb]

Day 10
Salinity. 1.025
Ph 8.2
Ammonia. .25
Nitrite. 0.0
Nitrate. 10.0
No fish yet

Looking good. A couple or 3 Hermit crabs would be good at this point. You have Nitrate and Amimia is almost nothing.

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Nice job on the new aquascape

 

[Wyatt57]

Looking good. A couple or 3 Hermit crabs would be good at this point. You have Nitrate and Amimia is almost nothing.

3 Hermit crabs on board

 

[Wyatt57]

In a new/cycling tank when should I turn on protein skimmer. 14 days since I put the water back in but my test result looks older.

Salinity. 1.023
Ph. 8.0
Ammonia .25
Nitrite. 0.0
Nitrate. 20

 

[OuteastREEFS]

Looking good! Did you add any bacteria in a bottle to help the process along?

 

[Wyatt57]

Looking good! Did you add any bacteria in a bottle to help the process along?

Yes

 

[Wyatt57]

[IMG alt="Wyatt57"]https://www.reef2reef.com/data/avatars/m/196/196620.jpg?1656797027[/IMG]

Wyatt57​

New Member​

Review score +0 /0 /-0
Build Thread Contributor

I am asking this because the lfs only had one occellaris clown and multiple tomato clown. Should I put a pair of occellaris clowns and a pair of tomato clowns in a newly cycling 55 gallon tank. Cycling is going good and ready for first fish.
I did not buy the tomato clown because I did not know if i could later add the occellaris clown.

 

[Wyatt57]

Yes

First and second fish

 

[tharbin]

[IMG alt="Wyatt57"]https://www.reef2reef.com/data/avatars/m/196/196620.jpg?1656797027[/IMG]

Wyatt57​

New Member​

Review score +0 /0 /-0
Build Thread Contributor

I am asking this because the lfs only had one occellaris clown and multiple tomato clown. Should I put a pair of occellaris clowns and a pair of tomato clowns in a newly cycling 55 gallon tank. Cycling is going good and ready for first fish.
I did not buy the tomato clown because I did not know if i could later add the occellaris clown.

It's always hard to give a hard and fast answer as fish are all different just like people but I personally would not add Tomato Clowns to a 55 gallon with Ocellaris Clowns. In fact the last Tomato Clowns I owned ended up with their own 55 gallon tank. How's that for a coincidence? I had them for about 11 years and gave them away along with everything else during a move. Tomatos can get pretty big. All clownfish can be pugnacious but Tomatos are above average jerks, on average.

 

[Wyatt57]

First and second fish

So when i got these fish the LFS guy gave me a small live rock for the good algae. But i did not put it in my tank because I did not have any reef dip. Ordered reef dip and dipped rock. I saw 5 or 6 critters in dip water. I don't what they were but they are not in my tank. and I have coralline algae now