New 55g FOWLR - First Tank / Post

[nanoposeiden]

Greetings and Salutations!

This site looks great! I just recently got into the marine aquarium hobby for my birthday on March 5th. We had a 55 gallon 48x12 tank from my brother in law a few years ago but have never had the money or time to set it up. It was previously a freshwater tank with an under-gravel filter.

My wife went to the local fish store as a surprise and brought home the conversion kit:

30 pounds of CaribSea Live Sand
15 pounds of Fiji Live Rock
Koralia #2 Powerhead
200w Ceramic Shatterproof Heater
Reef Octopus HOB Protein Skimmer (BH-100)
Digital Thermometer w/probe

My brother-in-law came over that day and helped me place the rock and described the nitrogen cycle in general as well as brought over some of his books.

After about 3 weeks cycling with the Live Rock, I had a diatom explosion covering the rocks and the sand with brown growth.

Week 4 we purchased a 30 gallon clean up crew from the LFS (55g was too expensive!) as well as another 25 pounds of live rock. Within a week the diatoms had been completely consumed.

Week 5 we purchased a pair of False Perc Clownfish and week 6 we purcahsed a Diamondback Goby.

Since adding the fish I'm taking it slow and trying to get my nitrates under control. They seem to be staying around 20ppm, even after doing a 50% water change. I'm still working on tweaking my skimmer and making sure I do not overfeed as well as removing any uneaten food from the tank. Hopefully the nitrates will come down soon, otherwise I'll be doing another water change.

I can't decide if I should upgrade the lighting on the tank, or purchase a RO system next. I know they are both important, and the PUR filtered tap water might be the cause of alot of my nitrate and algae problems...

Here are some pictures of the tank as of last night:
Full Tank:


Side Shot:


Here is a shot of the algae that is growing on the rock, it is light to dark green. I blow off detritus with a turkey baster every night and the snails seem to be eating it.



I'm going to do another 50% water change next weekend to see if I can get the nitrates down under 10ppm.

Oh here is the protein skimmer after 12 hours:



The skimmate is yellowish brown. If I raise the cup, it gets slightly darker colored but collects a lot less skimmate.

Thanks!

Duncan (nanoposeiden)

[AQTCJAK]

Welcome Aboard

[dfurbee]

[nikkipigtails]

welcome! your lighting isn't as important since you don't have corals. as long as the fish can see food, you're fine. an ro/di unit is the most important if you're deciding between the two.

[nanoposeiden]

Thanks for the responses!

I'm thinking about this inexpensive RO/DI unit. $109 for a 6-stage with tank,faucet and fittings. Anyone have any experience with this site?

I do eventually want get an anemone to host the clown fish and some of the leathers or zoanthids look amazing at the LFS. But with only about $100/month I can spend on the tank it's going to be awhile either way for lighting upgrades.

BTW, Nikki, I'm excited about your 180! That is going to be an awesome tank!