Hello!! From STL

Hello everyone from the STL!!

I have had a freshwater tank for the last 5 years and I am just starting a saltwater. I ran across this site and looking forward to the help from the forums.

I have a 55g tank
40 lb of Ocean Direct live sand
50 gallon Instant ocean Sea Salt mix.
Hydrometer
MarineLand Canister Filter C-220
Heater

I have put the sand in and mixed the salt and the filter is running.
What is the next step?
The fish store told me that I can wait a while for a protein skimmer..
How much Live Rock do I need for a 55g tank?
I am looking for the most basic saltwater setup to start off with?

 

as far as live rock get about 50lbs or more. the rule of thumb is to get 1.5-2.0lbs of live rock per gallon. depending on your budget. LR is necessary part of cycling. allows beneficial bateria to develop in small pores of LR. When adding live rock you need to make a choice whether you want to buy CURED or UNCURED rock. Research if im not making sense OK. Personally i prefer cured a bit more $$$ but well worth it.

Buy a complete test kit(saltwater kit) or make sure you at least have the ph/ammonia/nitrite and nitrate kits to start with.

after adding LR you may want to test the water as a BASELINE. then run tests as often as you plz. i tested every 5 days during cycle. the ammonia should spike first then drop to 0 then the nitrite spikes and drops. after this occurs watch the nitrAte as it should slowly decline. Now the cycle is over. IT MAY TAKE UP TO 3 mths so be patient.

If possible ask your LFS or a friend if you could buy a bag of sand from one of their well established tanks. the existing beneficial bacteria from the sand should help with the cycle process.

Ask plenty of questions the 3reef community is the best when it comes to helping begginers. I am a begginer and this site has taught me plenty.

you may want to start a thread on how to cycle just to let the rest of 3 reef help you out.
and they will all tell ya to go slow, especially during the beggining stages.

good luck and feel free to ask more Q's

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>>

 

Welcome to 3reef....I would start with about 75 lbs of rock...Are you planning on adding a sump? As has already been stated...Asks lots of questions....Have fun....8)

 

Welcome aboard mate. ask away. some pics would be great

 

WELCOME! Had FW since I was a little kid (and that was a long time ago). SW is a lot more fun, albeit challenging, and rewarding. Until of course, something goes wrong (JUST KIDDING).

 

hey there, and welcome! lots of good info on this site! --- my 2 pennies... i added about 40 lbs live sand and 21 lbs base sand (got a good deal), and then 43 lbs. live rock for starters. i will add rock as i go. i then added 2 percula clowns and 2 yellow tailed damsels (bought them all off a friend for $10) and used the fish to cycle. as otty says "tree huggers" will tell you not to cycle with fish but it is a darn good way to go, and all 4 of my fish survived. if i had it to do over again i wouldn't put live rock in, just dead, but cured rock (ask otty). and then you wait... and wait! "go slow & let it grow" i got 2 yellow tailed damsels (one of the hardiest fish u can buy) i am gonna fish out tomorrow to get rid of... don't know anyone who will use them so i will probably give them to petco for free so they can make a profit:-/ pm me if u want them and as long as you pay the shipping they are all yours!! good luck and welcome again!

 

Hello and Welcome!

 

Hello fellow St Louisan. My name is Curt and I co-own and run Planet Reef in Maryland Heights so feel free to stop by if you have any questions.

I'm going to disagree somewhat with some of the above answers. A lot of the rules for pounds of rock per gallon were invented when the only rock we had available was extremely dense rock that was mined on land and then tossed in the ocean for a year or two. Now that we have many types of LR available that is extremely porous, the bacteria can live all the way through the rock and not just on the outer surface. If you were to load up your tank with 110 pounds of porous rock, there would be no where for the fish to swim as the pieces are much larger but they are much lighter.

I agree. This will also help your coralline algae grow faster.