New here and new tank

Ok so after 3 weeks of running around town trying to find infomation out (my LFS are not to helpful)
im here My name is Nick from Las Vegas thanks for haveing me
So I have setup what will be a reef tank
36 Gal seaclear ll 2x96w PC 36" lights ext with home made skimmer

but I need a bit more info as far as what to feed my live rock or what on the live rock ( featherdust,clam,ect) and what are the some product you all are useing for calc,alk,Ect
Thanks for input and help

Pics

 

I would love to see pics of your home made skimmer if you took any pics before placing in the tank.

What do you mean by what to feed your live rock? The bacteria in you rock consume ammonia and nitrites produced by your fish and any uneaten food. If you mean how do you get bacteria to grow on your rock and start a cycle without fish, you can simply put a piece of raw shrimp in your tank to kick-start the cycle. I use Kalkwasser by two little fishes mixed with my top off water for calcium, and i dose reef carbonate by seachem to raise alkalinity if I need to.

Once your cycle is complete and you have fish in there and your parameters are good, you can begin to stock corals. But I would stick with low light soft corals and stay away from clams because you only have power compacts.

 

You don't feed live rock. Your live rock is your bio-filter, you can however feed your feather duster worms and clams phyto. What size clam do you have? I would place the clam high up close to your lighting, but it all depends on what type of clam you have. you can use a two part cal/alk like B-Ionic for calcium and alkalinity

 

Welcome to 3reef, you could feed the feather duster and the excess food will help start the cycle in your tank. Also, that clam seems like a filter feeder so it doesn't really need much light. I'd like to see some pics of that protein skimmer too.

 

looking good

 

Oh. Very well then. I didn't see a clam

 

as far as feeding the rock I ment the worms and such on the rock the tank has cycle
almost I had done the shrimp thing so do I need like the trace minerals stuff or just after I add corals ?
Im not sure what clams they are they are not pretty lol they cam on the rock

The skimmer is so so basic because of the tank design the is a built in sump/biofiltter area and befor the water spills over to bioballs the is a chamber thats 6"x6" square and
15" or so inchs high all it is a Smart water bottle bottem cut off one little hole on the top side for airline with 3 wood stones inside
top is a snap together sandwitch tupperware I user a screw on reducer and coulper to mount it 11$ skimmer the bottle of smartwater was the most expensive but
I cant mount anything on the tank and putting hoses inside the sump SUX
so

 

Thanks so much
and thanks for the warm welcomes;D

 

Awesome skimmer. I have a tank from the same line as yours and I agree the back compartments can be a pain. Acrylic is really easy to drill for an external sump though...

 

Make sure you use the bio balls the right way. If you dont clean them say, every 2-3 weeks they are nitrate factorys!