Newbie 20g FOWLR

I'm a newbie to marine aquariums in general and don't yet plan to start a reef tank (though it's in my future). Currently I'm experimenting with a 20g FOWLR tank. The actual water volume in my tank is 16 gallons after the 40 lbs of live sand and 8 llbs of live rock. The tank is currently lit by a a 50/50 10k Daylight/Actnic Blue mini compact. I've my tank running for about 1 month now, and the tank seems to be cycled. My ph, NH4, NO2, and NO3 are stable and I just had my first diatom bloom (added a mini cleanup crew that made short work of it). I have 1 blue-green chromis, 4 blueleg hermit crab, 1 redstripe turbo snail, and 1 bumblebee snail. Calc is at 320 and dKH at 11.

I'd like to add another 8 or so lbs or live rock to this FOWLR because I would like as much coralline algae as I can get, but don't have the money to upgrade my lighting just yet.

Is it reasonable for me to try to cure another 8lbs of live rock via the separate tub method just to add to this FOWLR ? The reason I ask this question is that I think I should just wait until I have the experience (and money) to set up a true reef tank. I know one answer would be to add even more live rock than the 8lbs I propose, but please keep in mind I would like to have more fish in this tank, hopefully a dwarf-angel.
Please give me advice, I'm a newbie so all help is welcome.

 

You probably have enough rock in there to do what you want. Also keep in mins your tank is no where near being cycled. You'll have a few more months of this before it levels of considerably.

I'd give it a few more weeks and add another damsel, then a month or so after that and no problems take the damsel bcak and get the dwarf you want.

 

I would add some calcium to speed up the coralline growth. Damsel fish although hardy and somewhat attractive are going to be a pain in the future so I would recommend not getting them. They tend to be aggressive and once established in "their" new territory they harass newcomers to death. Then you go through the trouble of tearing down your rock to get him out. Be patient and cycle completely then start to think about your fish. just feed your chromis normally and that will further your cycle.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah, I guess I was being optimistic about my tank being close to cycled. You're right, I need to be patient and wait for it to really be cycled.

I have to admit that I left out the fact that my NO3 had spiked up to 40 for one test after I added the chromis. (It's usually stable at 20). And actually, I had two b/g chromis, but the bigger of the two nipped the smaller one to the point where he had a wound. a couple of days later, I found the little guy stuck to the intake for my powerhead (AquaClear 30). He survived that for a couple of days (with considerably less ability to swim), but I ended up finding him under the live rock.
The bigger one turned slightly yellow just prior to becoming aggressive. I read somewhere that males are yellow prior to wanting to spawn. Do you think that's what happened to him, or was it my water conditions? As I mentioned, the numbers were stable, except the one NO3 spike to 40 (NH4 0, N02 0, Ph 8.4, temp 79F).

Concerning adding calcium to boost my coraline growth, what supplement would you recommend to get started? I've read Kalkwasser is best to maintain Calc and Alk when they are already optimal, but what do I use to bring up the Calc without messing up my dKh or ph?

 

and Karma for both of you... thanks again.

 

I have been using Purple Up and I have had good results with coralline growth.

 

I use chromis for cycling. They are completely friendly, and they look pretty cool too.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was going to use PurpleUp, but read some posts that it can cause some problems long term. I'll reconsider using it just to get some coralline first off, and maybe switch to KalkWasser when my Ca is up.

ALW, I noticed you're from South FL. Do you have a LFS to recommend? I go to Big Als, which is cool, but I wouldn't mind visiting another...

 

There are two excellent stores up my way plus two more good ones plus one o.k. one.

I am in Jupiter - that is about an hour from you. If you are ever coming up this way visit Oceans Below on US 1 and Northlake Blvd. In Stuart (30 more minutes north) on US1 and Luckhardt St there is Aquatic Life. These two are excellent.

In between on US1 in Juno beach is Under the Sea.

 

What long term Problems were those?