on my way

Looking good, Good luck with it

 

Believe it or not I just added about 15lbs of base rock and in 2 weeks i'll be adding some more about another 10 to 15lbs, but I want live rock this time. so thats about $50.00 - $75.00 for that with another 20g of R/O water $20.00 grand total --->$100.00 but thats in 2 weeks.

 

unfortunately the upfront cost for this hobby is very steep so we all understand what your going through. trying not to break the bank while starting up your tank is a magic trick... and its going to be a reef tank non the less. you mentioned having unclear water and your pics show this issue but to give you solutions we need some info about what type of filtration is in place i.e. sump, skimmer, fuge, bio balls, filter sock, HOB, canister filter, and what your adding to the water i.e. dosing, ect...
If the water has looked like this for more then a week your filters may be clogged with detris or a pump is kicking up sediment.
give us some more details about your tank so we can help you out.

 

also be ready for your tank to go through a new cycle if your adding more rock be it base or live. if the fish you have in the tank are those 2 damsels then you should be ok but you'll still get an ammonia spike.
other then that your off to a good start and you have a great tank

 

I just checked all my parameters this morning and they were good. I have a 55g with a sump no skimmer yet, bioballs, addatives none other than an aquarium optimizer during my water changes, oh I added the live bacteria with the base rock. and the sponge was changed a few weeks ago////it was nasty =<

 

Amee, I would add more live rock as Elweshomayor said and another power head as well. Are you using a skimmer?

 

Adding dry base rock like the one from reef cleaners won't cause an ammonia spike to my uderstanding because they have nothing on them to cause it. Live rock in the other hand can, since the bacteria they have will have some die off causing the spike.. Not to bad I you add it slowly.

 

How do I clean the tubes that carry the water in and out of the tank ? How often should I change the sponge?

 

no skimmer yet but hopefully soon. I'm afraid to add any livestock yet since I lost 4 damsels, 1 goby and an anemone after the green algae outbreak and I just added the first powerhead yesterday

 

you need a skimmer and and more rock. is that a gravel bottom?

3" of live sand would be better, if it is gravel