New tank help

[Mvb406]

Hello everyone, I am new to the hobby. I have a 55 gallon tall tank with a Tom aquarium rapids pro ro3 plus filter. I have a 300 watt heater and 2 hidor pico 300 jets. I have about 50 pounds of live sand and 80 pounds of Caribbean sea base rock. The lighting consists of 2 sea world t5 ho 39 watts 12000 k, 2 sea world t5 ho 39 watts actinic bulbs and 6 led moon lights. As of now I put in 6 blue green chromis to start the cycling process. So how am I doing so far? Ultimately I want to grow coralline algae for my base rock and keep beginner corals and reef safe fish. Please give me advice on how I can accomplish my goal and what other equipment I will need. The tank has been operating for 5 days so far and I am not going to rush any aspect of my build. All the advice and comments are very welcomed and I look forward to hearing back. Thank you for your help in this.

 

[frnkynlop]

hey MVb406,

The most important advise I could give you is, make sure you are using ro water. I did the tap water for 2 yrs and it then it came back to haunt me. system crashed after 2 yrs and lost almost all my corals.

 

[duke62]

first you shouldnt be cycling your tank with live fish. many lfs tell you that so you buy fish from them. its cruel to the fish and they will die a horrible death. i see you are interested in corals. most reef keepers use a sump with equipment in the sump as there primary filtration method. before you make any more decisions i would buy as many books as you can and read read read

 

[Mvb406]

Thanks for the advice. My local reef shop told me the chromis would survive the cycle process and I went with that advice. I am running the pro rapids 3 filtration and it has a built in protein skimmer it has bio balls, carbon, and the whit cylinders. I was told this would be sufficient filtration. The rating is 700 hundred gallons per hour. Do u think this is ok for the next year or so and is my lighting ok for now ? Also if I'm not cycling with the 6 fish then how do I cycle the tank ? I can give the 6 fish to my brother inlaw who has an established reef. Please advise. Thanks

 

[thirty6]

If you want to remove fish, some people place a uncoiled shrimp in tank to get bacteria kicking up in tank. It will get scuzzy and gross or break apart. I removed mine when it got disgusting. Or you can simply feed the tank and uneaten food will do same. How long had chromis in for?

 

[Weicowireman]

If you want to remove fish, some people place a uncoiled shrimp in tank to get bacteria kicking up in tank. It will get scuzzy and gross or break apart. I removed mine when it got disgusting. Or you can simply feed the tank and uneaten food will do same. How long had chromis in for?

+1. To keep the fish in there during the cycle is kind of cruel. 100% buy a RO unit to avoid problems down the line. It will be your single best thing you can buy as a reefer and will pay huge dividends down the line. In you need further assistance read as many books as you can find, scour the web, forums and ask questions. The worst thing to do in this happy is assume and guess. You will get frustrated and quit so never be afraid to ask questions. Good luck and Happy Reefing!