My New Tank

[Alua Boy]

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Just found this website....pretty cool. I just purchased a 45 gallon corner tank, Fluval(sp?)340, whisper 2, and an extra light. I have one 18X1 15 watt Actinic 03 Blue and one 18X1 15 watt 6500Kfull spectrum lamp. I run an undergravel filter by way of 2 powerheads. I used a combination of that starter crushed coral and larger pieces. Water went in 24 hours ago. Salinity and temp are looking good. Please load me up with advise on my new past-time. I had a tank several years ago and decided to take a run at it again. Is my equipment set-up optimal??Missing??Starter Fish?? Enough light?? etc

My ph is 8.2, ammonia is 1.5, and nitrite is .05.. Tank has been up for 4 days. I placed a large piece of live (?) rock and 2 small blue Dansels. I was told that this would help to cycle the tank better.

What's next???????

Alua Boy

 

[JTW]

Alua boy-
It sounds like you have the makings of a fine fish tank. The basic types of filtration are taken care of; biological (ug filter), mechanical and chemical (Fluval and Whisper). So if you just want a fish only tank these will be fine.
Since you added some live rock you have some decisions to make. If you want a typical reef tank, then there are a few things that you may want to consider changing about your system.
1. Your lights- I'm assuming that you have the Perfecto plastic top that holds two strip lights. For many photosynthetic animals the two 15watt bulbs that you have will be insufficient. Since I don't know of a comercially available canope for your tank, you may want to look into some sort of pendant type light. This may be a metal halide (my choice) or maybe power compacts.
2. The filtration- The live rock that you will have in the reef tank will act as you biological filter so you won't need the ug filter. Also you may want to forgo the Fluval to make room for some sort of hang on type of protein skimmer.
3. The substrate- Look into some sort of live sand bed. Generally you will clean a fish tank with a gravel vacuum, but a reef tank utilizes micro and macroscopic animals as a clean up crew.
Before you do anything else, decide what sorts of animals you would like to keep as well as how much time and money you are willing to spend.
Since it sounds like you are just starting out, I would recommend picing up some good books, such as: "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner or "The Reef Aquarium" by Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung.
Good Luck!

 

[Carpentersreef]

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Mitch