Help with Live Rock/Lighting/Nitrates

[wwasteve01]

Alright, here is the deal guys...help with some feedback if you can. I have a 55 gallon that has been running for 7 months, it contains, 3 clowns, a yellow tang, and three blue/green chromis. As well as a pepermint shrimp. Right now the substrate contains a nice mix of live sand and crushed coral. Anyway, I only have lava rock in there right now but put in an order for live rock. 15 lbs of baserock, 10 lbs of deco rock and 8 lbs of high quality stuff encrusted with all sorts of living corals and such. Anyway, should I use the lava rock that is currently in there as baserock? Or should I just chuck it. Also, right now I have two 20 watt bulbs that came with the hood when I bought it from the previsou owner, do I need to upgrade the light because of the corals that will be coming on the live rock? If so... what is the best way to go? I don't mind spending some money, but since I am not righ tnow going to get real heavy into corals, what should I do. the live rock is being shipped in water from a supplier from florida that i have only got great reviews about. So it shouldnt need to be cured at all. Any tips?

 

[scsinet]

Whatever you do, do not simply yank out the lava rock and replace it.
First of all, you need to cure the live rock you are receiving. Even if the company you bought it from says it's pre-cured, don't trust that. Are you familiar with the procedures to cure live rock?
While I wait for you to answer that, we'll go forward assuming you've completed the curing.
Your 55 gallon tank with 7 fish is not overstocked, but it's fully stocked. Therefore, you don't wanna disrupt your biological filter. By now, the lava rock in your tank is full of nitrifying bacteria that are critical to your filtration. Simply yanking it all at once is going to be detrimental to your system. If all of your new rock can fit into the tank, then I'd leave it in there.
If you don't have room or don't like the look of these different types of rocks, you should remove only a small portion of the lava rock, add some new rock, then remove more lava and replace it after a month or so. Doing this will allow the bacteria to build up on your new rocks so removing the lava rock won't be such a disruption.
As for your lighting...
You don't need special lighting for live rock. Even though the supplier claims it'll be "covered in corals," you're more likely to find something really tiny here and there, if anything. Live rock in the live sense is not a "coral-reef-in-a-box," it's just rock that's covered in tiny organisms and nitrifying bacteria.
However, you will need new lighting if you are getting into corals. There are many options for a 55 gallon tank as far as lighting goes. Now is the time to start thinking about what kind of corals and inverts you want to keep. Some of the things that need special considerations are Anemones, Tridacna Clams, and Stony Corals. If you are planning a mostly soft coral tank (good for beginners) then you can use a much less costly lighting system and you have more options. Have you given any thought to what you plan to keep?

 

[wwasteve01]

Well I bought the rock from Tampa bay rock, they ship it in water over night or even the same day using an airline carrier. While I have read for month about the system of curing it, I went ahead and bought this rock because it never leaves any water. But if it smells I guess I am going to have to cure it if even only for a few days. So I don't have to buy any different lights which is good. I really wasnt looking into buying any corals but was concerned about keepnig alive what might be on these rocks, but I guess you should help me decide what I would start with and what would be a good idea for lighting when I begin with some soft corals.

 

[hagfish]

I also think you should cure the rock again. Just do as SCSinet said and you will be fine.
No lights are needed for the live rock as it is doubtful there will be any photosynthetic organisms on it. If you decide you want some soft corals down the line as you mentioned then I would just get a 48" 4 bulb PC light. You will need more if you want SPS corals, clams, and/or most anemone's.

 

[scsinet]

The way Tampa bay ships rock has one big drawback. Organisms you don't want to survive shipment can survive it (since it's submerged)... namely mantis shrimp. I have heard a lot of complaints about mantis shrimp inside the rock.
All the more reason to cure it. You'll probably hear them clicking away if there is one in there.
You need to cure it even if it's shipped submerged because during shipping, the water is stagnant and anerobic, causing some die off.
As for what corals you want, if you've never kept corals before, I suggest starting off with zoos and stick polyps. They are incredibly easy to keep and will help you get your feet wet (no pun intended) and they will act as a barometer to be sure there isn't something bizzare in your tank that can affect inverts. Better to kill a 10 dollar zoo frag than a 150 dollar Acro.
Once you've kept zoos for a few months, try some mushrooms. Again, most LFSs sell these as frags, so you can get them fairly cheap.
Once you've done that, I'd move to Leathers like Colt Corals, Toadstools, etc.
Finally, you could do some more challenging stuff, such as Brains, Plates and Tounges, Bubble Corals, Tube Anemones, Ricordea, Candy Canes, etc.
You can do all of this with about 220 watts of VHO or Compact Fluorescent, a 4x54 watt T5 fixture.
You can also get a (2) x 175w halide system with supplemental actinics, etc, or a 8x54w T5 system and be able to keep whatever you want. (including clams, anemones, and stonies once you are more experienced).
Personally, I don't keep stony corals, I keep all the stuff I mentioned above. I do keep anemones and clams though. If you wanna see pictures of my tanks you can click my username and go to my website.
Unfortunately, with lighting there are a million decisions that involve lots of research and forethought. At the same time, it's best to get the lighting system you'll need tomorrow today, to avoid spending money on a lighting system three times.