My tank, my goals, would love advice

[azrile]

I just started a 55gal reef tank last week. So far I have about 60# of DR and 20# of LR. On my bottom I have about 1" CC. (If I had read this board earlier, I would have gone deep sand). My filter is only a 333 Penquin Biowheel and I have 80 watts of light. (no skimmer yet)
I ran the water for a week, making sure pH, salinity and temps were right, and then today I finally put my first fish in ( a blue damsel named Wynn, which the LFS lady told me would be dead in 10 days LOL).
My longterm plan is to just have a nice LR tank, maybe an anenome with clownfish, and a few of the smaller, easier fish, A bunch of crustaceans and maybe dabble with a small piece of live coral. I would also like to 'grow' the live rock onto my dead rock.
Ok, so far is my equipment good enough? I also plan on adding another small fish in 10day, and maybe some crabs/snails at the same time. Is that too soon? Does LR grow onto DR, and what do I need (besides Ca) to do it?
Thanks for the advice. It has been alot of fun reading these boards.

 

[nm reef]

Azrile.....pleasure to meet you and welcome to the board.
You have a lot of questions and a few minor problems in your first post.
Problems are first and foremost that you don't seem to have completed or monitored your cycle.
Setting up a saltwater system requires much more than getting temp and specific gravity right...then adding fish at certain intervials. I don't mean to bust your bubble or even to give you a hard time.......folks here would love to help you develope and establish your system. Below is a link that covers everything from beginning to end...it is full of vital information including stuff on cycling a new system. The best advice I could offer at this point is to read a heck of a lot more than you listen to any LFS...and be patient.
Again...don't take this wrong....I wish you the best in developing your system.
<a href="http://home.gardenet.co.za/landman/Starting%20with%20Marines.htm" target="_blank">Starting A Marine System</a>

 

[azrile]

Thanks for the nice site. very informative.
I think I have done pretty much everything they recommended (maybe I didn't give enough details in my first post). I've had the LR in the tank for about a week. They said most people cycle their tank with a damsel, that is what I am starting today. If I had read that site earlier, i probably would have held off on the damsel for another week or two, but I can't imagine cycling a tank for 2 months with nothing but LR, that is a bit

[hr]
So I put the damsel in now, and I monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. When ammonia and nitrite are 0, then I'm ready to add a few more critters, correct?
The other thing I noticed is I do not have nearly enough light. I will double it in the next couple days to at least 160watts (55gal).
I'm also not sure about the skimmer. I've read many people say that if you don't have alot of fish, and have alot of LR and algae that you don't need one.

 

[anthony812]

azirile please to miss you sorry for spelling. You know what? A fish store person told me the same thing that my damsels will die within a week in the cycling, Guess what they lied! about 6 damsels survived out of 10 . Sometimes local fish store people (lfs) are not that smart , they can just make it seem like they are. But then some maybe be expert reefers themselves that loved the passion so much as to open a store either way jsut be caution

 

[treble]

I would definately get a good skimmer, might I suggest the Prizm Hang on Tank Skimmer? <a href="http://www.bigalsonline.com" target="_blank">www.bigalsonline.com</a> A skimmer is essential cause eventually fish will build up waste somewhere and the skimmer will take it out. That amount of light is perfect for a couple corals, invertibrates, and fish. Best of luck and vacume that CC every week!

 

[fallen04]

the skimmer issue will go on forever because depending on the type of system you are running or the filtration will dictate if you need a skimmer. i dont use them on any of my tanks from my 20 up to my 240. so it is a issue of preference i guess. i have some very delicate fish doing just fine for years with no skimmer. i tried one once and it became a pain in the @#$