New Tank

[boomper]

I have a 30 gallon tank and I am new at the hobby.....My tank has some live rock and crushed coral, and im nearing the end of the nitrogen cycle. Amazingly, 7 of my damsels survived the cycle (the store did not mention any of the Nitrogen cycle to me and I bought alot of cheap fish). I was wondering if my tank will soon be ready for the fish I want, if i need to purchase any additional items and what to do about the damsels that survived (keep them??? they are nasty and territorial). I'm just looking to have a fish only tank, hopefully with an angel or two. Let me know what you think. Thanks
-Boomper

 

[kreach]

First off... Welcome to the board!!

It's not usually recommeded (or humane for that matter) to use live fish as a part of your tank's cycling process, but what's done is done. At any rate, I would say you should take the surviving damsels back to your LFS, as they are very territorial and aggressive.
How soon your tank will be ready for the fish you want will depend on your readings. What are your levels? (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Salinity)
What sort of angels are you wanting to get? In a 30 gallon, you really can only go for the dwarf angels (flame, coral beauty, etc).
As for what additional items you need to get, that would depend on what you have now. Besides the tank, live rock and sand, what other equipment do you have on your tank?
Finally, I would recommend that you take the crushed coral out and replace it with live sand. It may cause your cycle to last a little longer, but I think you'll be happier with sand in the long run.
Crushed coral has to be vacuumed and can trap waste and food, turning into a nitrate and ammonia trap. Live sand doesn't have to be vacuumed and it will also act as another source of filtration for your tank.
Good luck!

 

[boomper]

Thanks for the welcome. I also have a powerhead, which i run very low and a few air stones, along with some fake plants. My ammonia and nitrite levels are almost 0, and im not sure about my nitrate....i have not bought a test for that yet. The salinity is at 1.02.
As for fish, I hadn't planned on buying anything expensive anytime soon, just to let everything fully run its course and to get aquainted with the system, although I would like to get a small angel eventually. Ive also always loved clown fish.
I was thinking about live sand at the beginning but was hesitant due to the price (im a college student), is it worth the cost? From what you told me it seem so.
Additionally, Ive read that using regular treated tap water to top off will eventually be bad for your tank. Deionizers seem very expensive, how necessary is this?

 

[kreach]

All your levels should ideally be at 0 before you add any fish. Salinity seems a little low... try to get it up around 1.023-1.025.
You could have both a clownfish and a dwarf angel in your tank eventually... it's good that you are taking your time. Patience is key in this hobby.
Live sand is completely worth the cost in my opinion... a lot less hassle and doesn't cause the problems for your tank like crushed coral does.
What you can do to keep the cost of the sand down is get some southdown sand from Home Depot and use that as the majority of your sand and just buy a single bag of live sand to help seed it.
Tap water is another thing that in my opinion, will cause you more problems than it's worth. But RO/DI machines can be expensive. An alternative is to buy RO water from your local fish store. I've even heard that Walmart sells it. Around here, RO water runs about $0.50 a gallon.

 

[kreach]

Oh! Another thing you should look into getting is a protein skimmer. It's really a necessary piece of equipment for any SW tank.