new to saltwater

[nickmccomb1]

hey. i had been thinking about starting a saltwater tank. so after doing lots of research, i have started my first one. my tank is 35 gallon hex tank and now has saltwater in it and caribsea agra-alive indo pacific live sand.
i do have a couple questions though
cured liverock- do i add now or after tank has cycled?
and also, when it comes time to stocking my tank, what would be good? i have no idea about what fish can go with what fish, how many fish, all that types of stuff. and plants. i want some live plants. all i know for sure is a deffinitley want a clown fish or two.
so would anybody mind letting me know about the cured liverock(when to add it).
and i would like to get as many ideas of stocking my tank with plants and fish.
any answers would be really helpful. thanks

 

[jstdv8]

Nick.
yes, add the LR now.
there are stickies at the top of this forum that you can read through to help with fish selection. clowns are "fairly" nice to other fish is you stick with certain species so your list could be pretty good to choose from. It's about what you like.
get a good test kit for PH, ammonia, nitirite and nitrate, get a hydrometer or refractometer for salinity and get a RO/DI water treatment system. These are all musts in my opinion.
as far as plants most people "plant" corals in SW but there are a few macro algaes and stuff that look like plants if thats what you want. look into a good lighting setup to expand your horizons, do not skimp with the light.
Take everything very slow, be sure your tank is fully cycled adn then wait longer don't add a bunch of fish at one time.
Good luck and don't forget to post pictures!

 

[florida joe]

cured live-rock- do i add now or after tank has cycled?
without gong into a long drawn out post. if the live rock you will add has bio filtration bacteria colonized on it in numbers that can handle your initial bio-load you may not see a spike in ammonia or nitrites and you may not see an indication other then nitrates that your tank as you put it cycled

 

[spanko]

Well bend me over, paint me green and ride me like a John Deere!
I cannot believe Joe did not tell the OP to read, read, read!

 

[florida joe]

Well bend me over, paint me green and ride me like a John Deere!
Exactly my intention
FYI it did take an extreme amount of tongue biting

 

[ibanez]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3246596
Well bend me over, paint me green and ride me like a John Deere!
I cannot believe Joe did not tell the OP to read, read, read!
That was a picture I didn't want to visualize. You know what they say, whatever floats your boat.

 

[nuge]

I tried to start a new thread but I couldnt for some reason. Anyway I ve got some big trouble in my 50 G. I was treating my fish for ich for the last week with polyplab medic because there was bumps all over a couple of tangs (power blue and regal ) and they were looking good up until yesterday when they were both covered in white spot. The whole night the power stayed up were the water comes out of the filter, I guess it was some sort of relieve for him or something. I woke up this mourning and he was dead. Im affraid im gonna lose the regal now. The water tests good accept ive been battling ph levels, ph seems to want to stay at 7.8 then with buffer it comes up but back down in a couple of days. How do I keep the ph were I need it and what am I going to do for my fish?