Pics of my nearly ready tank

[salty420]

Tell me what you think! Be honest with me, this is my first SW tank and any suggestions and/or comments are appreciated! It is a 37 gallon with 40# figi pink arg sand and 60# LR.
There is quite a variety of LR. We started with 10# "semi-cured" figi rock from a LFS for $6.50/lb. Next came 15# cured figi and 10# cured hawaiian base rock from eBay for $2.25/lb and $1.49/lb. We finished off with 25# cured (and very fuzzy with algae) carribean rock from a petstore which is selling off remaining SW stuff for $3.99/lb. I am happy with the look of the different rocks.

*sorry the pics are so big, not sure how to resize them...*

Full shot, sorry about the pics taped on the outside, we enjoy paper fish and inverts for now...

I know nothing about algae and stuff that grows on the rocks. Can anyone tell me what this stuff is?

plant - probably just a plant, huh

white root looking things

purple root looking things

tubes

cool looking rock

bubbles - bubble algae? they're clear...

Hopefully I will be getting a few crabs and snails this week. With the addition of the last 25# of rock I could use them! My tank was cycled with the first 10# of rock and has hit another mini-cycle. Ammonia is back at 0 but nitrites are at 1ppm. I plan to wait till that is at 0 then do a water change before getting the inverts. How much should I change out, 20%, 50%? Also, the semi-cured LR I cycled the tank with has some die-off. Some of it is just sitting on the sand. Will the crabs eat this or do I need to remove it? Thanks!

 

[Rbishop]

I think you are off to a fine start!

 

[Weezer]

Looks good so far.......

 

[Germanman]

nice start
firts pic is nice lol digging the paper fish!
#2 looks like dieing money/halimelia algae
#3 &#4 are duster worm tubes, look empty
#5 are tube snail tubes
#6 cool rock indeed
#7 is dead/pooped bubble algae

 

[salty420]

nice start
firts pic is nice lol digging the paper fish!
#6 cool rock indeed

thanks, we figured paper fish are better than no fish at all! Of course they are giant sized, my son wanted them big. We've got the only 3.5 inch neon gobies we'll ever see!

The rock in #6, is that stuff just grown onto a rock or is it a different type of rock all together (not carribean rock as they told me)? Also the purple hard stuff on the rocks, (can see some in #5) is that coraline algae?

 

[Bahamiangirl]

I am from the Bahamas and it looks like my rock in my tank it's carribean.

 

[salty420]

My tank was cycled with the first 10# of rock and has hit another mini-cycle. Ammonia is back at 0 but nitrites are at 1ppm. I plan to wait till that is at 0 then do a water change before getting the inverts. How much should I change out, 20%, 50%? Also, the semi-cured LR I cycled the tank with has some die-off. Some of it is just sitting on the sand. Will the crabs eat this or do I need to remove it? Thanks!

Quoting myself, hehe. Can someone please answer this question for me? Thanks so much!

 

[musho3210]

remove the die off, do at least 50% water change after the cycle (75% is not uncommon)

 

[5xevy]

*sorry the pics are so big, not sure how to resize them...*

Full shot, sorry about the pics taped on the outside, we enjoy paper fish and inverts for now...

Haha! You have to start somewhere, right? Nice rock by the way! So of all those places you bought your rock from, which is your favorite?

remove the die off, do at least 50% water change after the cycle (75% is not uncommon)

Agreed. You don't need the die-off in your tank. Your water change can be quite large since it's your first after your cycle and you don't have any inverts/fish in there.

 

[Germanman]

thanks, we figured paper fish are better than no fish at all! Of course they are giant sized, my son wanted them big. We've got the only 3.5 inch neon gobies we'll ever see!

The rock in #6, is that stuff just grown onto a rock or is it a different type of rock all together (not carribean rock as they told me)? Also the purple hard stuff on the rocks, (can see some in #5) is that coraline algae?

the rock used to be a LPS coral..it is now the skeleton...looks like it used to be a maze brain.