[stephensturman]

how's it going everyone well i have some ?'s cause i am new to saltwater tanks. the following is my setup

28 gal. bow front
neptune 100 heater
whisper 60 filter
seaclone 100 skimmer
top fin air pump with 15" stone
30 lbs of argonite sand


i will be adding 3 lbs of live rock tomorrow to start the cycle. is there anything im missing or should this be a good start to a successful setup?

thanks all opinions appreciated.

[jvharding]

Welcome to RB! What are your plans for the tank. Reseach your live stock you want to keep. Right now it sounds like you got a decent FOWLR system. Please post pictures we love them! Oh Yeah your missing a good test kit.

[stephensturman]

i have a test kit it is a API salt water master test kit!

[jvharding]

did you open it? These test kits are not very good. Sera is a good alternative

[glampka]

1st off - you need more than 3 lbs of rock. 1.5 - 2.0 lbs/gal is the norm. If you add more rock later you're going to be getting minicycles.
Dump the air pump/air stone. That's only going to give you all sorts of salt creep.
Seaclone isn't the best of skimmers. If you haven't used it I would take it back & get a good quality one.
We need to know what your plans on for this tank before we can comment further. Are you planning a reef or FOWLR? Once we know that we can give you more ideas.

[stephensturman]

im going to be doing a fowler tank

[sanjaypawar]

Its a small tank. I would add a small UV to it to keep the tank free of bugs/pests. Also, have atleast 35-40 lbs of Live rock added at the same time because your water volume is low and will be easily contaminated by future additions. IF your budget permits and you are in a hurry to get it started buy cured LR should cost you around $300 for Marshall Island rock.

Remember in a small system you have less room for error. I mean your protein skimmer, UV and sump should be very effective. Like glamka said if the PS is not good enough replace it with a good one. There is no reason why you should not have corals in the tank (unless you hate corals....which is hard to believe). You can build a great tank with corals and it won't cost you much more. Go for it man

Having said that do it only if you want to not because you were told to.

[stephensturman]

thanks! and i am going to be doing a reef and fish tank!

[sanjaypawar]

Originally Posted by stephensturman

i have a test kit it is a API salt water master test kit!

What's the process for ammonia and alkalinity test, if its too cumbersome.....its not a good kit...if not it may be okay.