Trying again with the 55g

I am trying again to setup the 55g. I got the rocks and all the equipment, it just has to cycle now. I will keep you posted.

New corals

For corals, I decided on a pulsating xenia and some zoanthids.

For lighting, I will be using a 65 watt 50/50 24" light fixture from coralife

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18369/si1383402/cl0/coralife24aqualightpowercompactstriplight1x65watt

This light should provide over 3 watts of light per every gallon that's in my tank. For corals, a tank should have a minimum of 2 watts per gallon of either power compact, t5, or metal halide light.

Change of plans

Well, I've decided that rather than upgrading my 20 gallon, I wanted to turn my 20 gallon into a reef!

55g stocking

I have the powerheads, the heaters, the sand, and most of the rock I'll need to setup my 55g. I need 30 more lbs of lace rock, and then I can set the tank up. I'm planning to buy fish by the end of May, or the beginning of June 2009.

I have a completely new stock list in mind. I'm planning on having my Tomato Clownfish in there, along with a Yellow tang, and a yellow tail blue damselfish, and atleast one more smaller fish. I am currently researching these fish.

Upgrading to a 55 gallon

The other day, I found a free 55 gallon aquarium, and it is said that it includes "everything", but with no stand and no live sand/live rock. I will be picking it up this Saturday.

I plan on getting a second tomato clown, a Volitan Lionfish to house until I can upgrade to a bigger tank, and possibly some sort of Dwarf Angel. I might be limited to just the pair of Tomato clowns and the Volitan Lionfish, to cut down on the amount of water I will have to change.

The cycle coming to an end

It seems that the cycling of my tank is coming to an end. Alot of the live sand has this brownish color now, one piece of live rock is covered with brown hair algae, the live rock is starting to cure more, meaning that more life is appearing, and the water paremeters have stabalized.

Before a tank can be considered done cycling, the nitrates sould be 5ppm, the ammonia should be zero, and the nitrites should be zero.