Hi Dave,
Welcome to The Reef Tank!
The most critical thing you can do for your tank at this time is to get your rock, sandbed and water quality in order; be patient; do lots of reading, and let they system stabilize before adding any more animals, with the exception of a variety of snails to help with algae and detritus control. Patience is a key at this time.
An excellent book is The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert Fenner. Another is Natural Reef Aquariums, by John Tullock. I highly recommend getting one or both of these books and study them thoroughly before continuing. You will want to add to your library as you go to include one of the encyclopedic works, such as The Reef Aquarium, Vols. I&II, or The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium. There are several other good books out there for fish and corals but we can talk about those later.
Building a saltwater reef system is vastly different from freshwater tanks. An example is the acclimation process you experienced and which was discussed in your earlier post. It will take at least a year for a reef system to become mature and stabile. Some say a year and a half. In any event, it is a slow process and patience is required. There is a saying that
"nothing good happens in a hurry in a reef tank."
Here are some good websites with info to supplement your books, remembering that there can be differing opinions and you need to read as much as possible and ask questions here so that you can then make your own good choices:
http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webri...g=reeffaq;list http://www.hobbyschool.com/reef/ http://www.reefkeepers.org/faq/cache/33.html http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog...ek_090698.html http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/li...=&RecordNo=166
And, of course, search the previous posts and archives here on TRT and ask questions.
After reading the books, my recommendation at this time is to go ahead and add the additional 50# rock; get your aquascaping where you want it; increase your sand bed to a minimum of 4"; preferably 5~6"; get a protein skimmer and a Reverse Osmosis/Deionizer (RO/DI) to process water for your tank.
Caveat: Addition of large quantities of even fully cured live rock can trigger another cycle. Rearranging the rocks and adding sand will also cause disturbance in the tank that can stress the fish and inverts you already have. If you add cheaper, base rock, it would be better to have this as your base structure with the better looking quality stuff on top. It also be best if you can remove your fish and inverts to a
quarantine tank or large rubbermaid containers until the expected new cycle from the live rock is over. Remember that a quarantine tank must also be cycled and animals acclimated to the Q tank as well. You can minimize the impact of the new rock on the tank by putting the new rock in rubbermaid tubs with heat and circulation for 2-3 weeks before adding them to the tank. Do water changes and test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates just as you would for cycling a new tank.
Metal Halide lighting is really not important at this time. Save the bulbs until you are ready to add corals that need this intense lighting. You do need light but just not the $$$ halides at this time.
You can expect a series of algae blooms as the tank matures and this is where good water quality and avoiding adding more animals, especially corals, is important until you are through the worst of this phase.
A basic schedule for a new tank would be:
1) Tank setup with LR/LS, completing the cycling process;
2) Add clean up crew of snails, etc.;
3) Slowly add any desired fish, one or two at a time 2-3 months after cycle is complete;
4) Begin adding corals, again slowly and incrementally, after tank has been cycled 5-6 months.
I understand that this is a very conservative schedule and many, (if not most
) cannot resist the temptation to rush things a bit, but reef development is a slow and steady process. This "waiting period" is also time to do the study and reading necessary to assure long term success.
You have the beginnings of a great reef but, as Doug says: "Its cheaper to do it right the first time."
Dick
[ 04-29-2001: Message edited by: FishDaddy ]
