Am I Done Yet?

[border324]

here what i have now its been a few weeks since i posted. busy working to pay for this stuff!
55 gallon saltwater tank
250watt heater
115 pounds of play sand from lowes
2 10,000 k 4 foot florescent sun bulbs?
2 maxi jet 1200 power heads
45 pounds of live rock (plan to get more will this be ok now)
sea clone 100 protein skimmer
XP2 canister filter

i am in no rush to get fish i would like tohave small reef set up i dont want it to tank up the hole tank just the middle. i know i need to upgrade the lighting but thats going to have to come in time! does what i have now get me buy. as far as problem i use to have a big problem with me ph going up and down. all i put in my tank is distilled water from food lion no tap!
i have never had allege in my life. no red or green. i all so never had live rock before so i guess that had some kind roll in my tank crashing last time. but this time i am in no rush and want to do it right! so what do you think! every thing go for start up?
your help would get very helpful
thanks michael

 

[steve-s]

Only a few issues I see. The 160w (?) of NO lighting will be enough to keep the coralline on the LR going but as long as you are aware it will not sustain many corals except lower light shrooms and such. You may be able to just upgrade the ballasts and run 4x110w VHO instead. I'm no electritian but something to look into.

With the canister in use, I would axe the filter pads completely and just use the trays for carbon, resins or similar. The filter pads will need to be cleaned weekly and can be a pain. If you don't mind the weekly cleaning, leave them be but if you do not clean regularly you will have water quality issues. As well since there is no sump, the LR will need to be doubled (later is fine as you've indicated) unless you will have a deeper substrate which is not needed if you do add to the LR later. Just be mindful that the rock is re-cured/cured seperately before placing in an already cycled tank.

Seaclone skimmer!! Hmmm... if it's still in the box I would opt for your money back and either get a BakPak II or Remora Pro. The one you have will be of little use.

I am assuming you have the proper basic test kits: ph, NH3, NO2 and NO3? as well as something to measure the salinity, refractometer or hydrometer? Thermometer?

Cheers
Steve