New to reef aquariums

[fishnoob101]

hello I have been doing fresh water tanks and this is my first shot at ocean stuff, hence Fishnoob101

I bought a 75 gal tank came with a heater and a duel Biowheel deal and the lady is going to give me a Fluval?

anyway I have bought a reef light that contains day, evening, moon lights
I bought a timer power center for it and 2 auto oscillating power heads that I wanted to put on the timer as well to make the tide or current deal for a reef tank.

I have 2 Damsel fish in there to help pop the tank and a piece of live rock my friend gave me.

I didn't want to use the Volcanic rough stuff I see all the time and wanted to go with something smooth and rounded and Light weight to crate the reef with.

Is there such a thing and if so would it hurt the fish?
And maybe something that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Oh also I wondered what to set the timers for the lights day, evening, night for best heath.

And what intervals going back and forth for the power heads to create a natural tide or current.

Thank you in advance for any help

 

[cmor1701d]

Please return the fish and read How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish.

Live rock and even base rock is normally broken bits from coral reefs, not volcanic. The reason to use it is that because it is so porous it can house more of the beneficial bacteria that are needed to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrate to nitrate. Deep recesses within the rock can also house the bacteria that turn nitrate into harmless nitrogen gas. Smooth rounded rocks will most likely weigh much more than than the very lgihtweight coral rock and won't house nearly enough bacteria. Depending on composition of the rock it may or may not harm the fish.

Most marine fish are near equatorial so about a 12 hour light cycle is normal. Many people (me included) have timers set for 11 - 11 for actinic ligthing and noon - 10 pm for white (10k) lighting.

 

[melosu58]

Please return the fish and read How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish.

Sounds like good advice to me. This will be a good starting point. BTW welcome to AA