New saltwater FOWLR tank (noob owner)

[Themonsterisme]

So I have a 55 gal FOWLR with 3 blue/green chromis, purple yellow dottyback, 3 yellow damsels, a cardinal/ pajama and a yellow clown ...my main concern is the food buildup ...I'm thinking my clean up crew is too small? 2 emerald crabs,2 bumblebee snails and 2 turbo snails...any helpful info? I also need a small piece of established live rock to "seed" the rest of my base rocks

 

[Bectan01]

How much and how often do you feed? What is your filtration/water change schedule look like. Increasing flow will also help, is it just the one powerhead you have in there? I have 3 in my 55g...

 

[Themonsterisme]

I feed 2 frozen cubes of mysis and brine shrimp twice daily...I melt them in a cup with hot water and pour it in by the one circulation pump ...I am fearful that the circ pump is about 10 gallons underpowered for my tank...should I run 3 underpowered circ pumps or 2 pumps ratedfor a 55 gal tank?

 

[Themonsterisme]

Frozen mysis and brine shrimp twice a day...the circ pump is rated for a 40 gal tank...if I added 2 more like it would that be ok or add 2 rated for 55 gal and use the 40 gal circ pump in the middle? I ordered more clean up crew members also

 

[Themonsterisme]

After adding for a few days some purple up (in anticipation of my cured live rock going in) I am seeing a little brown algae on my base rock...the rest of my clean up crew will be here tomorrow so hopefully all will be ok...any info from my peers? Should I stop with the purple up?

 

[dragonfisher33]

you have fed too much. 1 cube of mysis shrimp is enough for your livestock. also before you feed, melt the cube with the water from your tank as oppose to hot water and make sure you drain the water as well. the thawed water has concentrated chemicals such as phosphate. for a fish only tank, 10-20x of turn over ratio is sufficient.

if you need a live rock to seed your tank,it makes me wonder how long have you setup the tank?

 

[bribo12]

There is no need for purple up. That stuff is just calcium in a bottle. You have no corals using calc/mag/alk so there is no point in dosing it. Coralline will grow with adequate light and proper nutrient levels.

 

[Bectan01]

Agree with all of the above, way too much food. One cube every other day is plenty. How often do you water change? What are your parameters? More clean up crew won't solve it, they poo too

 

[Themonsterisme]

My params are 0/0/0 ....the only reason I was feeding 2 cubes twice a day was the liveaquaria.c o m info for each fish and what to feed and how many times a day...I'll cut back to 1 cube a day ...mysis or brine? I'll begin to melt the food in a cup of tank water....all base rock was all live at one time several years ago from a previous salt tank...I cured all of the old live rock as per liveaquaria recommendations and then put in tank and used a quick start chemical to get fish in it early but I still waited a week ...did the drip method to acclimate the fish...lost 3 yellow tail damsels in the first week out of all the fish...no signs of sickness or stress yet..fingers crossed lol...I have a hang on the back of the tank "skilter" that is going on tomorrow also...anything else I need or should have for my tank you guys can recommend ? Thanks for all the input peeps I really appreciate it

 

[Themonsterisme]

Oh and did all break in of the tank as per liveaquaria info...every param seems spot on