[OCSREEFER]

Hello I am a newbie to saltwater aquaria.
I have a 55 gal all-glass, seaclone skimmer, empor 400 filter. Placed about 2" of washed play sand and 45lb of uncured fugi LR.

Set up about 4 weeks ago.
Temp at a steady 78 degrees, and PH around 8.3,
SG 1.023, KH 250

Ammonia shot up along with Nitrogen levels
Skimmer was working overtime...
This last week the Ammonia is gone and nitrogen levels are beginning to fall, and there was a smal dip in the PH.

I had a small outbreak of white film over 30% of the rock in week 2, made a 25% water change, now a dark brown alge is covering about 20% of the rock in week 4.

I did plan on ordering a coralife PC 260W to replace the 30FL light fixture that is on the tank now.

My goal is to but another 20-35lbs of LR in sometime, along with some type of corals ? and a couple fish.

One other interesting fact: when I had my LR shipped, the transit and cold weather toasted any worms and small clams or other once moving critters, thats what I get for trying to get the goods to Minnesota.

I've been thinking about ordering a cleanup crew, but not sure when and what would be the best for my set up...

Any help or tips for this beginner...???
Thanks

[tonyb]

sounds like a nice setup so far. first. dont let your specific gravity go any lower. i believe 1.025 is ideal, even though it says 1.023 on the Instant OCean (IO) instructions. The brown alge is most likely a datom bloom. which is normal for a new tank. a couple things that can help. Improved water movement what size and how many powerheads do you have. Lighting can also be another factor here. do you currently have just the one bulb on the tank? certain spectrums of light can promote alge blooms. As far as getting a cleanup crew. Make sure your water is stable. if your still having ammonia spikes, you might want to hold off. it would suck to add the cleanup crew and kill half of it. you may want to just start with a few snails. Also, what type of creatures are you planning on putting in your tank? are you heading for a fish only tank or a reef tank. If your heading for a reef tank you may want to think about more intense lighting than PC lighting.