Hello and I have some ???'s

[sweetrav18]

Hello Reefland!

I have a couple questions regarding my new 55g FOWLR aquarium. I setup my this tank roughly one month ago with 60lbs live sand and about 25-30lbs of live rock. I know that I need more rock but with purchasing everything else I am buying it in installments. My first question is regarding filtration. Besides the above biological filtration i have a normal charcoal filter that came with the tank and a seaclone 100 protein skimmer. I have been reading that the charcoal filter is a bad thing to use due to nitrates/nitrtes is this true? If so can you recommend other filtration methods?

Don't scold me but I already have a couple fish in the tank. To be specfic I have two oceallaris clowns, one neon damsel, one flame angel and a clown tang. All the levels continue to be great, but I was recently given a mandarin dragonet from someone that was getting rid of his tank. I am very concerned due to the age of my tank and the short supply of LR. Is there any supplementaion for the mandarin to ensure its survival? Love the site and any help is greatly appreciated!

[rayjay]

Won't give you heck for something you already know you shouldn't have done.
I will recommend though that you give the mandarin to someone who has a muture tank with lots of live rock and no fish that will eat the critters the mandarin needs to eat.
The alternative here is to buy live mysids and copepods and feed them to the tank, but that gets expensive.
Many people use carbon in their tanks to help with dissolved organics.
I would recommend though that you keep cleaning off the carbon media container bag and change the carbon monthly. A build up of detritus in filter media can play havoc with water conditions as the trapped material decomposes adding to the nutrient that produces ammonia and feeds algae.
You should be prepared to get a much larger tank or prepare to give some of the fish to someone with larger systems.
The clown tank will get too large for the tank and the flame angel may get too agressive for the clowns in your tank.
My largest tanks are 90g and I have to sell off my tangs as they become larger, and then start again with smaller ones.
As for other filters, a mature cycled tank doesn't really need any other filters when you have a sand bed and live rock and protein skimming.
I use the basic Berlin method which is heavy protein skimming, lots of quality live rock and bare bottom, and I have no need of other filters for my tanks.
The last recommendation would be to closely monitor your water watching for signs of ammonia, and nitrite, as with that bio-load you have, and a new tank, you may possibly be headed for a meltdown.

[sweetrav18]

Thanks for the advice..sorry to hear about your literal 94 degree meltdown..still a beautiful aquarium though. Thanks again