First Saltwater Tank

[Marshalberu]

Hi Guys,

First time poster on any forum so here we go. Decided to convert my freshwater planted tank to Saltwater tank and so far i am loving it. Plan is to get mainly soft coral and maybe LPS tank. Tank setup on 12/11/25. Was cycling it without light so its clean. Used 2 different cycled media from 2 different hobbiest tank for a quicker cycle. I added one of those black bio balls from someone canister filter in my HOB which i dont like so thats why there is a bag of seachem matrix in the tank. ill replace it with the bio balls.

Tank Dimenstions.
L - 60cm, W - 32cm, H - 35cm

Light
PopBloom RL115

Filter
Seachem Tidal 55

Dry Rocks with Live sand

Tank Parameter
API Saltwater master test kit
Ammonia - 0.25 (I think its reading false as i have never seen it fully yellow)
PH - 7.8
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 40ppm

Nyos test kit - KH - 7-8
Nyos test kit - Mg - 1200
Salifert test kit - Cal - 390


Livestock
2 ocellaris clownfish bought last Saturday 29/11/25. didnt want to miss that blackfriday sale. they are very small so very low bioload. What other fish can i add in this tank maybe in couple of months time?

Do you guys think my tank is ready for some soft corals or LPS? I also bought Red Sea Reef Foundation A - Calcium+, B - KH/Alkalinity, C - Magnesium and Red Sea Kh Coralline Gro so i can dose them to increase the above parameter if needed. Please also advise how much i should dose as reading the labels making me confuse.

TIA

 

[Subsea]

Welcome to the addiction and r2r.

I suggest some diver collected live rock before you add anything else. Your tank needs more rock for fish hiding places.

Have you considered ornamental seaweeds in your ecosystem?

 

[Marshalberu]

Welcome to the addiction and r2r.

I suggest some diver collected live rock before you add anything else. Your tank needs more rock for fish hiding places.

Have you considered ornamental seaweeds in your ecosystem?

I was looking at getting live rock but i dont want any unwanted hitchhikers coming with it. Maybe ill get few and try my luck with that. Ornamental macroalgae is what convinced me to switch from freshwater to saltwater and i was gonna do the planted saltwater tank but finding good macroalage in Australia at a resonable price is very hard.

 

[Subsea]

I was looking at getting live rock but i dont want any unwanted hitchhikers coming with it. Maybe ill get few and try my luck with that. Ornamental macroalgae is what convinced me to switch from freshwater to saltwater and i was gonna do the planted saltwater tank but finding good macroalage in Australia at a resonable price is very hard.

Hard to understand why macro algae should limited & expensive in Australia with the Great Barrier Reef.

Diver collected live rock would be a good source of micro fauna & fana which provide multiple nutrient pathways for recycling nutrients.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Looks good. Personally I would add more rock, the tank looks a little empty, it resembles more a freshwater tank than a saltwater tank. More rock and get rid of the bag of bioballs, that is a detritus trap. Rocks are the biofilter, no need for other media. I would also suggest a powerhead or a pair, flow is super important in saltwater unlike freshwater. I would build the tank up a bit more before adding corals. More rock and more flow IMO. And no need for dosing for several months, probably the first year IMO. Good luck

 

[Gumbies R Us]

You can get by with just water changes for the first little bit of your tanks life.

I was someone who started with dry rock but now, I would easily do live rock. Yeah you do sometimes get unwanted hitchhikers. However, the pros of having seeded rock going straight into your tank greatly outweighs having a couple hitchhikers imo. Tampa bay saltwater (@LiverockRocks) are the guys I would recommend getting live rock from

 

[Marshalberu]

Looks good. Personally I would add more rock, the tank looks a little empty. More rock and get rid of the bag of bioballs, that is a detritus trap. Rocks are the biofilter, no need for other media. I would also suggest a powerhead or a pair, flow is super important in saltwater unlike freshwater. I would build the tank up a bit more before adding corals. More rock and more flow IMO. And no need for dosing for several months, probably the first year IMO. Good luck

Yeah i am thinking of adding more rocks. I will remove that bag. If i add more dry rock will it have any affect on my cycle?

I do have a wavemaker which is running on the lowest setting. I think my clowns are struggling abit as they are small or maybe i am not used to seeing fish swimming in strong flows.

Parameter wise, do you think those are good numbes for soft corals or lps?

Thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Yeah i am thinking of adding more rocks. I will remove that bag. If i add more dry rock will it have any affect on my cycle?

I do have a wavemaker which is running on the lowest setting. I think my clowns are struggling abit as they are small or maybe i am not used to seeing fish swimming in strong flows.

Parameter wise, do you think those are good numbes for soft corals or lps?

Thanks

Parameter wise its fine, soft corals are very forgiving on parameters.

Folks coming from freshwater often mis-judge the amount of flow we use in our salt tanks. Keep in mind that a large portion of the salt hobby is algae prevention, whcih is also not an issue in freshwater tanks but its a major issue in saltwater, higher flow keeps detritus suspended so it can be removed by the filters. Low flow means detritus settles and bacteria grows followed by algae. As long as the sand is not blowing around, its not too much flow for the fish. Good luck