NEW TO REEF TANKS with first ever Fluval Flex 9G - TIPS AND CRITIQUES!?

[DragonStone]

I have had freshwater tanks for a while, but always wanted to try salt. I was turned off by the cost of salt filling a large tank, etc. My freshwater 55 gallon is doing well, it's been up and running for 2+ years with a happy fish colony.

I have a fluval 9G flex (the bow front type) AIO. I have so far done the following:

Filled it with Instant Ocean salt + RO/DI water (from the grocery store) My refractometer (I had one already for other purposes) reads 4.4 Brix (about 35 ppt salinity from what I can tell online)
Placed caribeasea aragonite on the bottom
made my little caribsea live rock design
added Seachem stability bacteria from a bottle
Set up heater at 78 F

Now I just...just wait for it to cycle? Am I missing anything special for saltwater?

Stocking goal: one occelaris clown fish and one goby, like a watchman, and some sort of invert (hermit, crab, shrimp) for cleaning
If corals, low light varieties since the included LED (meant for freshwater) is only 7500K

1. General comments or critiques or helpful advice?
2. Am I missing any equipment here?
3. How long will the cycle take adding bacteria as I have?
4. do I just monitor salinity, temp, and general (ammonia, nitrate, etc) moving forward
5. Any advice for other stocking options other than the watchman goby + occerlaris? Could I do 2 of the occelaris clowns?
6. Whats a good invert for this setup?
7. Will my idea of low light corals work?
8. Should I have an anemone?
9. Should I add a marine buffer solution? I saw these online and at Petco, unsure if needed?
10. Do I need plankton or anything like that?
11. I can upgrade the pump to a 200 GPH from the 90 it comes with - would this be strong enough to avoid a wave circulator?

Thank you!!

 

[LiLinka]

I would first recommend picking up some sort of Ammonia test kit. you know the cycle is complete once ammonia is testing 0, then your pretty much safe to add some clownfish or other easy fish to keep and slowly stock it from there. You could add an ammonia liquid to help feed the bacteria and speed the cycle up/ do an in fish cycle which is not very ethical but works. In that size tank I wouldn't do more than 2 fish. You could try 2 ocellaris, or 1 ocellaris and a goby, up to you. as far as inverts I would get a variety of snails (trochus, astrea, turbos) are good options, and some 2-3 hermit crabs should suffice. You could grab a cleaner shrimp as well if you would like. or pair a pistol shrimp with watchman goby. corals are meant to be kept in a certain lighting range (10k-20k). I would consider upgrading, finding something used on ebay maybe like an AI prime or a Kessil A80. if you want to really grow anything. you could definitely do a small anemone for your clown(s) once tank is more established (3 month mark). Marine Buffer solution not neccesary. stick with the 90GPH pump if you only want to keep low light corals anyways they normally require little flow.

 

[DragonStone]

Thank you! I have an ammonia test kit, I am adding in dried shrimp food to act as ammonia - will that work?
Whats a good anemone for a clown thats small and they dont require light I assume?
Even low light corals would fail you think? I would upgrade the light but it would get rid of the lid thats built in.

 

[LiLinka]

Thank you! I have an ammonia test kit, I am adding in dried shrimp food to act as ammonia - will that work?
Whats a good anemone for a clown thats small and they dont require light I assume?
Even low light corals would fail you think? I would upgrade the light but it would get rid of the lid thats built in.

that would work but only add in small amounts. all Anemones require light. if you plan on upgrading to one of the lights mentioned above or any other light thats meant for corals you could do like a bubble tip anemone, which are my personal favorites, or a long tentacle, sebae, there are a lot of options, i would still consider upgrading your light to something closer on the coral growing spectrum. feel free to pm me if you need any more help

 

[Digimes]

I think your one track, except for the light. Freshwater light is gonna give you headaches.

Try something like this, hygger 30 Watts Aquarium LED Reef Light, Dimmable Full Spectrum Marine LED Fish Tank Light Saltwater Nano Aquarium LPS SPS Lighting https://a.co/d/hlwSRHz

Otherwise, give it a month and keep the lights off while cycling. But me up on Instagram if you have questions, @littlesaltyreef

 

[DragonStone]

Thanks! I just don't want to remove my built in lid if I can help it.