New 65 gal transferred complete with 75 lb Live Rocks. Some questions

[godzen]

Bought live rocks/fish from a seller on craigslist. I completed the transfer of livestock from his matured red sea max 250 tank to my exact same tank a few days ago. The rocks had purple coralline agae covered throughout. Obviously, after 3 days, I saw some die off as patches on the rocks turned white. I guess this is normal and the coralline will come back? The two fishes that were included are doing well. My nitrate is currently at 0, nitrite at 0.1, nitrate 0, dKa alkalinity 2.4, phosphate 0. Sand is completely new, about 2" depth. I want to transition this to a simple reef tank as it is FOWLR right now. Just a couple of questions.

1. Currently house a blueface angel and a blue/green chromis. I want at least a tang and two clown and maybe a foxface. Is this okay?
2. Do I need a cuc and should I buy some now? Rocks does have some green hair algae. Basically I want to keep the sand clean and waste exported. Thinking of pistol shrimp, sea cucumber, brittle starfish and snails. What kind of snail? I'm a little hesitant about snail because when I had a freshwater tank, these snail breed out of control.
3. I'm using ro/di water. How long should I leave my lights on with this current setup given that I would like to keep the coralline and rid of the green hair algae?
4. What should I monitor for daily? I'm thinking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate
5. What is the recommended food for the fishes I currently have and planned on having? mini algae grazers may work?
6. What type of corals should I start out with and the earliest timeframe that I can begin to add them to the tank? Obviously, my tank is somewhat established because of the live rocks and low bioload

Thanks

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[jon99]

Bought live rocks/fish from a seller on craigslist. I completed the transfer of livestock from his matured red sea max 250 tank to my exact same tank a few days ago. The rocks had purple coralline agae covered throughout. Obviously, after 3 days, I saw some die off as patches on the rocks turned white. I guess this is normal and the coralline will come back? Yeah this is to be expected. How did you transport the rocks, in buckets w/water or dry? I moved a piece of liverock from an established system to a new one I just set up. I saw some die off as well and the rock wasn't out of water for longer than 30 seconds. It's mainly due to the new environement and new water that it has to get accustomed to. The two fishes that were included are doing well. My nitrate is currently at 0, nitrite at 0.1, nitrate 0, dKa alkalinity 2.4 That's a bit low. Should be closer to 2.9-3.5, phosphate 0. Sand is completely new, about 2" depth I would go with more like 0.5"-.75" I've read many posts where people recommend either a deep sand bed or less than 1" but not between the two.. I want to transition this to a simple reef tank as it is FOWLR right now. Just a couple of questions.

1. Currently house a blueface angel and a blue/green chromis. I want at least a tang and two clown and maybe a foxface. Is this okay? The angel is not considered "reef safe" and will likely destroy/eat any coral you try to grow. You really picked a tough (not to mention expensive) fish to start out with. Not a good idea putting it into a brand new unestablished aquarium.
2. Do I need a cuc and should I buy some now? Rocks does have some green hair algae. Basically I want to keep the sand clean and waste exported. Thinking of pistol shrimp, sea cucumber, brittle starfish and snails. What kind of snail? I'm a little hesitant about snail because when I had a freshwater tank, these snail breed out of control. Whether you need a cuc is debatable, but no I would not buy it yet. I made that mistake only to have most of the cuc die (starved) and cause a major ammonia spike. Wait until your tank and feeding habits are established and settled in. Then add about half of what you think you may need and slowly increase from there.
3. I'm using ro/di water. How long should I leave my lights on with this current setup given that I would like to keep the coralline and rid of the green hair algae?Coraline does not need much (any?) light to grow. Some of the nices patches of coraline i have are in my sump on the skimmer end where very little light enters. At the same time, turning out lights to kill gha is not all that effective. That technique works great for cyano (the redish slime stuff) but not gha. look here:http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2095174&highlight=lights+out and here: http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2143919&highlight=lights+out
4. What should I monitor for daily? I'm thinking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate
More imortantly what's your plan if you notice a spike? I know you bought it as a package deal, but you really should not have fish in a newly established tank. A cycle is inevitable.
5. What is the recommended food for the fishes I currently have and planned on having? mini algae grazers may work? As far a dry food I like "new life spectrum" "formula two" and "Elos SVM2" Both the angel and any tangs will also need nori sheets as a staple. To this you can supplement fresh/frozen food like mysis, clams, squid, and just about any quality sea food.
6. What type of corals should I start out with and the earliest timeframe that I can begin to add them to the tank? None with that angel... seriouslyObviously, my tank is somewhat established because of the live rocks and low bioload Not really. Expect a cycle and wait atleast a month before adding anything else.

Thanks

QUOTE]

 

[godzen]

thanks for breaking down the answers. Makes it real easy for a newb. A few things I want to clear up.

1. We transported the rocks via 5gal buckets filled with water. From there, it goes straight to the tank with some time out of water since we had to do some aquascape

2. I bought 30lbs of sand for this 65gal. It calculates out to be 0.5 inches. I guess it looks 2" because i placed the rock down first before filling with sand and it is hard to fill the back area. Just the front is 2". I have 25lb of pukani being cured of phosphate right now. Plan on taking out everything, even up the sand, then lay down the pukani and other rocks securely.

3. Well, I expect and hope for a small cycle given that these are lives rocks. Plan on monitoring my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate daily. Plan to change 10% water weekly but more often if needed. I have 2 30gal brute container with ro/di and SW ready to go if I need to change out asap. Anything else I need in case of an emergency?

4. I eventually will relocate the angels to a nice home. My question about the corals still stand. Once my tank gets situated with a few more fishes in there, I will add some corals. Thanks for the heads-up about the expected cycle. Will not add anything for a month while I monitor what i have now. Later on, I'm thinking a tang, a foxface and two clowns. With the corals, I'm looking for something nice to start out with. Recommendation? Anything wrong with this plan?