Hey guys, Ive been reading all the postings on this forum and now I have a few questions of my own. I have a 30 gallon tank with a penguin bio filter,seaclone protien skimmer(used),the hood has a 24"florecent white light and a 15" marine glo light. I will be buying a power head of some sort and live sand and live rock as well. I realize that my live rock will not grow because of the lack of light(i'm o.k. with that for now). Any words of wisdom on live sand and live rock and do you have to let liverock that has been cured cycle in your tank before you add fish. This is only a test tank before we get a75gal. Any advice would be much appreciated

im runnig 2 power heads in a 20 gallon tank and wish i had more current - -you'll see the "dead" spots quickly when algae starts in the cycle . . . . . . one is a straight shot type and the other is a sweep [moves from side to side] i would get 2 -3 sweeps, just keep in mind thats all they can do where as the straight shot versions can power equipment and filters and such - - IMO - put the live sand and live rock in there - mix your saltwater - -drop a couple pieces of shrimp {yep the stuff you eat from the grocery store} they will break down and start the cycle { I DO NOT support cycleing with fish as most LFS will try to tell you to do} {i killed 7 fish in my first cycle, crashed the tank and did a fishless cycle the second time} turn everything on, get some timers on the lights blue on 1 hour before and off one hour after white, run the whites for 6-8 hours a day - for now and start doing regular maint. testing regularly 1-2 times a week, do 10% water changes weekly, record everything you do and in about a mounth to 6 weeks you should be cycled and ready for fish - - -good luck

no problem at all bud, we were all newbis at one time, i would wait and get some more opinions and then make the educated choice that works for you

I learned the hard way - -the first go round on this tank I listened to the LFS in my area and he kept pushing fish and chems and alkinds of crap on me - - so after a total lose {7 fish total} and weeks of wasted time and nasty looking tank, I rethought everything, did soem upgrades on the substrate - met some really great people in here and recycled and I am very impressed with myself I must say,LOL - -it's only a 20 gallon tank but check out my profile - - lots of hard work and hard learning and I'm ready to go again - - I guess I say all this to make the point that my concensus is the general concesus that works from this site - - good luck bud, Boss