hi reef philippines!
i've been doing a lot of research and reading for a really long time (actually registered on this forum in 2012) and finally took the plunge when i visited cartimar last tuesday for entirely different reasons but went home with an aquaone 380 10g tank, 6 kilos of live sand, 5.5 kilos of live rock, and 16 gallons of natural sea water.i know of cartimar horror stories when sellers convince buyers to bring home the whole lot - livestock and all - and leave the customer clueless on proper tank setup. the shop i got my stuff from, whose name escapes me right now (i misplaced the business card but still have the receipt and mobile number), fortunately did not try to upsell me fish and corals and gave me a crash course on how to setup the tank.
i got home pretty late that day and didn't have a stand for my tank yet so i submerged the live rocks in some of the saltwater overnight. the next morning, i washed the sand numerous times with tap water and did the final rinse with saltwater. after a quick trip to nearby tiendesitas to get the matching "aquaone" stand, i was finally able to start the set up process. i washed the ceramic noodles as instructed but had to google how to properly arrange the different filters/cartridges. i ended up not using all the live rock (probably just 4.5 kilos) because otherwise it would've been too crowded. i was happy to see that the water virtually did not cloud at all which i suppose means i washed the sand properly.
here's a picture of it from last night
lots of small bubbles
here are pictures from this morning.
less bubbles
live rock up close
what are those things on it? those small white lines? was it okay to leave the liverock submerged in a bucket of saltwater overnight?
i was told by the shop that it will take 4-6 weeks to cycle the tank. my plan is to do FOWLR for now and then maybe eventually add a few hardy corals.
i am already in contact with fevmarine and plan to get NSW from them from now on.
i'd really appreciate any expert input and also answers to my questions:
1) should i get the api marine test kit or go for the reef test kit for the future corals?
2) what cleaners (shrimp?) should i get and when do i add them in the tank?
3) what hardy corals that are available locally will thrive in my small tank with just 11 watts of light?
4) how often should i test my water during the cycling process - when can i add fish?
i apologize for the long post and looking forward to hearing from you guys!