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Originally Posted by Mediumheavyaction6'6
I agree they do seem to be the most knowledgeable in that area. In Baton Rouge Mark's Marine seems to know the most from what I can tell. I would use a live sand mix for a tank that small since it won't break the bank. They have a bag you can buy that is packaged and sold in saltwater to keep the beneficial bacteria alive. This along with your live rock will eliminate the need to put any dead shrimp in the tank. As far as live rock goes I would stay away from anything that comes from the Gulf as it tends to be high in phosphates and creates an algae problem. I like tonga branch or live rock from Fiji. I would also go with Instant Ocean as far as salt mixes go. If you are going for a reef tank you are going to need to add supplements to the tank such as calcium, magnesium, and trace elements. This is a necessary evil if you want the tank to thrive. As far as setup goes, I would purchase my live rock (about a pound per gallon is a good rule of thumb but the more the better) allowing the tank to cycle for at least a week. This allows all the dead material to fall off the live rock and start the bacterial bloom. After this initial period I would put in the cheapest reef fish you can buy in order to get something in the water producing ammonia. In a tank that small you are going to have to choose wisely when it comes to coral because most species have a tendency to fight with each other chemically. I would talk to an employee at either of the two places I mentioned to get a direction to go in. I think that should do it for a 2:45 in the morning advice post. Any other questions PM me and I will go into as much detail as you can handle. I used to manage a pet store in Tampa where we had over 10,000 different species of coral and saltwater fish.
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thanks man that helps alot!