New FOWLR setup - questions

[kevinpaz]

I'm starting my first saltwater tank in 10 years and have a few questions. Here's some details on my setup:

- 65 gallon tank
- prism pro skimmer (empty bag)
- 200w heater / eheim 2217 cannister (bag of carbon)
- 1 powerhead
- 20w crappy freshwater flourescent light
- Bare bottom, 30lbs live rock
- Tank has been up with live rock and no fish for 3 weeks, cycle seems to be almost complete (trace amounts of nitrite/nitrate - no ammonia)

1) Since I have no aragonite/crushed coral do I need to worry about any water buffering? (or should my salt mix take care of that?)

2) My protein skimmer is still shooting small bubbles into the tank - do I have to worry about this? (ie is it bad for the fish?)

3) I'd like to add a clown fish for my first fish and an anenome. Do I need more lighting for an anenome - what do you recommend? If I can't get an anenome right away is it considered cruel to have a clown fish without an anenome? Will he get "lonely" in a big tank by himself?

4) I'd like to make a cheap DIY water tank to hold my top-off water. Any creative ideas on a cheap pump I can use to pump water from the top-off tank up into my main tank? I'm not looking to automate anything yet - cost is the main factor.

5) I'm currently testing ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/ph. Should I bother picking up other kits? If so, which ones?


Thanks in advance,

Kevin