help a 150g newb - let's do this reef together

[jon in alberta]

Hey there,

I need all the help I can get.

Purchased my equipment 2nd hand from kijiji and want to start a reef tank.

Here's a pic and some instructions I have received thus far.



filled it with water - hooray it doesn't leak!

here are my steps ...

1) Clean the inside of the tank with Vinegar and water.

2) Fill with regular water and let it sit for 24-28 hours.

3) Drain

4) Rinse the gravel in buckets to get all the small silt and branches out. (Caribsea Gravel)

5) Put gravel in the tank smooth out so it is level. (if you mess with it when the water is in you get a big silt storm and may have to wait days before you can see in the tank again.

6) Fill with Treated Water – turn on all your pumps and check for leaks in the system.

7) Add salt and bring to correct salinity and temperature

8) Add Base Rock and Live Rock.

9) Let the system run for 3 weeks before adding anything except a few snails. Run the lights for only 4 hours a day to let everything balance. Make sure the skimmer is running to pull out any silt and **** from the water.

10) Slowly add fish after 4-5 weeks. Only add a few fish first and let the system balance then add more.

11) Try some easy corals like LPS first then move to SPS corals after about 4 months when all your parameters are in check. Calcium, ALK, PH.