12 Gallon Set up Brand new HELP!!!

[nanokid]

Hi there I just bought a new 12 Gallon tank about 2 hours ago. I bought the delux where it comes with the filter and everything but I completed where to put your nano at,2 i cleaned the tank out very well,3 put the tank where I wanted to put it where there is no direct sunlight, heat and aircondition but im stuck on the 4th instruction it says Add Substrate. Crushed coral gravel or sand are recommended choices. A depth of approximatly 1 inch should be fine. Use a Bucket thats never been used and rinse your gravel in small portions at a time. Stirring the gravel vigoroughly, rinse tell the water runs clear. Be sure to thoroughly rinse any added decorations and rocks. im confused do i just stop there and wait tell tommorow to go buy the sand and the rocks then rinse them and come home and put them in the tank then follow the next directions or should i skeep that and go onto the next direction which is fill your tank with water. add water conditioner to the water to remove chlorine and chloramine. While stirring the water slowly add instant ocean. then add synthetic sea salt one cup for every 2 gallons of aquarium water. sorry for my qustion to be so long but plzz can u help me

 

[jtmaclain]

You should put the sand in before you fill your tank up with water, about 4". You can buy live sand from your LFS or this website, if you decide to use crushed coral make sure to make it an 1" or less. You may also want to get some live rock, you can get this from the same places. Then if you decide to mix your saltwater you can mix it and put it in the tank, I just buy saltwater that is premade your LFS may have some. If you decide to mix the saltwater make sure to use RO water. After you put your sand in, put a clean bowl over it so when you poor the water in it does not stir it up. Then you put your live rock in, make sure it is stable. Then wait for your tank to cycle before putting any fish in.

 

[nanokid]

so i should go head and wait for tommmorow to buy some live sand and wut about the live rock

 

[jtmaclain]

yeah, you should probably wait to get some subtrate before you put any water in your tank. As for the live rock it will act as a natural filter for your tank and help it to cycle in the beginning. You will probably want about 10lbs of live rock. A lot of people also take out there bioballs and put live rock rubble in the back of there nano's.

 

[nanokid]

ok tommorow ima go buy some live rock 10 lbs and live sand and i no im new to all of this so bare with me when u say bioballs and put live rock rubble in the back of there nano's i dont know what bioballs are and what is live rock rubble?

 

[jtmaclain]

Did you get the DX or the regular NANO? The bioballs are the little plastic balls that go in one of the three compartments in the back. Live Rock rubble is just small pieces of live rock that would fit in the back, when you do this though I think you need a light back there, so you may want to wait on that. What kind of things would you like in your tank, fish, coral, etc. I would also suggest getting the premade saltwater. The kind that I get is Catalina saltwater. Just have patience with your tank. Feel free to ask away. Good Luck!!!

 

[nanokid]

thank you so much im only 15 so but anyways ya i have the dx

 

[devilboy]

nano,
i hope u didnt rinse out your cube with any soap or other chemicals, but just pure water. anyways this is what i would do:
1. fill your tank up with water tonight, and run the pump, and check for leaks. let it run for 24hrs.
2. go and get your live sand and live rock.

 

[feixjai]

when you buy the live sand and the live rock DONT rinse it out with freshwater or the organisms on the rock and sand will die and they are needed for your tank.

 

[nanokid]

Thank Youll So Much!!!!!!!!!! Youll Were A Big Help. Whenever I Get Everything Ready Ima Post Some Pics Up And Thanks Again

 

[nanokid]

O YA ALSO when i have my pump running and my heater working and my temp in my aquarium is right and my live rock and live sand how long do i hafe to wait to put 2 or 3 fish in my nano. the instructions say after everything in my nano thats needed wait 24 hours to go get 3 to 4 fish but it cant be 3 inches or more only 1-2 inch. My friend is confusing me he says wait 1 to 2 weeks to go get my fish that I want and he is also saying you can put more than 3 fish in there and he has a saltwater aquarium 100 gallon. can youll tell me when to go get my fish and how many can i put in my nano THANKS

 

[chipmaker]

I would venture to say both the instructions and your friend are off on the time frame. It seems the instructins are leaning towards a freshwater setup more than a SW setup. You need to mnonitor your waters parameters while the live sand and rock cycles. Once its spiked and cycled and your down to 0 ammonia etc, then I would wait another week or so, but you should be able to add cleanup crew. Then when it comes time for fish, only add one fish at a time, and wiat a week and ad another etc. Do not add all fish at same time or within a very close span as yu can overload the balance and filtrartion capacity and kill the fish.....I would personally add water now and leak test it all, pickup your sand and rock after you leak test anbd get temps under control, and add the sand. Just shut off filters/ pump etc and remove some water add sand, add rock top off with water yu removed, and let it cycle. It may get cloudy from the sand etc, but it will clear up within a few hours to a few days or so......Set back wand watch the live rock in the meantime, and see what critters start to appear......You will find saltwater takes more time to do things with and you have to do it slow and easy and do not rush things. A methodical approach will pay off later. PS GO with sand not crushed coral substrate, and personally in a 12 gal NANO I owuld keep sand to no more than 2 inches.

 

[nanokid]

I have another qustion. i have everything in my nano the filter and sand and the saltwater and the heater but my qustion is u check the water with instant ocean hydrometer its the first day i checked it first it was on right numbers then when i came back its farther up and the instruction book said wait 5 days to check it again is that true? is that what yall went threw with yalls nanos?