Another question from me..re: adding sand

[my5girls]

I am wondering how to go about adding the sand. I am not going to be using live sand. I know to put the rock in first. I am going with 60 pounds lace HI rock, (maybe 90) and then about 90-95 pounds uncured live figi rock. I assume the uncured rock does not come in water..maybe wrapped in wet clothes or something. Will it be alright to be out of water while I arrange the rocks? Or do I need to have the water about 3/4 full, then add the live rock when I get it. then how to add the sand? Just dump it in? How many days before it clears up? do I run the filter/skimmer during this cloudy, sandy time? Will that hurt the filter and skimmer? I guess what I am trying to ask, in a round about way, is do I fill my tank, not all the way, then add the salt, then put in the uncured rock and sand then fill the rest of the way? Wait until it clears to run my equipment or start it right away? I am sorry for all the questions, I just want to start off right!

 

[jumpfrog]

Good questions.
If you can mix the water other than in the tank I would do that first. Even if you can't do all the mixing and let it sit for about 24 hours you can mix batches at a time and add them.
First I would put in sand, then aquascape the rock to taste, then add the water. Put a plate or something on the sand to minimize turbulence while you add water.
The rock will need to be cured unless it comes directly from another tank and was cured there. You will have die off so no worries about it sitting out for a little while.
Once you have added the water I would just run your filter only until the tank clears up. You may have to rinse out your filter material for awhile until it is clear.
After all that you should be able to start cycling your tank.
Hope that helps! and Good Luck!

 

[my5girls]

I thought you could add uncured LR if you were first starting the tank? I thought it had to be cured only when adding it to an existing tank so as to not start another cycle? since this will be a new tank don't I want the uncured stuff to kick off the cycle?