close to set up. what do I do now?

[pondy]

K heres the question. Im close to set up and I have bought everything that I need maintenance wise. What I need to know is how to fill up the tank and how long do I have to wait to put live rock and live sand in it. RIght away? Or maybe what I should ask is can I set the tank up with salt water and live sand with out starting the cycle until I get the live rock? Or would I need to start the cycle?

 

[1journeyman]

Fill the tank with RO/DI water.
If you have premixed water I would add the sand immediately, in fact I would put the sand in first and then add the water on top of it (slowly... pour the water onto a plate or something sitting on the sand to cut down on the sandstorm.
If you are going to mix your own water I would say do that first in the tank. Get the temp. salinity correct, then add live rock and sand and start the cycle. Depending on the state of the live rock it might have enough die off to kick start the cycle.

 

[dmitry]

If you are using regular tap water put it into the tank first and mix the salt. Let the water aeriate for at least 24 hrs so chlorine and other additives evaporate. (You can also use distilled water from the supermarket, which you don't have to aeriate.) Make sure your salt levels are good, and the temperature. Put in the power-heads and filter (if you are using one). Put in the live rock and pour the sand around it. (The bottom row of rocks needs to be placed on the glass of the aquarium. But if you will be removing the rocks occasionally to scrub them while curing you'll have to move the sand around to make the rocks aren't sitting on top of it. Putting the rocks on the aquarium floor makes them a lot more stable!) Add Cycle if you got it. Good luck!

 

[pondy]

Thanks for the advise, I have learned alot from both of your posts. When I get started I will take pictrues and post on here every step. like a day to day thing. I really look forward to learning all kinds of things when this starts. I hope that you all are going to be puttin in advice.

 

[dmitry]

You can pretty much count on people's advice and opinions! It may not always be what we want to hear, but it's (usually) good stuff and needs to be considered.

 

[jon.316]

Well I'd like to first suggest putting out an additional 60$ and buying a cheap RO/DI filter off of ----....works extremely well...Then i'd mix the salt and the ro/di water in the tank first...let it circulate for about 2 days then add the sand. You wont be able to see anything for about 4 days so just sit back and let it settle. Then add the Live rock and let it cycle for about ooooo 4 weeks and add about 4 damsels.....3 weeks after that u can started adding anything u'd like.
good luck