FO or FOWLR?

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prncsyoyo

Guest
We used to have an aquarium with FO, but now that I've been seeing all these awesome looking aquariums with LR I'm wondering what your recommendation would be for me to start with. I have no experience with LR - is it more maintenance? Does it take longer to establish? Are there only certain kinds of fish that can be with LR?
I'm in the process of hopefully setting my tank up right so I start with no problems. Any suggestions would certainly make my day!:D I look forward to the day that I know half of what you all do!;)
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Yes use LR and a DSB!
What size tank are you setting up? I would recommend at least 1.5 lbs of LR per gallon of water for your tank, and a deep sand bed of 4"-6" use oolitic sand (very very fine sand). These will be your main source of biological filtration for you tank. It also looks very natural and gives you a lot more options for keeping fish, because many fish feed off the natural flora and fauna that comes on the LR.
 
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prncsyoyo

Guest
What does LR do for my tank? Is it hard to take care of? Sorry, I know nothing about LR. My tank size is 250 gal. Before I had FO - got cyanoaglae so very bad - treatments to get rid of it killed almost every fish. What a heartache that was!! So, now that I've gone through that I want to take this slowly and with your all's advice. We only have 2" of live sand so I saw last night that I need to add 2" more - does it have to be live sand or can I mix in some of the sand they have been talking about from Home Depot? Also, should I add carbon bags in my filter? Rather than start with Damsels this time to cycle tank I was given advice to buy some shrimp from grocery store and let them decay to cycle the tank. Do you agree? Also, I have another 20 gal tank that I could use for a quarantine tank - should I do that?
One more question - I ran all my water through a RO/DI filter - do I need to add anything to the water that it might have taken out that the water needs besides salt? TY for your help!:)
 
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prncsyoyo

Guest
yes - 250 gallons - was built in the wall when we built our new home a couple of years ago.
My LFS just advised that I not start cycling my tank with shrimp from the grocery store because it puts bacterias in the tank that should not be there. What do you think? Are there hardy fish, other than damsels, that I could cycle my tank with?
Should I put add carbon bags to my filter once it has cycled? My last tank I did not have carbon. I just saw an aquarium larger than mine and they had the carbon.
TY for your advice.....:cool:
 
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prncsyoyo

Guest
Is LR beneficial to a Fo tank? Does adding LR make it a kind of reef tank also? TY:cool:
 
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prncsyoyo

Guest
I'm excited about LR now!! I want to get some for my tank. Once it is in my tank is there anything different that I need to look for as far as when I test the water? Do I need to do anything different because of having them in there? How much LR should I get for my tank?
Should I have carbon placed in my filter?
Can you recommend fish to establish a cycle in my tank? I've had it circulating for 3 weeks now with just live sand in it, but I just found out that I need to put 2" more in the tank. Can I use the sand from Home Depot or Lowe's or should it be live sand?
TY for all your help - much appreciated!! ;)
 
hokedalredy

hokedalredy

Member
New also, but what I have read is 1 lb to 1.5 lb per gallon so you would need like 250 to 375 lbs....That is going to be very expensive from what I have read.....
 
smokin'jim

smokin'jim

New Member
I would put the other 2" of southdown sand rite on top of the live sand and when you put the L.R. in it will seed the s.d. sand and the bottom sand will work up ward to help as for the carbon i don't know bout that ......
 
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