Help the Beginner Plz , =) about cycling

duhwun

duhwun

Member
Okay im new to this hobby, but i've been in the fresh water fish hobby for years. I just got a 55 gallon tank set-up. i bought a bag of salt mix that is good for 55 gallons. Mixed that in along with tap water(dechlorinated tap water). Then i mixed the water in the tank with two powerheads. After it starts to clear up i let the wet dry filter run. The next day i went and bought 30lbs of live sand and place it in the tank. So what should i do next in my cycling process. i still need about 20lbs of sand though. Should i add the sand along with some live rock. Like just 10lbs of live rock. Is that okay or i should just add 50lbs of sand. Because the lfs told my wetdry system is good enough and that i dont need live rock. So should i get 50lbs along with 10-20lbs live rock or just 50lbs of sand is enough. After that is clear out, What should i do next before start adding fishes?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Welcome to the board

First I'd like to ask just what type of tank are you going for? Fish only, fish with liverock or a full reef tank with corals and fish?
Have you given any thought to what types of fish you want to have?
It will be a while before you can add any fish at all, the cycle can last for several weeks so you have time to plan just what you want.
Starting off with livesand is good to help the cycle but adding some liverock now would also be a good idea, there will be some die off from the live rock to help start the cycle. Some folks just toss a coctail shrimp in the water which decays and adds the ammonia to start the cycle.
Using tap water usually is avoided as it can still contain phosphates and nitrates which feed the bad algae's, many just use RO/DI water which is prefered.
During your cycle it is a good idea to learn how to use the test kits, you should have one for ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes, if you plan to have any corals then you should also have one for calcium and alkalinity as well. You should also have a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the salt level, you can't just trust having a bag that says it will do 55 gallons, it has to be accurately measured and temp. can also play a role as to how that will measure. Normally you are shooting for a 1.025 salinity.
You will need more salt, its part of the regular maintenance of a SW tank to do regular water changes.
So what type of tank do you want?
Thomas
 
angelsrock

angelsrock

Member

Originally Posted by Thomas712
It will be a while before you can add any fish at all, the cycle can last for several weeks so Some folks just toss a coctail shrimp in the water which decays and adds the ammonia to start the cycle.
Normally you are shooting for a 1.025 salinity.
Thomas
the cycling can last for several weeks, but you can add a damsel or 2 if you like. i added my damsel the day after i had the live sand and the salt levels good. a lot of people on this board don't like that idea because sometimes they die of nitrate or ammonia poisoning which effects their gills and can effect them for the rest of their lives. on the other side most damsels used to cycle usually live. none of mine have ever died and i keep one for cycling which i've had for 4 years and cycled 4 tanks with. also the salinity level depends on what type of tank you have. if you have fish only you can keep your salt levels as low as 1.018 which has a benefit of making it hard for parasites to survive. if you have inverts like crabs, hermits, shrimps, clams stuff like this then the lowest you could go is 1.020. if you decide to go reef and have corals, sponges, and anemones the lowest i would go is 1.023. the higher you go the easier it is for parasites to thrive. which is easy to get in this hobby. much easier not to get it in fresh. also i add the bolded part so that other people don't have to argue with me because i've already added their side of the arguement on using damsels to cycle. so there's no need to make this thread a long one.
 
duhwun

duhwun

Member
Hi there and thx for the post guys/gals. I greatly appreciated it. What i am aiming for is a tank with live rocks and fish, i am planning on having a dwarf lionfish, and other fish that are compatible with it. Right now, i have 30lbs of live sand in the tank and thats all. I just dropped a shrimp in the tank yesterday to start the cycle. So how many llbs of live rock you think i would need. The guy at my lfs told me i wont be needing alot of live rock because i have a wet/dry filter with bioballs. And for the test kit, i still need to buy that. So what you think i should do.
 
angelsrock

angelsrock

Member
depends on what you want to do with your tank. if you want to build up the rock to make it so your fish can go in and out i would suggest about 75 pounds. the more the better imo. i use to use fake stuff a long time ago and the live rock makes it look so much better and it's beneficial.
 
evilbob22

evilbob22

Member
Yep, the generally recommended amount of live rock is 1 - 2 lbs per gallon, so 75 is right in there. I'm sure coming from a freshwater background, you alreay know about giving fish places to hide. (Unless you just kept goldfish or guppies or mollies...) If you buy enough for that, you'll be right in that recommended range anyway.
 
duhwun

duhwun

Member
so u think i should get 75 lbs of live rock even though i have 30lb of live sand(bio activ live aragonite) already? or should i subtract 30 from 75 which leave me with 45 lbs of live rock? which kind of live rock should i get, like i heard something about cured and not cured live rock. im looking for something cheap that works lol.
 
leftyblite

leftyblite

Member
Good idea with the shrimp. That is what my lfs recommended to me for my tank instead of damsels. The shrimp is what I currently have helping my tank. Key word to remember when setting up a saltwater tank.........PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE
Good luck,
Leftyblite
 
hedonic

hedonic

Member
Originally Posted by duhwun
so u think i should get 75 lbs of live rock even though i have 30lb of live sand(bio activ live aragonite) already? or should i subtract 30 from 75 which leave me with 45 lbs of live rock? which kind of live rock should i get, like i heard something about cured and not cured live rock. im looking for something cheap that works lol.

You could try making your own live rock there are some great DIY threads on that topic. Your LFS is crazy though. LR does not have to be added all at once but it essential to keeping a saltwater tank long term. The Live Rock and Live sand are not the same in terms of their benifits so you need: 1-2lbs LS AND 1-2lbs LR. If your buying cured LR, or willing to cure your own it does not have to be added all once. It took me nine months to get to the 100-125lbs I have in my 55/30 sump. A wet/dry filter provides for excellent biological filtration but not enough to run a fully stocked tank. Check out any beginner website, or book, or talk to someone locally other then this LFS guy and they can explain the benifits of LR in more detail, but know LR is essential in the nitrogen cycle.
 
aredmon

aredmon

Member
I tried to start my 75g tank without live sand or live rock. I agree that some live rock is good. My tank went for 4 weeks without even starting to cycle but a week after I added live rock My cycle should be done in another week. Since you got live sand that will help but I only got 13lbs. of live rock and i don't regret it. I say if you got about 10lbs that would be good. For a fish only tank you realy don't have to have a bunch. Your fish won't die without it. It just makes for good hiding spots. If you want to you can buy a little bit of live rock and place on top of base rock (dead rock) and the live rock will eventualy grow onto the base rock. Much cheaper that way too.
 
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