Is this rite for cycling my tank?

mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
I have and am ready to start cycling my first tank.
I am gona list off my agenda n want u to corect me if im wrong in some way.
1. I am gona fill with water.
2. Use the water conditioner to purify.
3. add sea salt to desired salinnity and wait a day for it all to dissolve
4. wen thats rite ill add some live rock and raw cocktail shrimp
5.wait 4 days
6. turn on canister filter and undergravel
7.wait
8. watch amonia go up n down n nitrite up n down n nitrate level off
9. prolly add more live rock
10. wait till those amonia levels even out
11. do a final check n make sure its all good
12. Add fish in small increments
a. clowns(2) 'n' cardinals(3 or 4)
b. gobies
c. tangs
d. angel and butterfly
DOES THIS ALL SOUND GOOD TO YOU?
 
ross

ross

Active Member
I wouldn't use an ungravel filter. Just the canister filter, a few powerheads, live rock, live sand, and a good skimmer.
 
ross

ross

Active Member
Yes a protein skimmer. As Thomas said in another post you should go with probably 4 powerheads. And if it is possible get the tank drilled or get a hang on overflow so you can have a wet/dry or maybe a sump and refugium.
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
k so ur saying
1. get sand (can i get this after i cycle the tank?)
2. Get it drilled(i dont wana hafta send it away to get it drilled)
3. Whats this hang on the back sump refrigium?(how much is it gona cost)
4.And can i switch to sand after i cycle the tank?(im guessing i cant just kinda like slowly take out gravel and put in sand)
Give me a price breakdown and itemparts list please
Can u give me a link or something for info on what a sump is?
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
or can i get the hang on the back(sump thingy), a protein skimmer and the canister filter, do u thik this will work?
And moneys tite so do u think that my undrgrvl and canister will work until christmas?
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
I wouldn't mess w/ the UGF at all. If you are just cycling your tank use the cannister and some PH until christmas... a skimmer is IMO a neccessity but can wait (although it is nice to have during the cycle) until you have livestock IMO.
I would put your sand in first to give the inevitable dust storm time to settle while you add your rocks and salt and such.
My personal opinion would be to use LR to cycle your tank... so pretty much this order:
1) add 'dead' sand (like Southdown ect)
2) fill tank w/ water
3) add salt to desired sal.
4) add live sand if you have it via a PVC tube and funnel
5) add your rocks
6) turn on your PH and Cannist. and Skimmer
7) wait for cycle to complete
8) start researching what fish to use / lighting requirments ect so you can purchase after the holidays
Your cycle will take a few weeks... i'd let it run until after the holiday
I run a cannister filter, HOB skimmer, and three powerheads in my 44 corner and it is working great. Of course the tank is a fish only w/ live rock so I don't need anything too terribly crazy.
Make sure you maintain (i.e - clean) that Cannister filter well or it will cause you problems in a few months, but they are great to have to run carbon or phos. sponge when you need it for water quality issues.
What type of tank do you want to set up (reef/fishonly)?
hope this helps :cool:
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
well i m having a fish only with live rock. I think wat ill do bc everyone is saying it is. Cycle it w lr and canister and undrgrvl(bc it may not do much but i can still run it wo hurting anything.) then run tank like normal wen its dun cycling . When funds allow buy a protein filter and hang on the back and sump. How much do u think the hang over the back n sump will cost?
i know the protein is like 80. IS this hang on the back a simple hang on the back filtr like an emperor or penguin(w the bio-wheel) or something diferent like the stuff with "miracle mud"
 
S

slofish

Guest

Originally posted by mike19881956
How much do u think the hang over the back n sump will cost?
i know the protein is like 80.
You can get away w/ a $80 skimmer, but it wont be the greatest. If you want a good one, you'll be looking at $150-400
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member

Originally posted by mike19881956
well i m having a fish only with live rock. I think wat ill do bc everyone is saying it is. Cycle it w lr and canister and undrgrvl(bc it may not do much but i can still run it wo hurting anything.) then run tank like normal wen its dun cycling . When funds allow buy a protein filter and hang on the back and sump. How much do u think the hang over the back n sump will cost?
i know the protein is like 80. IS this hang on the back a simple hang on the back filtr like an emperor or penguin(w the bio-wheel) or something diferent like the stuff with "miracle mud"
I would still urge you to not even bother with the UGF. What substrate (Crushed Coral or Sand) are you using?
A good skimmer will set you back $150 or so like the previous post mentioned. I've heard good things about the prizim pro (around 100 to 150) for a hangon, but i think the CPR hang on (around 130 or 150) is your best bet if you have the cash. I personally have a SeaClone (Aquar. Sys product) that I love but there are going to be some people who disagree with that.
A sump can be expensive or realtively cheap. You will need a good hangon back overflow unit (around 60 to 100 depending) if you do not want to drill your tank. The sump can consist of just a rubbermaid container or another smaller aquarium... it'll prob run you around 20-40 for parts (PVC pipe to get the water to and from the sump) and another 70-100 for the return pump... the good thing is that you can use a HOB skimmer on the sump (as well as your heater and other mechanical filtration) and don't have to have anything ugly hanging off the back or inside of your tank (the SeaClone that I have also has an 'insump' configuration that I know nothing about).
I don't know anything about those HOB refugium things, but I do know that the investment in designing and building your own sump container is well worth it in the long run, you can even subdivide the sump into different sections (use one for your skimmer / heater and another for some Macro Algae and DSB / Miricale Mud).
I have probaly just managed to confuse you.
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
agreed w/ above. i think it would be best to restate your intentions for short / long term use of the tank. My fish only tank has been running for just under a year w/ a cannister and skimmer only (no sump or refuge) with no major problems.
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
If that is the case then a sump/refuge type setup is not really needed, you can save yourself the cash and spend it on some more rocks :)
I'd stick w/ powerheads the cannister and a HOB skimmer and you will be golden for a FOWLR.
Have fun!
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member

Originally posted by NaCL-Man
If that is the case then a sump/refuge type setup is not really needed, you can save yourself the cash and spend it on some more rocks :)
I'd stick w/ powerheads the cannister and a HOB skimmer and you will be golden for a FOWLR.
Have fun! [/Bthamks man u have no idea how good that makes me feel knowing that i dont have to sell an organ on the black market jsut to keep my fish . everyone was telling me how i have to have these things drilled and all this ----
]
 
lesleybird

lesleybird

Active Member
I second the leave off the under gravel filter. Wastes collect under them and raise your nitrates and you can't get the stuff out from under the filter plate. If you try to remove one later the wastes get released into the tank and create a filthy mess.....did this in a fresh water tank many years ago...never again! Lesley
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
Mike:
No problem!
If you want to start keeping corals and other high-maintence stuff (not saying that fish are low maintence or anything) then consider getting the tank drilled and adding a sump and such. But for a fish only with some live rock you don't need to worry about that.
I noticed in another post you asked what was the point of a sump w/ no filtration... mainly to add water volume (the more water in a system the more stable the levels are and such, hence less worry about error). Also a sump will allow you to keep all the "ugly" (heater/skimmer/mech filtration) out of your display, so asthetic.
I'm still going to stress the undergravel filter issue though... I wouldn't even bother with it.
I really think you will be happy with the Cannister, some powerheads, and a skimmer... like I said it is working so far for me!
Good luck and keep us posted!
 
mike19881956

mike19881956

Member
Well i apreciate u clearing that sump thing up for now it seems to add sense. One more though if u conect the sump to the hang on the back thing wats that do? And how hard is it to remove an undrgrvl filter once the tank has stuff in it and is cycled?
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
Do you mean the HOB overflow? The overflow is what gets the water down to the sump. You don't connect the sump to a HOB skimmer.
It is a pain in the neck to remove a UGF once you've got stuff sitting on top of it. I had to tear my entire tank down and build it back up again. Luckily I had no livestock at the time (due in no small part to the UGF) so it wasn't that big of a deal... just a couple of hours of work.
Do it now so you don't have to worry about it later (i.e - when you've spent $$$ on fish and rocks)
 
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