Live Sand & Live Rock?

[lifestone]

Hello Everyone.
I am setting up my first saltwater tank. I have bought the tank....now Im stuck!
I need to fill the tank with water (city water w/ chlorine) and add salt, live sand and the live rock.
If I add the live rock and sand & salt then add city water, wont it kill the living things on the sand and rocks?
Should I fill the tank add salt and some kind of chemical to get rid of the chlorine? then dump sand in, and drop in the rocks?
Any advice on how to go about this would be helpful..
Thank you!

 

[mr. green]

I would say before you do anything, get an RO/DI. Research and the posters on this board have shown time and time again that this can be the best investment you could make for you tank. At least contact a LFS and see if they sell RO/DI water. You will save yourself a lot of trouble. This is one of the first things I bought even before the tank!!!

 

[nixis]

Welcome,
I can tell you that almost everyone is going to tell you not to use tap water, when I first started I wish I would have known that but my LFS told me to use the tap water with the de-chlorine but I know that most say not to! As for mine when I started I put the water that I mixed with salt and then the sand, the water will get very cloudy. After it cleared up I started adding LR. I think it was a month before I could get fish. I have only had my tank for about 3 months but I am sure someone else will give you better advice than I have. You are going to need a salinity tester as well to test your salt level and a kit for testing your water. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[almostclueless]

IMO, either get an RO filter, or buy RO water from your supermarket. Your going to want to mix up the water in a different container, and let it age for a few hours (maybe put a powerhead in for good mixing). Do not add the salt to the tank. Also, I would drain the sand (if its live) and if its dry, then rinse it. Then I would add that, spread it out, fill half way, add live rock, fill to top. Thats my suggestion.

 

[darthgoby]

Regardless of whether you use tap water or RO (I would strongly suggest RO), here is the order I would go in:
1.) Mix the water and the salt mix. You need to get in the habit of mixing the salt water before you use it and you might as well do so now
2.) Add the water to the tank.
3.) Add the sand
4.) Add the rock
Since you have live rock and live sand, you'll be adding it to salt water and shouldn't have a problem.
Everyone does this differently. Some people suggest adding the rock first and then the sand. It also isn't the end of the world if the live rock is out of the water for a little bit but if it out of water for a long time, that could be a problem.
When you add the rock on top of the sand, make sure it is pushed down as far as possible. You want things to be steady in your tank and not have rocks falling down (had a couple of those because of an overzealous urchin).

 

[gregghia]

Originally Posted by lifestone
Hello Everyone.
I am setting up my first saltwater tank. I have bought the tank....now Im stuck!
I need to fill the tank with water (city water w/ chlorine) and add salt, live sand and the live rock.
If I add the live rock and sand & salt then add city water, wont it kill the living things on the sand and rocks?
Should I fill the tank add salt and some kind of chemical to get rid of the chlorine? then dump sand in, and drop in the rocks?
Any advice on how to go about this would be helpful..
Thank you!
IF you have no choice don't worry. I had to use tap water. Use some good tap water additive. Just be patient and let everythign cycle. I added my water and sand and let that run for couple weeks. Then added 1lb per gallon live rock. A month later I had things creeping and crawling everywhere.....

 

[lifestone]

Thank you everyone.. great advice!

 

[j-ro]

so tap water just takes longer to cycle than RO water?

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by J-RO
so tap water just takes longer to cycle than RO water?
No, it just means that Tap water has chemicals and impurities that would only make algea blooms worse and give you problems. That's why peeps that are into saltwater use Ro/di for the purest quality of water. Cause that's the point of this, to keep water quality optimal..