lots of questions...who's smart??

newsaltyman

Member
okay..im new to all this....but ive been doing a grip of research about how to establish a salt water tank....i recently went out and got a 72 gallon glass tank. Lets jump to the the questions! 1) For a tank this big..is a sump necessary (everyone seems to have one)? I know it hides all ur hideous equipment and increase water volume..but will i still be successfully without one. How do u go about drilling holes in a glass aquarium anyways?
2)Im recently in the tideous process of puting RO water in my tank...at about 1 gallon an hour....after i fill it up....i add salt and then do i add sand? Also something about the sand...live sand are very expensive...so can i juss add 3/4 regular sand and then 1/4 live sand? What type of live sand do you recommended and where is it cheap?
3)After the sand...do i add the rocks? of do i add the rocks first before the sand. Live rocks too are very expensive...so can i get non living rocks as my base..and pile live rocks on it? will the non living rocks become live within time? how much lbs of rocks will i need for my tank? and what brands are good and where is it cheap to get it?
4)after all thats been added...will the cycling start? or should i drop in some shrimps too? should the shrimps be raw or cooked? and how long should i keep it in there? should it be chopped up?
i know this is alot of questions.so you dont have to answer them all...any little advice will help..thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
 

iechy

Member
I'm by no means an expert but let me give some of them a shot.
1) You can be quite successful without a sump, many people are, but if I had the room and money to do it I'd add one today as it does have many advantages. I have heard nightmare stories about drilling tanks, you may just consider using a hang on overflow.
2) This first time it doesn't really matter how you do your mix I think but be sure to premix your water for water changes in the future. It is ok to use regular sand and seed it with live sand.
3) The rocks go in after the sand. IT is ok to use base rock under the live rock as life will grow on them but depending on what type of rock it is it may never be "live rock" I think about a pound a gallon is good.
4) cycling will start with the live rock assuming it is not fully cured and you live close to where you get it. You can add raw shrimp or some hardy fish also which are much more fun to watch than raw shrimp:D
Live sand and rock are available at most live fish stores or from many sites including this one. Be sure to get a test kit too so you can monitor the cycle.
Well experts...how did I do?
 

lilman1714

New Member
2. The Sand is pricy, but you should go with about a 3:1 mixture
(3 parts live, 1 part substrate).
3. Shop around for the live rock! I haven't bought any for my tank ,but I know that you can get it for like 4.00/lb. on www.SaltWaterFish.com . I found a place locally (In Venice) that sells it for $3.00/lb.
4. I recently started a 55 gallon SW tank. I went and talked to a few experts, and everyone that I talked to said that a dead shrimp will do nothing to a tank. Think about... How can something that is not defecating cycle, ammonia, trites and trates (nitrates and nitirites). You don't need to a chemistry major, or even an expert on tanks to know that. So what I recommend, and I'm sure others do to...Is that you go to the store and spend 40 bucks on about 7 damsels for your tank... Buy the live sand and the live rock (however much you can afford)...But the more you put in the more successfully (and quicker) the tank will cycle.
Hope I helped!
 

jcb101

Member
why punish a live creature, when a dead shimp will deteriate, rot for lack of a better word, creating amonia, nitrites, nitrates. Put your rock on the bottom for stability, once you put the creatures in you donot want the rock moving and falling in, then put in your sand and seed with live sand. The live sand and the lr will seed the sand, so the majority of the sand does need to be live.
 

jake22

Member
I would not use damsels to cycle the tank. When it comes time to take them out you would have wished you wouldnt have. If you get enough live rock no shrimp or cycling fish are needed. I would recomend getting 1 pound of live rock per gallon.
 

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by lilman1714
How can something that is not defecating cycle, ammonia, trites and trates (nitrates and nitirites).

A dead shrimp produces Ammonia by decaying. It works better than Urine and doesn't stress out a fish that you took on the responsibility of taking care of.
If you can't figure that out ask a chemistry major :)
Just a couple dozen pounds of uncured live rock will also do the trick as will some flake food.
 

diverva

Member
I started in this hobby a little over a year ago. When I first decided I wanted to get into the hobby I went to a local fish store (LFS) and asked a few questions. I wish I would have know about this BB then. They sold me a ton of expensive equipment that I did not need. Since then I have moved across the country and started over again.
I started with an empty tank and added bagged sand. Non of it was live or wet. Next I filled the tank about halfway full of water. I mixed salt in with a couple of gallons of water until I had the right mixture in the tank. Then I put in the amount of live rock I wanted. Finally I finished filling the tank up with water. Checked the salinity and made sure it was right.
I let the powerheads circulate the water for about 3 weeks. After that I started to put in a few crabs (5 or so) and a damsel. The damesel lived so I slowly added more and more to the tank.
I know this is not the only way to do this, however this is what worked for me. No matter what you decide to do ask lots of questions and be patient. I hope this helps.
Good Luck
 

rockster

Member
Kickster, in theory, yes (I hope you won't do it :) ). The urine is composed of urea, electrolytes (Na, K, Ca) and some other trace elements. The urea is composed of 2 ammonium ions bound to a carboxyl group, NH2-CO-NH2. If there are urea-splitting bacteria in your water (I am sure there are), it will be split into 2 molecules of ammonia and a carbon dioxide...and the cycle begins! But please be nice to the fishies and don't do this at home! :D
 

alf3482

Member
Posted by Anthem
You may also get more answers if you don't include a smartass subject line.
Is this how we welcome new people on this board????
For a tank this big..is a sump necessary (everyone seems to have one)? I know it hides all ur hideous equipment and increase water volume..but will i still be successfully without one. How do u go about drilling holes in a glass aquarium anyways?
necessary? NO! but I do recommend one for better gas exchange.
2)Im recently in the tideous process of puting RO water in my tank...at about 1 gallon an hour....after i fill it up....i add salt and then do i add sand? Also something about the sand...live sand are very expensive...so can i juss add 3/4 regular sand and then 1/4 live sand? What type of live sand do you recommended and where is it cheap?
regular san I would advise against but others have done it with no problems. But I suggest a good aragonite sand [dead] and seed it with good old uncured rock. JMO And yes you could add the sand but I would do so before putting the water in. But it really does not matter.
3)After the sand...do i add the rocks? of do i add the rocks first before the sand. Live rocks too are very expensive...so can i get non living rocks as my base..and pile live rocks on it? will the non living rocks become live within time? how much lbs of rocks will i need for my tank? and what brands are good and where is it cheap to get it?
It is really up to you when to add the rock. Yes you can get dead rock here is a link to cheap real dead Hawain Rock Then just seed it with 25% LR and you will have it turn into live rock over time.
4)after all thats been added...will the cycling start? or should i drop in some shrimps too? should the shrimps be raw or cooked? and how long should i keep it in there? should it be chopped up?
you use uncured rock then it will cycle on it's own. If not use a freash shrimp from your Local seafood Dept, uncooked. HTH
 

shadow678

Member
If you would like to aquire some good, inexpensive live rock, try www.ffexpress.com I have gotten over 300 lbs of rock from them and I am very pleased. Their price is $99/45 lb. box, with a $56 shipping fee to your door. This makes their rock approximately $3.40/lb. for LIVE rock, although it is completely uncured. Uncured can be a good or a bad thing, depending on what you value more. If you are going for a quick setup, this is not the way to go, since it will take 4-6 weeks to cycle. However, if a wide variety of living organisms on your rock is what you are after, uncured rock can be cured naturally over time and will save many organisms in the rock than what are removed by most companies when they cure their rock, as they scrub most of them off. Typical rule of thumb for rock in your tank is 1.25-1.75 lbs/gal.
 
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