My new 72g bow front

mxracer572501

mxracer572501

Member
Well I just got a 72g bow front with a wet dry filter for christmas
so far I have 80lbs of live sand, and 64lbs of live rock, my pH is at
8.2, ammonia is at 0.25, nitrites are some where between 0 and
0.25ppm, nitrate 5.0, gravity is about 1.023 (is that to high).
so whats my next step, and how long should I run my tank
before I put in tester fish, and how many should I put in.
THANKS
 
slick

slick

Active Member
1.023 is fine. Wait until your amn and nitrite fall to zero. Then wit for your nitrate to fall to about 30 or so. Then do a big water change and add some hardy fish.
 
F

fishkid1000

Guest
So what you are saying is that your tank is growing bacteria or 'cycling'. If you have crushed coral I would recomend removing it and put in sand. I would recomend adding about three times that much sand for extra filteration. It would not hurt to add 50# of liverock. Once ammonia and nitrite are no longer in measurable existance I would add a hardy fish likea clown dependening on what kind of setup you have. If you want a reef tank iI would keep my sg at 1.025. If not that leval is great. GOOD LUCK!:)
 
josh

josh

Active Member
Nice!
Is it going to be a FO or reef tank? That is a nice sized tank, I think I will be a 75 or 90 next time around... big enough but it won't take up an entire room.
The gravity is fine, for a FO tank you can keep it lower like you are. Actually the lower it goes, the more O2 is dissovled in the tank and is good for the fish, but I wouldn't go below 1.021
As for the rock, you can always add it slowly as money permits. But the sand bed will need to be atleast 4" to be a functioning DSB, that is if you don't have a refugium setup with a DSB already.
Slick was right with his suggestions, but I am not too sure of what a "tester fish" is. You will want to add a hardy fish like a clown, but don't use him as a barometer of the tank... get some test kits.
If you have anymore question feel free to ask, and get some pics when you can.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
How deep is your sand bed?
You don't need to add any dead shrimp. You LR will cycle your tank.
What type of tank are you trying to establish?
 
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