New Guy Needs Help

maw06d

maw06d

New Member
Hey guys/gals,
I am about to start my first salt water tank. It is a 55 gallon glass aquarium. I am using live sand and I am only putting fish in it for now. Live rock is on my list things to do after I begin. I have a canister filter, a biowheel filter, a heater, plenty of salt mix, a RO filter to make my own water, decor and some other little odds and ends to get this puppy rollin. I have purchased several books to help, but none of them seem to say how to start this thing. One book says to put the sand in when you are filling it with water for the first time and the other says to fill it with water and let it run for a night, then put the sand in. One says I should just put the sand on the bottom and then the other says i should put a layer of gravel under the sand. Anyone got any tips or answers to help me start. You can either post back or e-mail me at maw06d@fsu.edu. THanks!!!
 
maw06d

maw06d

New Member
Hey guys/gals,
I am about to start my first salt water tank. It is a 55 gallon glass aquarium. I am using live sand and I am only putting fish in it for now. Live rock is on my list things to do after I begin. I have a canister filter, a biowheel filter, a heater, plenty of salt mix, a RO filter to make my own water, decor and some other little odds and ends to get this puppy rollin. I have purchased several books to help, but none of them seem to say how to start this thing. One book says to put the sand in when you are filling it with water for the first time and the other says to fill it with water and let it run for a night, then put the sand in. One says I should just put the sand on the bottom and then the other says i should put a layer of gravel under the sand. Anyone got any tips or answers to help me start. You can either post back or e-mail me at maw06d@fsu.edu. THanks!!!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
If your tank is drilled, you might want to fill it w/fresh water and let it run for a day or 2 to make sure it doesn't leak. If your tank isn't drilled, I don't think it matters which method you use as you will need some time to let the sand settle down and the tank clear up before you start your cycle, which should not be done with fish.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
no gravel under the live sand. put the sand in before the water also. less cloudiness this way. but if you have no live rock, then you have no biological filtration, and you're going to have cycling issues later on when you add the rock.
btw, you're posting in the wrong section :)
**moved to right forum**
 
bizzmoneyb

bizzmoneyb

Member
Dump in the sand, dump in the water. Everything will settle within a few hours.
I would get the live rock next before fish. Its an excellent bilogical filter, plus it will be much easier to cure the rock and get the tank cycled in one shot before adding any livestock.
 
jeffr259

jeffr259

Member
+1 to what MoneyB said. Do not cycle the tank with the fish. Put your live rock in first. Arrange the rocks how you like (dont lock them all tight like puzzle pieces, you want water flow through the arrangement) THEN add the sand. Reason being, you don't want a little sand burrowing fishy to go tunneling under the rock setup or you'll have a cave in.
 
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