New Reef Tank Progression (Pics)

[f1shman]

any suggestions on how to clear the tank faster? at the moment all I have is powerheads, tommrow my protein skimmer and LR come.

 

[latino277]

Yeah I have a couple
1) Be Patient
2) PH sponges
3) Skimmer

 

[f1shman]

i don't have any PH sponges remember! i took my powerheads out. and i won't have my skimmer until tommrow! Do you think it will have settled by tommrow morning or no?

 

[f1shman]

because the waters just gonna be sitting there until the sand is settled enough that I can use my PH again, i plan on investing on some PH sponges though, only 7.99 for 2 as i said above :happy:

 

[latino277]

i just saw the pic. with you have try and spead the sand out and try and get most of it to the front of the tank. you don't what to start this sand storm all over again this will take a couple of days to clear

 

[f1shman]

ya i was thinking that, but its its so cloudy i cant see where the sand is.. I can't tell if theres a big blob in the middle or anything..

 

[f1shman]

but are you sure its okay stagnant usually stagnant water is never good

 

[f1shman]

Lemme make sure I got this right.
1. Wait until tommrow when the LR arrives
2. Add the LR
3. Put PH back in because sand will be settled enough to not clog PH
I heard I should only leave my lights on for 4 hours max when cycling with LR, that sound correct?

 

[latino277]

4 hrs sounds good for now.
stagnant water is bad in long term. if it makes you feel better... you can put the PH back in when you don't see the large grans of sand in the water any more.

 

[latino277]

your going to have that murky look for a couple of days. that is why I said to be patient

 

[f1shman]

how can I tell when there isn't large particles, its so cloudy now thats it hard to tell anything. I turned on the metal halide / PC lights and I can see into the tank better, but still can't tell if the sand is evenly distributated. Also will this livesand start the cycle?

 

[latino277]

it could start the cycle.... that would be a good thing...
just feel the water... Push top layer aside and scoop up some water.

 

[jer4916]

the way you did your tank ( water first, sand second) is the main problem...its going to take awhile for everything to settle, you did wash your sand out right? (get the small stuff out)
~chris

 

[f1shman]

and what am I looking for in this scoop

 

[f1shman]

no i didn't wash my sand out, its live aragonite reef sand, rinsing it out ruins it i think

 

[f1shman]

bump

 

[jer4916]

yeah that would have, bummer deal...i would have added the sand first myself....

 

[f1shman]

So any suggestions on when I could add the PH back JER?

 

[latino277]

your looking for large grans of sand. if the water you scooped only has powdery sand then you golden

 

[jer4916]

Honestly im still very new to saltwater, i had a 55 gallon aggressive tank for about 5 months, fell in love with this hobby and bought a 125 acrylic tank with all the bells so i could have a really nice reef. I've been reading book after book to learn more and more as well as reading in the fourms, but in instances like this i dont think my advice would be any good, or be proper advice. IMO if your talking about adding ph buffer... im assuming as cloudy as your tank is nothing is currently in it, i would add the buffer directly to the tank myself since its just sand/water. But thats me. I would research before you do it.
What kind of filtration are you running?
lights? etc.
also how many pounds of live rock are you going to add?
~chris