New Tank Need Advice

[zacg]

Ok I Just Set Up My Tank Today I Have A Aqua Pod 24. How Long Do I Need To Wait Before I Start Runnin My Lights?

 

[-tara33-]

you can wait a couple of weeks or just put them on a timer and have them on for half an hour a day, wich ever you want, u dont really need light on during the cycle but towards the end you can put them on for a little bit longer every couple of days!

 

[zacg]

thanks tara any advice is greatly appreciated. i put my sand in and my live rock then i added ro water and put enough salt in for 20 gallons of water. then i turned my pumps and everything on. now i guess im just supposed to wait.

 

[rbrockm1]

now you wait and plan out what you want to put in there. if you want it to be fowlr or reef setup, aggressive and so on and so forth. waiting and planning is key to get a great setup and not to lose money

 

[zacg]

so i dont need to put any chemicals in the tank till my cycle is over right?
and when can i tell that is is starting to cycle?

 

[-tara33-]

depends on what sort of filtration and lights you have on whether you go for reef or fowlr, you said you have pumps, can you tell us what types of filters you have

 

[zacg]

well just have all the stock stuff that came with my aqua pod. the only thing i have added is a heater and a korolia 1. and i have one blue legged hermit crab in there the water temp is 72.7

 

[rbrockm1]

no chemicals are needed unless you use tap water and you need to use prime by seachem that takes or neutralizes hard metals and what not. I would recommend r/o water. you can buy a unit but they can get costly or what i do is use distilled water from local grocery stores. you should notice a spike in your ammonia,nitrates and trites. your water will turn cloudy as a result of the high spikes. just let it sit for a couple of weeks and then go from there.

 

[rbrockm1]

water temp is not a prob yet but i would bring that up to around 78

 

[zacg]

ok thanks. i put ro water in my aquarium. everything looks to be goin good. i'm just waiting on my water to heat up doesn't it need to be at around 80?

 

[rbrockm1]

it can be, but a lot of people put it at 78. it wont kill anything but most tropic fish come out of mid to upper 70degree water
i wouldn't let it get higher than 80 tho imo

 

[zacg]

ok thanks like i said an advice is appreciated

 

[rbrockm1]

yeah if you got any ?s post them. if i think of anything else i will post here for ya.

 

[rbrockm1]

what type of tank do you want to set up? have you decided yet?

 

[zacg]

well i want to have a little bit of corals and then just a few fish i know i'm goin to get some clown fish and i havent' really decided what else

 

[rbrockm1]

thats a good start. why i was wondering is if you do decide to put some corals in your tank, i saw you said something about chemicals. i started off doing that and wasn't having great luck with it. then a lot of people on here told me to just do weekly(10%) or biweekly(20%) water changes. i started this and my tank has been blooming. it just something to think about.

 

[zacg]

what size tank do you have and what do you have in it if you dont mind me asking

 

[rbrockm1]

i got a 55g,
corals:
orange monti,
pulsating xenias,
ricordias,
birds nest,
green star polyps,
i also lost some on the move a few months back
i also have a peppermint and sexy shrimp
it works for me. i would post pics but i am at my moms for the holiday in OH.

 

[zacg]

hey i have another question i have some rock that came from key west its dead but do you think i could just put it right in the tank or what?

 

[rbrockm1]

oh yeah i also have a hammer coral i forgot about