new tank setup HELP

[lovecraft]

Yup it depends how much you want to spend on the LR and LS, you can go the various ways mentioned above. The base rock will become LR it will just depend on how much LR you start with. The less LR the longer it will take for the base rock to become live. Same with the LS but it will ALL become live for sure. You'll know when your cycle is over when your Ammonia and Nitrites drop to zero, I would recommend spending the money and buying a good set of kits. I've already wasted money on crappy test kits.
Look into adding some of the cycling bacteria to speed up your cycle. I can't remember the name but it came refrigerated from my LFS. Wish I would have done that sooner, I was going on 5 weeks b4 my tank cycled and added this stuff and it finished off my cycle 48 hrs later. Some people don't like that stuff but I certainly intend on using it again if I have to start over later. Regardless, I would still wait at least 4 weeks until putting your clean up crew and this is assuming you are positive your tank has cycled. A good test to know if is you put some fish food in your tank and you don't see any ammonia or nitrites.
IMO you should setup your own tank and equipment and cycle yourself just to get yourself in a routine of testing and maintenance. Everybody's tank setup is different, because you can have the same tank as someone elses but not the same placement or livestock or equipment most of the time. Learn yours well.

And the hardest thing to do for most people including myself, is to have patience and take things slow. I waited 8 weeks before I put in a fish just to see if I could wait that long, it was torture.

 

[chentiell]

Thank all of you for the great advice

I will be intouch and if you can think of anything that would help me pleaseb let me know. I am sure that i will have more questions.

 

[seasalt101]

you will have a lot more questions note about the dry sand it is not all the same stay away from silicate sand get a white aragonite sand and with lr if you order it online it will have to be cured but if your tank is empty meaning no fish you can cure online rock while you cycle the tank once lr is out of the water for an hour or so it needs to be recured so unless you buy it at your local fish store=lfs it will need to be cured...tobin

 

[chentiell]

Great I am glad that you told me that because I had no clue. So if I buy itb online i can just set it up and in about three weeks it will be cured? is there anything special that i need to do?

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by chentiell
Great I am glad that you told me that because I had no clue. So if I buy itb online i can just set it up and in about three weeks it will be cured? is there anything special that i need to do?
no not really test your water every 4 days or so that way you will know where you are at in your cycle 3 weeks is pretty fast but possible 1st with testing your amonia will go up then it will go down then the nitrites will do the same then the nitrates will follow after all those test mentioned read 0 cycle is complete while cycleing play with the rocks and figure out how to aquascape just stack them very sturdy and remember eggcrate 1st, then lr, then your sand you will only need 20lbs. ofls that will seed the playsand so will the lr, hope that helps...tobin

 

[chentiell]

sorry I am not sure what you mean when you say eggcrate, and once I put down sand then put the live sand ontop of that correct.

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by chentiell
sorry I am not sure what you mean when you say eggcrate, and once I put down sand then put the live sand ontop of that correct.
eggcrate is basicaly office light covers lil plastic squares measures 2ft x 3ft aprox. cheap you will need 2 minimum but i would go 4-6 all kinds of stuff that you can use it for look in the coral forum here and look at frags they are on eggcrate alot...tobin

 

[chentiell]

okay thanks

My next questions is where does it go? where does it go and how does it go down? sorry

 

[chentiell]

Can someone tell me how to set up the eggcrate? Thanks

 

[1journeyman]

You don't have to use eggcrate. In fact I don't.
Put some rock down, then cover in sand, then place more rock. You don't want your rock just sitting on sand in case something decides to burrow under it and cause an avalanche.
Research sand bed depths. You want less than 2 inches or greater then 4. In between can cause issues.
Did you ever use medications in your freshwater tank? If so we could have potential issues.
I agree with above information, however. Fire the guy that is setting up tank, start over with RO/DI water mixed with salt, add sand and rock, let it cycle for 4 weeks or so (no need to add cycling bacteria).

 

[kilhullen]

I tried the cycling bacteria, and saw no help at all from it. I got more out of the shrimp method than the bacteria.

 

[chentiell]

I have never used any meds in my tank. Thanks for the info

With all of the info I am getting I could put it into book form. Its alot to gather. More than I inticapted.But I have to do it, so you guys are going to hear alot from me if thats okay with you

 

[1journeyman]

Of course.
Much of what we are telling you is already in book form. Check out Fenner's "Conscientious Marine Aquarist".

 

[chentiell]

I dont know how to fix my nitrate, it keeps reading at 20ppm. I am not sure if its because I dont have enough live rock. but my nitrite was testing at a 0ppm now its testing at a .25ppm. my ammonia is testing right though.

 

[chentiell]

can someone help me?

 

[petjunkie]

Nitrate is removed through water changes, it is the end product of the ammonia and nitrites and won't go away on it's own. If you still have nitrites wait until they are zero for a week and then do a water change.

 

[chentiell]

Thanks, I also wanted to know why my ph wont stay level. I was told to put in a ph balance, which i have been doing, but the next day its back to 7.8 it may be a little over, but not 8.0 . I have been trying to get it to an 8.2. my last water test was this morning. my
nitrate =10ppm
nitrite =0
ammonia=0
ph=7.8
salinity=1.021

 

[turningtim]

Hey chentiell, seems like you're on the right path! What's the latest. First bring your SG up to 1.025. Also when are you testing (time of day) the PH. Oh does swing up and down during the day so make sure you test at the same time during the day. It would seem you're done the cycle. I would wait and test in another 2-3 days and make sure you're getting the same readings. then you can start to add critters slowly.
What the plan for the tank?
Tim

 

[lesleybird]

Originally Posted by trigger11
Your LFS is correct. You do not want to have regular gravel in a SW tank.
There are two options
Crushed Coral (which kind of does look like gravel)
Or
Live Sand
Live Sand is the preferred substrate as it requires less maintenance and also provides more of a natural biological filtration for the tank.

CC needs to be cleaned fairly often because detritus gets stuck in it.
Hope that helps.
There are actually a few more options than just these two. There is live sand in two types and dead sand in many different grains. I use the agronite in the 1 to 2 mm. size because it is not so fine that I cannot vaccuum it, and not so big it traps too much gunk that my sand sifting worms cannot do well in. If you want gobey fish you also need to get soft sand that is not too big. I only use about 1 and half inches of agronite. There are other people who do not vaccuum and use finer grain sand in a deep sand bed. The crushed coral is out as it traps too much detris and you will have nitrate problems....this one thing is one of the only things that at least 90 percent of the folks on this board can agree on. Do your research before you buy. Lesley

 

[chentiell]

Thanks, I went to my local pet store and she gave me a something to help my alkalinity, she said that should help my ph. She saidnto test it in an hour and see if that helps, well so far it has. now i just need to test it in a couple of days.
nitrate=5.0
nitrite=0
ammonia=0
ph=8.2 or a little higher but not 8.4
Sonwhat time of the day should i test?