New tank setup

[sid2003]

How should i go about setting it up? Question>
1.Is it ok fo me to use filtered tap water to mix with the salt?
2.Is it ok for me to mix the water with the sand inside the tank?
3.I plan on cycling the tank with either cruched coral or live sand and live rock. How long should i wait before adding the the sand/coral as well as the lr?
4.What type of filtration system should i use for a 25 gal. hex? Cheap is good! Though i want great quality and best results!
I have spent 6 months making mistakes. I have gotten a new tank and i want to do it right this time! Please, any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[ivanfj]

It's best to use RO/DI water. I guess you can buy it from walmart if you don't wanna buy the whole RO/DI unit. I am only doing fish only right now and I've been using filtered tap water for over a year now but I guess I would switch to RO/DI water from walmart if later I wanna do corals as well. I wouldn't use crushed corals as parts of your sandbed, just LS and LR would do fine IMO. I would mix the water first b4 pouring into your actual tank. I also tried to mix water in the tank as well and to me it makes no big difference. Filtration system- I don't know much about this. I am only using a Prizm skimmer and some stupid "brand-less" filter for my 20 gallon and do an about 10% water change every 3-4 weeks. It gives me pretty steady water quality and my one and only fish is still alive for almost 5 months now. Hope this help~~

 

[stumpdog]

Sid-
To start off with if you could get a little bigger tank that would be great. If not that is okay.
1. Some people will say tap water is okay to use. Most people say no. I don't use tap water. I am willing to spend a little money buying the water from the LFS. When I move I will eventually buy a RO/DI unit.
2. Are you using all live sand? If so you could save yourself a lot of money and use regular sand. Southdown which can be found at Home Depot or a hardware store. Then you just put some live sand and the bacteria will spread and seed the "dead" sand. Anywho back to the question. I mixed my salt in my tank, only because I didn't have enough space to pre-mix 55 gallons of saltwater. However under no circumstances should you put salt directly into a tank when actual inhabitants inhabit the tank.
3. Stay away from crushed coral. It can cause problems to your tank. Use lr and buy a regular old cocktail shrimp from the store. Throw it in and the cycle will start. (Sorry I switched 2 and 3 up a little bit.)
4. It depends what you plan on keeping in the tank. Many people will say if you have a deep sand bed and plenty of LR you are good on the filtration side. How much rock and sand are you planning on having?
HTH
Jeremy

 

[saltypatti]

from their knowlege. Right now I have a 55 gallon with 95 pounds of LR and a 3-4 inch sand bed. I bought bottled water because our tap has a lot of junk in it. I have a penquin 300 with two filter pads and two bio wheels. I am going to get a protein skimmer. I heard that is an important piece of equipment to have. Eventually, I will look into the Ro/DI unit. The water I bought was RO water. I may get a sump down the line and someone mentioned a refugium too.
I know what it is like to start up and not be sure what you are doing. It seems like lots of LR is a consensus here for having good filtration. My test results have been really good.
Patti