New tank - suggestions?

[extremepcs]

Hi all,
I started a new tank and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for change before I start adding fish. This will be a FOWLR tank. Please see below for the specs:
125g corner flow glass tank
55g sump/refuge combo (glass, custom)
1200 GPH pump in sump - 1 1/2" supply and return lines
Coralife Super Skimmer in sump - 220g model
140 lbs. live rock (15-20 in refuge chamber)
160 lbs. CaribSea dead sand
40 lbs. CaribSea live sand
Bio sediment and caulpera in refuge chamber
Plenum under the refuge chamber
Coralife 72" 96watt 10k light for main tank (4 bulbs + 6 moon glow LED's)
Coralife 24" light over refuge chamber (can't remember the wattage)
Mechanical filtration is an 8" layer of plain filter pad located directly under the return lines in the 1st chamber of the sump, supported by eggcrate. I seem to be getting excellent flow through the entire system.
Please let me know if you see anything that should be changed before adding fish. I plan to let the tank cylcle for at least 2-3 weeks before adding fish. I'm running the main tank lights on a 6 hr on - 6 hr off schedule right now. The sump lights stay on 24/7. Should I add anything to the tank to help the cycle along?
Should I/can I add crabs before fish? I was thinking about 20-30 small blueleg hermit crabs.
Thanks!

 

[aztec reef]

yeah you should add a uncooked raw shrimp to tank for ammonia. it might be better if you add crabs first so that fish dont bother them when they are introduced, itherway dont add livestock untill cycling is close to getting done. 2-4wks

 

[extremepcs]

Thanks. Where do you get raw shrimp? I'm not fond of seafood so I really don't know Any supermarket?

 

[daninct]

If the tank is brand new you will have to feed the crabs if you put them in right away.

 

[thegrog]

If you get the LR uncured or only partially cured, then you can skip the shrimp as the dieoff from the LR will be more than enough!
As for where to get the shrimp, any supermarket that has a seafood counter. One ver small UNCOOKED shrimp will do. They may look at you funny when you ask for one small shrimp, but just tell them it is for fish food. Should only cost about $0.25.
There is some debate on how to best cycle a tank. Here is my input:
Monitor and record your Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels every 24-48 hours for the next month (microsoft XL is great for this, or old-fashoned graph paper). You will see a spike in ammonia, followed by a spike in nitrite and then the nitrate will spike. Once the ammonia spikes, start with 10% water changes every 4-5 days. Continue this until the ammonia and nitrites are ZERO. Then watch for the nitrAte to drop. Once it is below 10, you are ready for livestock. Start with cleanup crew, then slowly add inhabitants. Always measuring and recording the parameters. After a while (a month or so) you can drop back to every 3rd or 4th day for measruing parameters.
Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[extremepcs]

Thanks for the info. All of my lr is uncured. I'll need to pick up a test kit. That's one thing I forgot.

 

[30-xtra high]

if this is your first tank, i'd start with like... a ten gallon, just to make sure you know what you'r doin, but if you know what you're doin, it all looks good

 

[royal gang]

Edit:
As I've already stated Royal, this is a community forum. People post here wanting advice and help, not to give out their email addresses. Please quit harassing posters by begging them to email you.
1Journeyman

 

[extremepcs]

Originally Posted by 30-xtra high
if this is your first tank, i'd start with like... a ten gallon, just to make sure you know what you'r doin, but if you know what you're doin, it all looks good
Thanks. No, it's not my first tank. My first "big" tank though. I was mainly worried about the amount of live sand... like not using enough. I see others on the boards used all ls in their tanks.
Wish I could post pics. I just keep getting "error on page" in IE when I click the attachment button. Firefox doesn't do anything.