Newbie Alert!!! 90 Gallon HELP needed

[stevieb]

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time and reading/replying to my post.
I aquired a 90 gallon tank w/ stand and extras:
eheim filter
2 Emperors
Water heaters
I've had 12/20 gallon freshwater, but Im going to venture into the saltwater world.
So, here we go:
1. Should I buy the Carib-Sea (Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand)
2. Buy a 5 gallon bucket of salt ?
Do I add the tap water first, then add the sand/salt? When do I add the salt? What should I keep in the filters?
The goal is to house a beautiful tank with fish and live rock.
I'll have more questions as I go. But any basic help would be great.

 

[jackri]

First of all I would highly advise against using tap water. You're looking at major algae problems in the future IMO.
Salt is cheaper by the 5 gallon bucket and you will go through it.
Substrate I would go just crushed coral/sand -- doesn't have to be live as your tank will have to cycle anyways.
I would also look into getting some live rock. Keep reading and keep learning

 

[stevieb]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Giving the water, what else is key for first time setup? What sand should I use then?

 

[maeistero]

no tap water, yes on the 5gal bucket of salt you'll need it
carib-sea is great stuff and will help your cycle go a little quicker, stay away from crushed coral
you can mix the ro water with your salt in the empty tank, after that pre-mix it. or you can usually buy saltwater at a lfs. be careful using that for topoffs though as you may need differing amounts of salt depending on evaporation/water changes.
my key for newcomers is patience and constant testing. it's hard to wait out a cycle but you have to. in order to do that you have to keep tabs on the cycle. then you have to continually test for mini-cycles indicating a problem somewhere.

 

[stevieb]

I have no challenge waiting for the cycle.
After reading for hours on here I learned a lot.
From what I can see, get 1 live rock and use that with the sand as your cycle starter.
Any other tips?
What else will I need?