newbie

[kaiserpup]

I feel kinda dumb, but I just bought first aquarium ever, took it home, got in a hurry and set the whole thing up at once. Well, I didn't wash the crushed coral. My dealer is getting my some live sand this week to pour over the coral, so I called her and asked about the dust. She said I didn't need to start over, that I just need to keep washing filters and stirring the coral until its clear. I get my sand in two days, and although the water clears much faster now, I still get a lot of dust when I stir the gravel. Should I start over or keep stirring and cleaning like she said? Any suggestions and help is welcome! <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" />

 

[kris]

you can in fact just keep stirring and changing filter media--but quite frankly that is going to take quite a while. If you're expecting ls you don't really need cc anyway--I would lose the cc and create a simple dsb. (deep sand bed) better for filtering anyway.
Good Luck

 

[kaiserpup]

My dealer told me to put the live sand directly over the cc. Won't that work too? She said the cc will raise the ph levels and the ls will help cycle my tank more quickly so I can add fish. <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" /> I was thinking if I do keep the cc, I could take it out rinse it off in a bucket and put it back in the aquarium - placing it on the bottom. I haven't add decorations yet, I was going to put them on top of the sand. I planned on getting some hermit crabs and/or black cucumbers to move the sand around. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[karvis]

tufa rock buffers the pH and so does dead coral and shells. you dont need the CC...

 

[kaiserpup]

I don't mean to beat this death, but CAN I use both? It just seems a waste of money to have all this cc even though the dealer sold it with the tank as a package. I haven't bought the live sand yet either.

 

[kaiserpup]

Okay, I hear what you are saying and I've read the tutorial on setting up a live sand bed. It says place rocks along the floor, then add Aragonite Sand (or different sized organic sand)and then I seed with live rock or live sand. So if I take the cc out of my tank, and manage to find some rocks and Aragonite Sand tonight, and my live sand will also be available tonight, can I put the rock and Aragonite Sand in the tank and seed it with live sand tonight? And do I need to wash the Aragonite Sand first? I know I don't want to wash the live sand and want it placed in my tank right away, allowing it to acclimate first. I wasn't sure if I needed my rock and aragonite set up in the tank first, or if I can go and seed it at the same time. <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />

 

[joshh]

as tbaron said the crushe coral is a poop trap and it will always work its way through the sand to the top it is an eye sore in my opion you should take the cc out and just add the live sand

 

[kaiserpup]

Yes, so if I get rid of the cc, and put aragonite sand in the tank instead tonight, can I still seed it with live sand tonight as well?

 

[kaiserpup]

I just want to thank everyone for their help. I've done more research and read more posts. I am going to buy some Southdown Play Sand tonight at Lowe's (50 lbs for $2.50!) and replace my cc with the sand. I'm going to seed it with live sand and then wait a week before getting a damselfish to cycle the water. Thanks again!

 

[sandy]

Sigh. It's just an opinion (I know), but you don't need to use live fish (damsels) to cycle. Just put in some raw shrimp or a pinch or so of flake food from time to time. The tank will cycle. I have a 20 gal cycling now and all I put in was an old filter cartride from my display tank and some food. The levels are high and were from day two. Tanks.

 

[molly]

Hi-
I am very new at this and have only had my tank running for 5 months so....
I have CC and have not had any problems so far. I have hermit crabs and snails that clean it up, occasionally I use a turkey baster to stir it up a bit. My nitrates have been 5 since my tank cycled. I am only saying this because you already have the CC, which is what happened to me. I bought it without knowing what I do now. Even still, I am very pleased with it and will not be switching any time soon.
Before I knew anything about this hobby, I attempted to cycle with damsels. Needless to say, they died a dreadful death. Gasping at the bottom of the tank for two days. Horrible. I didn't realize it would be that bad. I hope I never to deal with that again.
Then I cycled with live rock (it was partially cured in the store but transfer to home started some die off which started the cycle). It took about a week and everything has been great since.
Molly
Molly

 

[molly]

Hi-
I am very new at this and have only had my tank running for 5 months so....
I have CC and have not had any problems so far. I have hermit crabs and snails that clean it up, occasionally I use a turkey baster to stir it up a bit. My nitrates have been 5 since my tank cycled. I am only saying this because you already have the CC, which is what happened to me. I bought it without knowing what I do now. Even still, I am very pleased with it and will not be switching any time soon.
Before I knew anything about this hobby, I attempted to cycle with damsels. Needless to say, they died a dreadful death. Gasping at the bottom of the tank for two days. Horrible. I didn't realize it would be that bad. I hope I never to deal with that again.
Then I cycled with live rock (it was partially cured in the store but transfer to home started some die off which started the cycle). It took about a week and everything has been great since.
Molly
Molly

 

[sinner's girl]

Weclome to this hobby!
Most seem to think it's best to wait till after the cycle is complete before adding any fish. you can cycle with shrimp (from the store), lr, flake food and other ways. a damsel may live through the cycle but why chance it or stress the little guy out? (I know this was stated but sometimes it helps to hear that more then one person feels the same way...)
one note: Don't Rush, Take things slow!
once the tank is cycled then add the damsels (if you still want them). wait a few weeks, add next fish...wait...add next fish...at some point add a clean up crew (crabs, snails, ect...unless you want fish only.) add some live rock too (again unless you want fo).
second note: don't believe everything you hear. esp. if being told by someone who will make money off of what they tell you. research first. if your ever not sure on something come to the board.
Good luck!

 

[kris]

Sometimes it's hard to get a straight answer around here, huh? lol
You never mentioned whether this cc is on top of a ugf. your dealer was right as far as the cc being a buffer to keep your ph right, one of the reasons I chose mine. i also noticed you are using well water, in which case ph may be a big issue. If you decided to lose the cc for sure, and going sand, then I don't believe you need to wash the regular stuff and of course don't wash the ls. you should simply be able to layer one after another with the live on top. Are you planning on lr?? If so you can cycle with the lr and ls alone-no fish required.
I am not really in the mood tonight to start the cc = nitrate debate so I will simply wish you luck. I actually wonder what would happen with a ls/cc combo, probably not much other than them becoming one substrata anyway. most people around here though are are very anti- cc and pro dsb.
Good Luck

 

[kaiserpup]

Okay, I've read lots of arguing over aragonite sand vs play sand, southdown vs silicate brands. So I called around, Lowe's said they had southdown, so I ran down there, grabbed a few bags and went home. Well it turned out that it wasn't southdown it was silicate. But it was all they had. Since I have to spend so much money on live read, dead coral, tufa rock, etc I went with it. So I now have a silicate dsb (2.5 inches deep) with a thin layer of live sand on top. I also have 3 pieces of live rock in there. They are not the biggest peices, maybe 8lbs total? I did NOT wash the sand because I've read small is best, I also left lot of small particles and a hand full of bigger peices from the cc. So now I'm going to let it cycle for a few weeks, maybe add some more live sand and a uncooked shrimp as I've read about it. I know there are many debates about all this but I read a lot of posts that say this should be just fine. I hope it works, and I'll test the water regularly and watch for abundant algae growth. Thanks so much for the comments and help! <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[rapt0r32]

I would wash your sand.. This is why I say this...I have had a few tanks in the last 2 years. And I just pulled a major stupid.. I went to Home Depot and they didn't have any Southdown so I bought some Quick Crete sand. (read that a few people have used it) So I decided to give it a shot. Well after 2 days of cloudy water I drained my 125 and left maybe 2 inches of the sand in there. And plan to seed the rest with LS. Wash the sand. That way you are NOT looking at a cloudy tank. I hate cloudy water. People say running filters will get rid of it. I am sure it will but how hard would the dirt be on the equipment? The way I look at it, it would be hard on the equipment. Kinda like running dirt through a car engine. Sure it may work for a bit, but what would be the life spam of the engine (equipment) now????