NewGuy has yet more quesitons lol

[smshep01]

I just want to thank everyone for helping out the new guy. I am completely new to salt water tanks and just don't want to screw anything up. I know its a costly investment, not to mention don't want to kill anything.
Currently all I have in my tank is salt water, a coral sand base with live sand on top. I am waiting for the water to clear up (because I was an idiot and didn't put anything on the sand to keep it from stirring up lol). Once that happens I am planning on putting cured live rock (already cured at Feeder's Supply) in the tank. I have a carbon filter currently running and was wondering if it would be safe to turn it off because its making the milky water slower to settle down. The guy at the pet store told me to get the filter going right away but wondering if I really need to do that right now? If the filter is turned off and the water goes stagnet, will the live sand go bad and how bad of an algae problem will it create? I am currently running the 10,000K flourescent bulb 10-12 hrs a day and keeping the water temp currently at 82F Is that too warm for live sand? I just did what the guy at the pet store told me and now wondering if maybe anyone else could give me a little insight on the subject? Thanks! )

 

[reefnoob]

welcome, I m sorta new at this myself, but having just gone through this with 2 tanks, I feel your pain. I would think running the filter now would make sense, the filter will still do it's job in removing metals and chloramines from the water (carbon media on mine) and will be good for getting out some of that sediment. I cleaned my filter a few times the first day an when I did this on my 55g and the water was crystal clear... Maybe had nothing to do with running the cannister filter, but it worked out.
82 seems a bit on the warm side... I went for 75-80 and my tanks are both stable at 79 degrees.
I am told it's not a good idea to 'layer' live sand and CC. The live sand will end up at the bottom eventually and you won't get the full benefit from it. If you have to use CC and LS, mix it up so the LS seeds the CC with bacteria and when it sinks to the bottom, you don't lose as muc of the benefit. Crock of bull? maybe but i'm doing it both ways. One tank has all LS and the other has 'dead' sand and LS.
I am also told that alot of inverts do not like CC to crawl around on.
Good luck yo!!

 

[smshep01]

Im not even sure that it is CC. The guy at the pet shop said to get this sand that was sugar sized in a 30 lb bag and I do not remember if it is CC or just regular sand but it is sand granuls and not rocky. The LS I put on top was 15 lbs. The guy at the LPS apparently has been building them for some time now and seemed pretty knowledgable in what to mix and what not to mix. He said he had done all the saltwater tanks for the state fair here in KY the past couple yrs. and had 2 or 3 saltwater tanks at home so I would imagine he had some sort of knowledge in it. He recommended the sugar sized grade sand (CC) on bottom, then the LS on top. I will turn down the thermostat some as well. I was just wondering if I should turn off my filter for a bit as well to let the sediment settle in my "Milky" tank lol but I guess it will just do ok with it on as well.

 

[kzlen]

Hi and welcome to the site CC is exactly that crushed coral. sand is sand. if your not sure if its cc, then its most likely sand.
Cured LR should be added after your tank cycles or u will kill most the critters on it. You can cycle your tank with a raw shrimp. Or you can purchase uncured LR, or if you buy over the internet, there will be some die off during shipping that will help cycle your tank. during cycle test for ammonia as that will spike first then nitrite, the end result of the cycle is nitrate. then you should do a partial water change. You want test kits for those 3 as well as PH, calcium and dKH. A filter is fine but i would look into a skimmer since you are going to have LR. The filter catches alot of that milky stuff though, i started my tank with one and I rinsed the filter off alot. Low wattage flourescent lights are fine for fish only with live rock tank but if you want to have any corals, id reccommend an upgrade to PC or VHO lighting. It also helps coraline grow on your rocks, which gives it the cool colors everyone likes. A regular flourescent 20 or 40 watt bulb will not make your rock look too neat.

 

[smshep01]

The light I currently have is a 24" 10,000K Flourescent bulb (paid like $30.00 for it) I know I will have to go with a stronger bulb eventually but was told this one will do fine for LR, LS and fish. How long will I need to run the tank before I add the LR? I started the tank up this past Monday. It is a 29 GAL tank.

 

[kzlen]

Yes your light will be fine for Fish only with live rock tank but your rock will be a brownish color, very plain. I used a factory hood with my tank when i first set it up, my rock looked bad till i got a PC light ballast. What is the wattage of your bulb? 10k is the lumens. You will have to cycle your tank if the rock you are getting is fully cured, check that out with the local fish store. A cycle could last as little as 2 weeks ive heard, mine lasted about a month. Test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. the sign of ammonia means your cycle has begun. keep testing for those 3 and get into the habbit of recording all your results on a chart for reference. ammonia, PH, nitrite, nitrate, dkh, salinity, calcium, for corals and coraline growth on your live rock, which you would need stronger lighting system for not just bulbs

 

[smshep01]

I will have to go to the LPS this weekend to look at what the wattage will be on the light. I looked this morning, before i came to work, on the bulb to see and it didn't tell me. I will have to pick up the LR and power jets this weekend anyways so I can look then and have a better idea. The LPS tells me that the LR I am going to buy is already cured out. They have 2 different tanks just for LR, one that is cured out and the other that is not. There is a slight price difference but worth it. Once I get my tank cycled, do I need to add my inverts next before adding fish? (i.e. snails, crabs, shrimp etc) to help clean the tank further? :notsure:

 

[kzlen]

I would go ahead and get some uncured LR then to start the cycle, be sure to remove and dead stuff and it may stink a bit and after the cycle you can get some cured LR., if you want to do it that way. You do not want cured LR in a tank that hasnt been fully cycled....you most likely will kill all the hitchhikers on it during a cycle.. after the cycle you get a nice bed of brown diatom algae. If your levels check out all right then you can get some inverts and even fish, most people do it that way, I like to wait a couple more weeks...just slowly add things to your tank to be sure your dont put in more than the boi load can handle. Why get cured when he can get uncured??

 

[reefnoob]

correct me if i'm wrong here... but it seems that we are giving this person the impression that a tank 'has' to cycle. That is not necessarily true. If you put LS, LR (well cured) in the tank, then you already have the bacteria to process amonia and then it's just a matter of stabalizing the tank params... right?
When I started my tanks a couple of months ago, I got alot of GREAT advice on this board, BUT everyone kept insisting my tank was going to cycle.. but did not pay attention to the fact that I did use CURED lr and ls, so there was no noticeable (i'm sure there was a small one) spike indicating a cycle and (knock on wood) all systems seem to be optimal and params are strong.
Just make sure you get good quality LR that is well cured if you are going to do this and have some time to make sure you don't get a cycle before you add critters...
Someone please correct me if i'm wrong, if I am, then my tank is about to crash hard.. LOL

 

[smshep01]

Ok I will see about getting the uncured LR at the LPS. Once I get it home, I will need to cure it in a bucket before I put it in the tank correct? Or can I put it in the tank (provided my chemical parameters are correct pH, Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia) or seeings how it is uncured, will that matter? Like I said earlier, the tank has been up only since Monday evening with salt water LS and CC underneath. Thanks guys for all your help!!

 

[kzlen]

thats what I always thought have to cycle before adding LR.. most the hitch hikers wouldnt make it..Im not saying Im right.. the purpose of this board is to take everyones opinions and decide for yourself, im not an expert and it is possible its not needed to cycle first. maybe we can get some more views on it. I would like to know for sure in any case.

 

[scotts]

Sm, Let me jump in here and agree with Squishy, (if I may call you that). There is some IMO soem good advice and some questionable advice.
Now let me get my soap box. Wait a minute where is it.... Oh here it is. First of all keep in mind that I am a complete idiot and I jumped into SW from FW. I learned tons of stuff from this board and I am just passing along my knowledge. First of all the best thing that you can do is to learn as much as you can before you spend your $$$. Do a search on this board for cycle or cycling and you will learn a lot. Second remember about this hobby that it takes time. I know how it is when you set up a tank, you want to get it going right away. However keep in mind that you are probably 2 to 4 weeks away before getting your first fish. So what does another day or two of research hurt.
I do not want to answer your question directly and flame anyone. I would just recommend that you learn all that you can before you buy anything.
Scott

 

[smshep01]

Well first and foremost, I want to thank you all for your insight and input. I know each has varying opinions on here and I do take that into consideration. I feel that everyone that has responded to me has given me a lot of info even if others do not see eye to eye on some things. But thanks for all your input anywaysI understand that it takes time and $$$ to do one of these things and am more than willing to be patient. I want things to be right the 1st time, and if that means waiting, then that is what I will do. Luckily, I guess on my part lol, my budget won't allow me to do anything again for a month or so, so even if I was in a hurry to get one up and running I couldn't lol. But, like I said before, I want to do this thing right and if it means waiting, I will wait. I have been doing extensive research on everything from what types of lighting I need to what fish are compatible with others, to even filtrations systems. I am going to add the LR this weekend. Would it be safe to add it even though I do not have a skimmer yet? I do have a carbon filter on the tank and will have 2 power jets as well. I was told that I would only need the skimmer once I got the LR established and started to add coral, but am going to hold off on coral and do FOWLR until probably next yr because of budgeting constraints. Thanks again and I will keep everyone up to date on my progress. :happy:

 

[scotts]

Squishy, or may I call you squish for short? If your post was directed at me I want to tell you that I completley agree with what you said. I just did not completley agree with some of the other advice given. Aint free speech great!
SM, yes you are right, you do not need a skimmer yet. You prbably will not need that until after you add a bio-load. In other words fish. I personally think that adding everyting together is a good idea, LS and LR at the same time. IMO that will get your tank in sinc, with everything curing together.
Another thing, contrary to popular opinion you will be able to add some soft corals to your tank with your lighting. I personall have the lighting that you have in your tank. I have some zoos and green star polyps in my tank. They are doing very well. In fact I had to do some fragging to get rid of some of them. I also have mushrooms in my tank. I know that I do not have the lighting for hard corals and clams, but I do not have the $$$ to upgrade my lighting.
You are off to a good start.
Scott