Okay, may have done something wrong here...

ntvflgirl

ntvflgirl

Member
Went to the lfs today...picking up the lingo here, did you notice? LOL! Anyway, I got live sand, and put it on top of my cc...at least I think it is cc. It is the Aragonite...something called Fiji Pink. And I put Arag-alive on top of it. The man at the lfs said that his tank is set up this way. I have 30 pounds of cc, or whatever that is, and 20 lbs. of live sand. I asked 2 different clerks who were there, and had tanks of their own, and they both told me that they had these two things in their tank. I realize I need about 30 more pounds of live sand. I got home and read never to mix the two....I am very confused. I also got some live rock, but just a start. 10 pounds. Can't believe I paid 50.00 for a rock!!!lol, Anyway, I have to add that gradually, because of being "financially challenged". So, did I mess everything up? I realize I need to take every opinion with a grain of salt, but I can't find any hard evidence on this particular thing. One more small ? Should I leave my power head running( aquaclear402 in a 55 gal) since my water is cloudy...especially after adding the sand? Lfs said my water looked good so far, good salinity, 0 nitrates, and 0 nitrites. Wonder if it will last.
TIA
Rory
ps. What is this I hear about adding limestone to a tank with live rock in it and making the dead rock come alive so to speak? Any tricks to that? Not really interested in rocks for coral as of yet, just filtration right now.
 
sterling

sterling

Member
I have Aragonite and LS mixed together in my tank and it's worked out great. I put in about 40 lbs Aragonite and 80 lbs LS and have about 120 lbs LR in now. Did you rinse the Aragonite before you put it in? I spent a couple hours rinsing mine so that I would cut down on the cloudiness. The LS, of course, you don't rinse.
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
I agree,Nothing wrong with that substrate mix..What you have is NOT CC,but fijji reef sand...Asfor limestone making deadrock live,,,I never heard of that at all...
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
I think the limestone to live rock thing you are refering to is actually base rock. Base rock can be purchased from the fish store. It is usually porous, dry, and much much cheaper than live rock.
I have taken this type of rock and put it with my live rock in the tank. After about 6 months it is looking a lot like the live, with coraline algae all over it. After a few more months, you can not tell it apart. It has become live. It even has mini featherdusters and other life on it, and is covered with coraline. It is a cheaper method, but takes a long time.
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
I agree with anthem on the on the arag-alive.
My personal feeling is that you get your best "seeding" for live sand directly from the live rock that you put in your tank.
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
That's right. You will however have to get something that will decay, so all the critters and bacteria can break it down and cycle the tank. Whether you add a few damsels to drop waste, or put a couple pieces of shrimp or flakes to your tank.
That choice is yours.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Your live rock may or may not seed your sandbed with critters.
All depends on whether there are any critters in the live rock.
Chances are pretty good, that if you got some decent live rock, then you'll eventually see copepods and bristle worms. Maybe some other pods as well.
There's nothing wrong with adding a little live rock at a time to a tank. Eventually you'll end up where you want to be.
A little is better than none, and natually more is best :D
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
What broomer stated is one of the reasons that I will not buy live rock on-line. I like to pick and choose the rock, both for aesthetics, and life that I can see. It took me 3 stores and 2 days to get the rock I wanted. People were wondering why I was staring at the tank with just rocks in it.
 
ntvflgirl

ntvflgirl

Member
Now this makes me mad. When I bought my lr yesterday from the lfs, I picked out a piece, because I saw a little translucent crab on it. It was back in a hole, so I thought, hey, this must be a pretty good one. When the guy got it out of the tank, he took the critter off. He said he would have to charge me extra for the crab who couldn't have been more than the size of sm. peanut. Is he wrong, or am I? I didn't think it was right.
 
azrile

azrile

Member
You probably don't want an unknown crab in your tank anyway.
I have gotten really good at asking stupid, distracting questions when I want stuff like serpent stars that are in the LR. Just as they grab the rock, point to a different tank and ask "is this ok in my tank?" Of course, try and do better then me, last time I was pointing to a freshwater beta :)
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
It's true that you don't want anything in your tank that you are not sure of. If you do see something on the rock that you are sure of, don't say a word to the lfs guy/gal. Just say "I want that one". Maybe they will miss it.
 
ntvflgirl

ntvflgirl

Member
Well, I put in my damsels, 3 for the 55 gals...yellow tail, blue reef damsel, and a domino...domino is not doing well, he's lying on his side on the bottom, trying to get up, and he's not very black anymore. The other two look great. Is it me, or the fish? Everything looks great except my ph is 7.8. I've added 3 tbs. baking soda to the water. What now? Zero nitrates, and nitrites. Almost Zero Ammonia. By the way, how do you read the salinity tester. I have the one that looks like it has a big belly. The arm is so thick, I don't know whether to read the top, or the bottom, or just check if the top is below the "ok" line, or if the bottom is above the "ok"line. So far it looks to be about 1.023.
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
Your Ph is way too low. Should be arond 8.2.
Your cycle can take weeks to go through. It won't start the minute you put fish in. In 2 or three days you will see the ammonia rise. Pay attention to when it peaks and starts dropping. Then your nitrites will rise and start to fall, at this time your nitrates will rise, peak, and fall, and everything should be heading down to 0. Like I said, it takes weeks to go through this.
Your domino seems to be majorly stressed. could be the drop in Ph from the store to your tank.
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
I have a comment on the "live" sand statements as per above. "Live" sand is not that which carries copepods, as they have nothing to do with the sand, they neither help nor hurt the sand furhter than cleaning a bit from the top of it. The term "live" is in reference to the beneficial bacteria colony in the sand, as you probably know. This is what you are looking for in live sand, and arag-alive sand is good for this. A tank can live and thrive in the absence of copepods, but cannot live without the nitrifying bacteria it requires for filtration.
 
shadow678

shadow678

Member
All it takes is a little time. :) We all make mistakes every once in a while, especially when first starting this hobby. Many LFS' have no ethical sense, and take advantage of new hobbyists. There is nothing wrong with the hobbyists, the fault lies with the LFS. Keep with it, and you will be just fine. The fact that you are asking questions shows you are willing to improve, and that is excellent. Information will be a lifesaver(and money saver) for this hobby, so soak up all the info you can from the forums and from any books you can get your hands on, and welcome to the fun!
 
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