Please read** Filling with water, next steps

biggredd

biggredd

Member
So I am actively filling my tank with RO water. The unit is 100 gpd so it is taking forever to fill. I have 35 pounds of base rock and about 28 pounds of live rock. The live rock is in a bucket with two powerheads. I already lost a crab in it and I'm sure more once I get it in the tank. It will probably take me well into tomorrow to completely fill the tank. I have a bunch of questions:
Should I just keep the live rock in the bucket as is in the meantime?
At what level should the water be in the tank before I put sand?
Once I get all the water in do just start adding enough salt to make it the proper levels?
I have the base rock in the tank already as it is filling but holding off on the live rock. Should I get the tank completely full, add the salt, and then add the live rock? Should I super glue or zip tie the rocks?
Anything I should be aware of that I haven't mentioned or maybe haven't though about?
Many thanks.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
Should I just keep the live rock in the bucket as is in the meantime?
yep, untill you have the tank with saltwater...once there is enough water to cover the lr and run your fliter, ect you can add the lr (remember, water level will go up when you add lr and ls).
The live rock is in a bucket with two powerheads.
add a heater...
add lr first then sand around the lr so the lr doesn't fall.
At what level should the water be in the tank before I put sand?
doesn't matter. is it ls or sand? BUT, make sure you mix the salt before you add the sand or you'll have to mix the salt and water outside of the tank... if it's just sand, make sure you rinse it first.
Once I get all the water in do just start adding enough salt to make it the proper levels?
[edit, nope you have base rock, take out the base rock, then you can add salt to your tank] Always mix the salt and water before hand (unless your tank is empty). use a ph to mix the salt.
You can only add salt to your tank if the only thing in your tank is water...otherwise, mix it outside you tank....IMO, I would take the base rock out, add salt then put it back in. You can mix saltwater at a high sg and then add it to the tank...but the salt should be desolved before you add it to the tank if you have rock/sand in tank.
The unit is 100 gpd
:notsure: no clue what this means...is that tank size or what your ro will make?
I have the base rock in the tank already as it is filling but holding off on the live rock. Should I get the tank completely full, add the salt, and then add the live rock? Should I super glue or zip tie the rocks?
don't add lr till your sg is correct...why super glue or zip tie rocks? never heard of zip tieing them. I wouldn't glue your rocks at this point, unless you don't plan on adding anymore and you're sure that's how you want the rock...
Anything I should be aware of that I haven't mentioned or maybe haven't though about?
read the post at the top of the page. what's the 1st thing you wish you had known
if that doesn't make sense, sorry, it's late.
Remember to cycle your tank before adding fish/inverts. swf.com is your friend, so is the search feature...good luck.
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Heres how I did it, and it worked fine.
1. Several days before hand pre mix your water.
2. Fill tank allow room for water displacement from sand and L/R.
3. Add sand, let tank run for a few days for the particulate matter to settle and water to clear.
4. Put cured L/R in. Something worth mentioning, never add L/R to freshly mixed seawater, you will probably get some die off but can lessen this by always aging the water first.
I added all the L/R at once to prevent ammonia spikes
There is more and some add L/R first, this is the sequence I used
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
add lr first, not sand (some creatures will dig in the sand under the lr...lr could fall on creature)...and if the tank's not cycled then the die off is okay since you want the ammonia spike
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Originally Posted by Sinner's Girl
add lr first, not sand (some creatures will dig in the sand under the lr...lr could fall on creature)...and if the tank's not cycled then the die off is okay since you want the ammonia spike
This is how I did it, PG 108 " The conscientious Marine Aquarist"
Confused , and probably should have specified this, but when the L/R is added creating a small void and pushing sand back around the base will serve to anchor the rock and prevent the rock from shifting.
If you add the L/R first to new water without aging first you will cause more die off.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
Confused , and probably should have specified this, but when the L/R is added creating a small void and pushing sand back around the base will serve to anchor the rock and prevent the rock from shifting.
makes sense, I don't have sand yet, I was told to add lr first for the reason I stated...though what you said makes perfect sense...more than one way to skin a cat...
 
stone

stone

Member
Confused, is right. I allways read that you put the rock in before the sand? Im not so sure a star fish will agree with
"creating a small void and pushing sand back around the base will serve to anchor the rock and prevent the rock from shifting. "
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Have seen L/R added first also, I added sand first and never had a problem. Either way, your choice it will still work.
 
biggredd

biggredd

Member
It is a 125 gallon tank and gpd means gallons per day on the RO unit.
I have not premixed the salt at this point. Since this is the first fill I just planned to mix it in the tank and do future salt additions with aged salt water.
I do have concientious marine aquarist and will look again at it.
I already had one crab die in the live rock bucket.
So I guess my plan then will be to take the base rock out, fill the tank all the way, add the salt, put the base rock in, put the live rock in, add the sand, and start the cycle.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
good luck...it sucks about the crabs...but that happens, we've lost some before that have come on lr, that we didn't know about...but some tend to live.
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Some folks mix thier water in the tank, I prefer to mix it in a rubbermaid trashcan and let is set with a powerhead and heater for 3 days before pouring it in. Doing this will also help to minimize die off of L/R, when the rock is added. PG 108.
 
biggredd

biggredd

Member
Due to the volume of water I'm going to mix it in the tank and accept some die off. I am only using a 29 gallon sump but altogether is 142 gallons. I don't want to wait weeks to fill up a small amount at a time and let it "cure" before dumping it in. I've been patient and waiting literally 4 months to get to this point. I've got to get this thing up and running to keep my sanity. I bought some of the RO water, I think I need about 25 gallons more to be completely full. I dumped in some of the salt to get it mixing with two powerheads. My salt was at 1.030 so a little more water should bring that down to around 1.2-1.24.
I will put the rock in as soon as I get the salt correct and the system operational followed by sand. Probably will be up tomorrow night. ahhh yeah.
I started this jan 24th. Built a bas --- stand. Tim even complemented on it. Have a nice tank, some good lookin rock with lots of purple, some salt and pepper (black and white) live sand. Just need lights which will be purchased here in a couple days and I'll be all set.
Thanks.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
remember you'll have water displacement when you add rocks and sand....
 
bkh_sd

bkh_sd

Member
Originally Posted by Biggredd
It is a 125 gallon tank and gpd means gallons per day on the RO unit.
I have not premixed the salt at this point. Since this is the first fill I just planned to mix it in the tank and do future salt additions with aged salt water.
I do have concientious marine aquarist and will look again at it.
I already had one crab die in the live rock bucket.
So I guess my plan then will be to take the base rock out, fill the tank all the way, add the salt, put the base rock in, put the live rock in, add the sand, and start the cycle.

Of course the crab is going to die in uncycled water in that bucket....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top