get your live rock in bulk online. atleast 50 lb.s of medium sized pieces. 75 + lb.s would be better. buy fine marine sand in 25 lb bags atleast 3. seed with a few lbs of live sand. 2 or 3 lbs if its real live sand. i.e. in a tank at your store. 10 + lb.s if its in a bag with a packet.
remember the rock you get online isnt "cured". you will do that in the tank while you cycle if you follow simple directions. first of all your going to need a wet/dry filtration system. some good ones have a built in skimmer. you must research wet/dry filtration, refugium, etc. if you want a reef its a must! you must research lighting for reefs. these 2 components are going to cost you around 500 bucks easy.
if you have the cash heres what you do in order.
1.buy your wet/dry, skimmer, heater, salt, test kit,wave maker/powerhead, and dry marine sand. you will also need a new 5 gallon bucket. then find a spot where little or no sunlight will hit the tank and is a low traffic area.
2. fill tank with tap water and test for leaks and balance. overnight is good. then drain completely and wipe out with paper towels. order your live rock. atleast 50 lbs of medium sized pieces. 75 to 100 would be ideal.
3. hook up all filtration. hoses, powerheads, heaters, etc. dont plug them in yet! invest in a cheap timer and good power surge strip. a timer is for your lights. they sell at home depot for 10 bucks.
4. a day before your liverock is to arrive. mix salt with RO water and fill tank about 2/3 of the way. if you cant buy reverse osmosis water or dont want to invest in a RO filter for your sink you can use tap water. but expect huge algae blooms for a few months.
5. when the live rock arrives syphon about 3 gallons of your tank water into a brand new dedicated 5 gallon bucket. get a brand new soft tooth brush and submerge rock while gently scrubbing it. place each piece carefully into the tank. no sand yet so be careful. once you get all of the pieces in find 2 -4 base pieces you will build on and set them where you want.
6. rinse dry sand as bag directions indicate in your bucket and carefully scoop into the tank. stabilizing your base pieces. take your time here! build your reef stacking the live rock. create caves, crevasses, nooks, ledges, etc. rinse sand a half a bag or so at a time. once all of the dry sand is in (3 inch min.) and the rock work is to your liking. add the live sand evenly ontop as much as possible.
7. if needed top off tank with fresh saltwater. get your filter working, your heater working and your wavemaker working. but no skimmer!
8. go to the grocery stores seafood dept. and buy 1 large RAW tigershrimp or scampie. Raw meaning uncooked. should cost about 75 cents. rinse it off in your sink and toss in it your tank. shell, tail and all.
9. let it rot! thats how were starting the "cycle" . you can take it out after a week or so but the cylce wont be complete for another 4 weeks. assuming were "curing the rock" after a month i want you to do a 50% water change. syphon out half of the tank water and mix fresh saltwater in your bucket 5 gallons at a time and refill the tank. let it go for another 2 weeks. at 7 weeks i want you to test your water. and no matter good or bad i want you to do a 25% water change. at 10 weeks your tank should be stable.
10. turn on the skimmer and order a cleaner crew to the size of your tank.
11. set up a quaratine tank. a 20 gallon is fine and a 10 will work. a simple glass bottomed tank. with some cut pvc tubes for shelter is fine. a cheap back filter or bubbler is adequate and a heater. once your tanks water tests within parameters you can syphon out 10 to 20 gallons and put it in your quarantine tank. refilling your display tank with new salt water again.
12. cleaner crew arrives and you drip acclimate directly into your display tank.
13. order or buy your clowns and drip acclimate to your quarantine tank. monitor for atleast 15 days. if they are taking food and not showing any signs of disease you can put them in your display tank. a quick drip acclimation from display water to quarantine water of 15 minutes and they shouldnt miss a beat.
14. go from there. take it slow. and have fun!
Originally Posted by
scraggles
http:///forum/post/2755388
Ok, where is the cheapest live rock I can get? I looked online, and the only local store is 8$/lb. which is more than anywhere I found online. How much live sand will I need? I read that you can layer it on top of non-live sand, is that true?
Also, for now, what filtration would you recommend for a tank this size. I looked where I work, and we have one single skimmer(SeaClone 100), when I googled it there were miserable reviews. For a filter, do I just use a top fin or something along those lines? What do you mean by 'raw shrimp'? I'm sorry for all the extremely stupid questions!
