sand or salt first??

[jthomas0385]

When I fill my new tank should I add the Live Sand or the salt first? or does it not matter..Thank you.....

 

[acrylic51]

Doesn't really matter, but I think most put their sand bed in.

 

[dlauber]

If you mean mix salt in a tank with live sand in it already, then NO, definatly not. There wont be any flow to mix the salt, because if you turn anything on it will get clogged up with sand.
But if your not that dumb and you meant add salt WATER first or sand, then I dont think it really matters. If you add the water first then make sure you siphon some of it out first so it doesnt overflow when you pour in the sand.

 

[cprdnick]

if you're going to mix your SW in the tank this time, then I would add the sand LATER so you don't have to worry about undissolved salt settling into the sand bed and giving you a little bit of an SG headache for the next couple of days or a week.

 

[jthomas0385]

so should I mix the salt in the water, let my power heads run to mix the salt around then add the sand??

 

[ameno]

that's what I do

just make up the water to about 75 to 80% full then you have room for the sand later

 

[dlauber]

Originally Posted by JThomas0385
so should I mix the salt in the water, let my power heads run to mix the salt around then add the sand??

yup...theres really no other way to do it
But I woudnt stop adding water until your tank was full, then if you need to remove some of it to add sand, you wont run short.

 

[jthomas0385]

how long should I wait to add the sand?? how many hours??

 

[cprdnick]

Originally Posted by Dlauber
yup...theres really no other way to do it
But I woudnt stop adding water until your tank was full, then if you need to remove some of it to add sand, you wont run short.
I agree, if you leave room for your sand and you come up short on water, then you'll either have to do my personal favorite and add more sand, or you're gonna have to adjust your SG again because of topoff. I would just remove as needed as said in the previous posts.
I would give it a day to let your salt mix get where you need it before adding sand.

 

[reef46]

keep in mind to also leave room for rocks. They will displace the water.

 

[sinner's g]

I put in sand (dead), then added water. I put down a plate (learned that from someone on here!) and added the water. I mixed the salt in the bucket before adding to tank (didn't let it sit or anything).
the tank is now full of water and few pieces of rock (currently dead-used to be alive). when I do a water change after the cycle, I'll leave some water out and take water out when I go to add my rock.

 

[gbfan41649]

plate?
what kind?
what for?

 

[stephish]

gbfan by pouring the water onto the plate rather than directly on the sand you disturb it less so the water doesn't get as cloudy. A regular dinner plate works fine.

 

[gbfan41649]

tx