Starting a new SW tank

[jintz]

Im starting a new SW tank and I plan to have FOWLR and maybe later, later on a single bubble coral. I plan on starting with live sand and a small amount of live rock and gradually increasing the amount of live rock by the month as my budget permits. Since Im going to be adding more and more live rock...will I be continually cycling the tank? Should I keep the tank free of fish until I get the desired amount of live rock? The size of my tank is a 125 gallon

 

[rbaldino]

I'd skip the live sand and get about 50 pounds of live rock to start with. The reason I say to skip the live sand is so that you can spend more of your money on a respectable amount of live rock. Also, I'm skeptical about the value of live sand. "Dead" sand is just as likely to get populated with bacteria from live rock once it's been in the tank for a while. If you periodically add cured live rock after that, you don't have to worry about cycling. Notice that I said cured. Over the years I've occasionally added or replaced rock in my tank and never had any fish problems.

 

[gmford1979]

i agree. just make sure the LR is cured. when you get it at your LFS, make sure and tell them how far your traveling to get to your tank. they will wrap it in wet newspaper to get you there.

 

[jintz]

I appreciate the responses. I see what you mean about just letting the sand sit there without any critters to help clean it. In the end I do want live sand in the tank. After I get the amount of live rock I want... how long should I wait before adding the live sand? How long after adding live sand I wait before adding inverts and fish?
Also my LFS does have cured rock and they did tell me they do indeed wrap it in wet newspaper for the ride home which is about 45 mins.
Any other responses would be great.

 

[trigger11]

In my opinion if you go with the idea of adding in your LR before adding sand I would make sure you add in all of the sand you are going to want before adding any fish. Otherwise the water will cloud up and that is not good for the fish. I made a mistake adding LS later and it got everything cloudy. I left my pumps and everything on as well and that was a bad mistake too. If budget is a major concern I would start with a bed of non live sand. (because it is way cheap and will end up being live in the end) and then get whatever LR you can afford now. Luckily there are many options available. Take your time and along with some patience everything will work out. Congratz on the new set up.

 

[aztec reef]

agree, livesand is not that important at the starting stages of a tank, spend your money in high quality lr . the dead sand will become "live" by the infauna going to the sand from lr.
as for live sand is alright to put in at any time, in your case put live sand right after tank has cycled then wait a week and your're ready for inverts/fish. is also a good idea to keep addind livesand throughout the tanks life to increase biodiversity

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by Jintz
I appreciate the responses. I see what you mean about just letting the sand sit there without any critters to help clean it. In the end I do want live sand in the tank. After I get the amount of live rock I want... how long should I wait before adding the live sand? How long after adding live sand I wait before adding inverts and fish?
Also my LFS does have cured rock and they did tell me they do indeed wrap it in wet newspaper for the ride home which is about 45 mins.
Any other responses would be great.
Live sand doesn't come with any "critters" to help clean it. Live sand is supposedly populated with bacteria that work much the same as live rock. Cleaners are all the crabs and snails you add on your own.

 

[jintz]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
agree, livesand is not that important at the starting stages of a tank, spend your money in high quality lr . the dead sand will become "live" by the infauna going to the sand from lr.
as for live sand is alright to put in at any time, in your case put live sand right after tank has cycled then wait a week and your're ready for inverts/fish. is also a good idea to keep addind livesand throughout the tanks life to increase biodiversity

If you keep increasing more LS then wouldnt the bed get thicker and thicker? Also I didnt check but does the LFS usually carry regular sand that you can make live as someone suggested?

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by Jintz
If you keep increasing more LS then wouldnt the bed get thicker and thicker? Also I didnt check but does the LFS usually carry regular sand that you can make live as someone suggested?
Yes, fish stores usually have bags of sand you can buy, as do bigger pet stores like ***** or petsmart. I would aim for a sand bed from 1-2 inches. It's best to put all the sand in first, then add as much rock as you can. Give it a bit, then start with a few fish.