water, salt, sand......or......

kenyon1313

kenyon1313

New Member
is it add the water, then the sand and then the salt. I picked up my equipment tonight - tank, wet/dry, sump, protein skimmer, power heads, lights. The guy also gave me all his "dead" rock. Couple questions....
1. do I put the water, the live sand and then the salt or the water, salt - get the right mixture and then the live sand
2. When do I add the "dead rock" and some "live rock"
Well thats it for the second anyways
THANKS!!! :jumping:
 
ruaround

ruaround

Active Member
either way its gonna be a dust cloud... mix your salt and water to 30 - 33 ppm salinity or 1.025 SG... get a heater and some water flow... add LR ASAP... IMO...
 
kenyon1313

kenyon1313

New Member
yes 2 power heads. Havnt added anothing yet... it does not matter if I do the water/salt and then sand? SO I could add water, put in salt - get the right readings - turn it all on, add live sand and then the "dead rock"??
I am really just reading about cycling 0 what do you reccomend??
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
Here is what we did, not the final answer, just what we did.
Fill tank with RO/DI water, start all pumps and make sure nothing leaks.
Add salt, get it up to 1.025 at 78 degrees (not absolute on the temp, just what we had)
Turn off pumps, remove about 25% of the water into a clean tub or something.
Add live rock
Add sand.
Top off tank with water you removed from earlier.
Start all pumps and filtration devices
Let dust cloud settle, this may take a day or 2 depending on your tank size.
Start checking ammonia and nitrite levels for indication of the cycle has started.
Good luck!
 
ruaround

ruaround

Active Member
alright... since nothing is in the tank... mix your water and salt in the tank... get it to 30 - 33 ppm salinity... or from 1.023 to 1.026 Specific Gravity... when you tank is filled add your sand... leave your filters on, and your power heads off... if the rock you are refering to as "dead" is dry then you can place it in the tank at any time, but be weary about where it has been... get your temp to 78 to 80f...
What are you starting to cycle your tank with???
add Live Rock as soon as possible...
 
ruaround

ruaround

Active Member
P.S. ... RO/Di water is not necessary at this stage... but get fmilar with it for RO/Di or RO water is what is VERY recomended!!! RO = Reverse Osmosis ... Di = DeIonized... you can find RO water at you local WalMart in the machine next to the sodas n such...
 
dea_mt

dea_mt

Member
if this has been mentioned i'm sry but i heard that adding the sand first then place a plate on top of the sand and pour your water on the plate. it will cut down on cloudiness.
 
tommygun8

tommygun8

Member
but i didnt have live sand i dont know by putering fresh water in there would hurt the (live part) of it becaue u havent put in the salt yets becaues ur mixing it in ur tank
 
dea_mt

dea_mt

Member
and one more thing. live sand is not absolutely necessary as long as you use plenty of live rock. the sand will seed pretty rapidly. they have this stuff called CYCLE. i used it and it helps alot and also you can't overdose it.
 
dea_mt

dea_mt

Member
Originally Posted by kenyon1313
I was going to get some shrimp for the store. Are there other or should I say better options.
you could just put fishfood as if you had fish in for a few weeks then stop until the nitrate goes back down.
 
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