When to add sand?

[mterrace]

Ok - I am a victim of to much information. I am setting a new reef tank (90 Gallon). I have ordered 130lbs of Live Rock (will be delivered 4/19) and want to know when I should add my substrate (And whether to use live sand or not)...
Here is what I have been told by LFS-- Add the live rock and let the tank cycle- then add Live sand (something like Nature's Ocean) -- He said that if I add the live sand first, that the cycle process could kill a lot of the beneficial bacteria in the live sand when the ammonia spikes.
Then I was also told that I am wasting money buying live sand, just let the live rock seed regular sand....which then I assume I should add that now and let the tank clear up, before I get the LR.
And then in the Conscientious Marine Aquarist book, it says to add Live Sand and Live Rock together - but it says that the assumption is that the Live Rock is already cured...
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark

 

[rbrockm1]

i say add the LS now. and then LR. some people say add LR then LS. its what ever you want. I like LS b/c it has a lot of benificial extras in it. it all comes down to what you want to do

 

[spanko]

Is your LR cured or not and is it shipping from somewhere or are you getting it locally?

 

[wangotango]

use live sand, as said before its great for filtration. i would add the rock first either directly on the bottom or on a sheet of eggcrate, that way it will be more stable, and wont topple over if you get a fish that likes to burrow. the die-off from the rock will help to cycle your tank, and i think it's easier to leave the sand out so you can vaccum out any gunk that falls off, then add the sand around the rock. your choice though, theres no right or wrong way to do it really.
-Justin

 

[mterrace]

Originally Posted by spanko
Is your LR cured or not and is it shipping from somewhere or are you getting it locally?
It is shipping-- not cured.

 

[mterrace]

Originally Posted by WangoTango
use live sand, as said before its great for filtration. i would add the rock first either directly on the bottom or on a sheet of eggcrate, that way it will be more stable, and wont topple over if you get a fish that likes to burrow. the die-off from the rock will help to cycle your tank, and i think it's easier to leave the sand out so you can vaccum out any gunk that falls off, then add the sand around the rock. your choice though, theres no right or wrong way to do it really.
-Justin
Justin,
Thanks - I think this is what I'll do -- I like the egg crate idea - I was a little leery of putting the LR directly on the bottom of the tank. But it'll make it a lot easier siphoning out any detritus that I get.
Thanks,
Mark

 

[spanko]

Then you need to cure it. Will this be done in the display tank or in a seperate container? If you are going to do it in the display I would just put the rock in first and cure it and the tank will cycle with it. Then it will be easier to clean out the grabage that you are going to get from the curing process. After it is clean then add the sand and wait to see if you get another mini cycle.
If you are going to do the curing outside of the display tank I would do it, put the rock in the tank then backfill with the sand.
Either way rock first then sand. That way the rock will be on solid footing and when you add CUC and other critters they will not go under the rock and cause landslides.
JMO thanks for letting put it out there.

 

[aztec reef]

Mark, This is what i would do

You don't need to get that live sand of Nature's Ocean It's not really "live". Just get some some Dry Aragonite sand. Put it in the tank with water and that live rock that you're getting, 130lbs is plennty of live rock to make any dead sand live and also enuf to cycle a tank.
Don't worry about getting cure or uncured. Actually uncured should be cheaper and better cause of the new biodiversity in LR.
You don't need to cycle the LR it will cycle at the same time as the Tank. Also you don't have to first add sand and let clear up. (You can add sand and liverock at the same time) just make sure you give that sand a good rinse in ro/di water before putting in Tank.
I would pass on the Eggcrate. Just put some little bit of liverock rubble across the tank (not too high) put sand ON top of that, then stack liverock as Prefered..

 

[mterrace]

Thanks for all your help....I think I am going to go with Aragonite and let the live rock seed it....Thanks Aztec Reef....