live rock???

[eagle9252]

okies, on startup of a new tank and after you get the salt and ph correct, what next? I have a LFS that has a tank with LR and water in it. The store is just 10 min away. Do you have to do anything special? Then you need to start the cycle and throw in a shrimp?

[IndexKey]

It depends, is the live rock being sold as "cured"? if yes, then you can simply purchase it and place it in your tank, then place a raw shrimp in the tank and begin the cycle.

John

[josueve]

If is a new system I recomend a deep sand bed, 2 lbs. per gallon of live rock and add "Dr.Tim One and Only nutrifying bacteria", he garantee you can skip the cycle and add 1 small fish right away, keep testing your system and don`t add anything more until your system is stable. Remember pacience is the key in this hobby.

[AaronM]

If you intend on starting your tank with LR, which i recommend, then you probably don't need to bother with a shrimp, as inevitable die off from the LR functions exactly the same...

I guess move the rock from LFS to your tank and monitor cycle, i.e watch ammonia rise and fall, then nitrite same, then nitrate rise, then hopefully settle low. Expect this to take 4-6ish weeks...

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by josueve

If is a new system I recomend a deep sand bed, 2 lbs. per gallon of live rock and add "Dr.Tim One and Only nutrifying bacteria", he garantee you can skip the cycle and add 1 small fish right away, keep testing your system and don`t add anything more until your system is stable. Remember pacience is the key in this hobby.

-1 for the DSB. I would not put a DSB in the DT. It's a waste of space. And if you ever have to do anything to it, you'll have to deal with LR and corals all over it. Keep the DSB in the sump or refugium. I do have a DSB in my refugium and I have had 0 nitrates for more than 6 mths now.

For a guy who tells you to be patient, adding Dr Tim's and adding a fish right away don't seem to go together, do they?

How big is your tank? Are you doing a sump? Are you doing a refugium? How much LR are you putting in? I reccomend 1 to 1.5lbs/ gallon. And I would also say if the LR is expensive, consider 1/2lbs/gal of real LR and 1lbs/gal of dry rock or base rock. It's cheaper. You might find nicer rock. And you are going to exercise patients when adding livestock, right? Then you really don't need all that LR at the start, or in the first 3-4 months while the base rock is comming alive.

+1 for what Aaron said

[eagle9252]

Well I have spoken to the LFS and their LR is fully cured and is ready for a tank @ 6.99/lbs. They also sell LS and frags. They even sell saltwater that is tank ready for $1.25gal. It has the salt and correct ph. Of course I would retest it prior. So now all I have to do is get a tank :^(

I would like to have this up and running now. Heck I really started this 20 yrs ago so a couple of weeks won’t matter.

I want a 120gal tank 48x24x24 drilled with a 20gal sump but I think I will have to settle for a 37 bowfront, mostly because the O’lady says the other is too big and she likes the BF. I would prefer the 72 gal BF. The 37 BW is on sell at pet smart for 135.00 to 169.00 depends on what you want but both comes with a filter , lights and top.

Either way I will probable make the hole in the wall about 49-50inches wide anyway cause I don’t know if the 37BF is tempered or not. If it is then I will have to put a HOB skimmer to use the sump on one of the right side. And return on the left. I want to keep the front and back clear for viewing. I can put the back flush with the kitchen wall and the bow stick out the living room side. The bottom would be about 48 off the floor. It’s a load bearing wall in the center of the house so I will have to install a header.

I brought a bender home from work and some Lexan scrapes to play with. I think I’m going to make a HOB skimmer to practice with

As for the refugium I think so. It will have water coming from the tank go thru some baffles and from what I have read have some LR and sand in there and more baffles but I see it as a moot point cause it’s already in the tank. I have about 2 gal of bio balls that I made a W/D filter with years ago but everyone says throw them away.

I would love to have some sea horses but everyone says I can’t have them and clown fishes too.

I still have to figure out what return pump size. If 37gal*5=185 what should I use? Also i don’t like the LQQKs of things hanging in the tank so I want to put the heater in the sump and maybe look at a protein skimmer later more than likely homemade. I still have to decide what kindof lights to use. I really don’t want to use MH as they suck power, LED’s use less power.