The time has come!!

[wvanderborg]

So. Today is they day I begin my 55gal fowlr set up. I'm in the process of moving my last 3 gouramis out of the 55 right now to a 29 (sad for them but they will be fine with the marble bichir) I got my ro/di fully functional (thanks again to carey for the suggestion on what unit to purchase) my main question is. If I use tap water for my initial setup, but only rodi for top offs/changes. Is this going to be a serious no no? Its gonna take me 12 hrs to make 55gals of rodi is the only reason I'm asking. Thanks in advance for the help guys.

 

[spoonman]

I suggest starting with the rodi. If you start with tap water, the stuff in it will remain in the tank forever. Do it right from the beginning. You have nothing but time.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Listen to spoonman. If you're in a hurry go to the grocery store and buy 50 gallons of RODI water. That should be about $30 (after you return the jugs). Start it off right!

 

[wvanderborg]

One more quick question... is there a general rule of thumb with lbs of substrate per gal?

 

[AquaRick]

No real rule. Just depends how much sand you want. Are you going with a DSB? You can use this calculator to determine how many pounds of sand you'll need for your tank:

Safe Sand Company - Sand Volume Calculator

 

[wvanderborg]

I'm using a crushed coral mix but thanks ric.

 

[AquaRick]

Ah got it. You can always get more than you might think you need and return what you don't want etc.

 

[joy13]

The dept of sand bed will vary depending on what you are going to have in your tank. Jawfish need a deep sand bed. Clowns really don't but they do like to throw around sand. Certain wrasses sleep and hide i the sand. If you plan on a pistol shrimp you will want a deep sand bed.

 

[wvanderborg]

I'm using coral. Lol. I got about 40 lbs in my 55 gal and its givin me about 2inches of all the way across. I still have about 25 lbs left that I don't think ima use and I threw out my reciept so I can't return it.... BALLS!! Lol

 

[joy13]

Since you decided to use crushed coral you will want to keep an eye out for the nitrates. Keeping the crushed coral clean is a bit harder than sand.

 

[TeamTrash]

Since you decided to use crushed coral you will want to keep an eye out for the nitrates. Keeping the crushed coral clean is a bit harder than sand.

I have a tiger sand conch which has done an awesome job of keeping my crushed coral substrate clean. There is definitely a marked difference between how the substrate looked before and after I got it

 

[wvanderborg]

At least 3 ppl have suggested the tiger conch. So you make four. Lol. In my 25 reef I have about 8 nassarus snails and a searpent star and they keep it under control. Worst my trites ever get is .05 and since I added the star I haven't even see them get there. Not to mention the coral blend I went with is very fine. The largest pieces are no bigger than an apple seed.