At a crossroad with tank setup, looking for help!

[mtlion]

Hello! Ok here it goes....I bought a 72G Bowfront tank w/ stand and built in overflow, MegaFlow model 2 sump, ASM G1X proteim skimmer, 2 200w submersible heaters, a Mag Drive 950 pump for the return from the sump, Sundial T5HO 48" lighting, and 2 Koralia 4 powerheads. Also bought a MaxCap RO/DI filter. The tank is in place on the stand, the sump is assembled with the protein skimmer inside as well as the heaters and return pump. I have plumbed the sump to the overflow and assembled the overflow accessory kit. I placed the powerheads in the tank and have added my substrate (Argonite sand).

I am now at the point that I need to add water and rock to the tank. My issue is that when running the RO/DI filter i noticed that it produces the clean water very slowly, so I am looking at quite the extended process here for making my water. Here is what I was planning to do:

1. Make water as fast as possible and fill the tank until it overflows into the sump and the water in the sump hits the approprate level to cover all of the pumps (approx midway up the minimum and max line on the sump)
2. Once all water is in place, fire up the filtration and powerheads and get the water all moving.
3. Place my salt mix right into the aquarium with the moving water and mix the water right in the aquarium to the proper salinity (don't want to mix the saltwater as I make it due to the fact that the RO/DI produces water slowly and I don't want the saltwater to sit uncirculated, probably not going to be able to make all of the water in one day)
4. Allow the water to run for a few days until I can get a BR order delivered to me.
5. Place the BR into the aquarium and let it run until I can get 25lbs of LR delivered.
6. Place the LR into the aquarium and allow it to cure, then once cured get another 25lbs of LR delivered and also cure it in the aquarium also.
7. Finally once all LR is cured, do some aquascaping with the rock, then add some nassarius snails, then finally after stabalizing again adding fish.

Just wanted some input from everyone as to their thoughs on what my gameplan is. Sorry to be so wordy and detailed but I'm a NEWB and didn't want to leave any details out. I hope to get some good input as usual and any advice is appreciated. Thanks alot everyone!

 

[CaptainAhab]

Sounds like a solid well thought out plan to me. Any reason you wouldn't just get all the LR at the same time and cure together? There will prob be some living things in that LR , why put em through 2 curing cycles?

 

[mtlion]

I was reading an article that said to cure the LR a little at a time, but I would prefer to cure all the LR at once if you think that would be ok.

 

[CaptainAhab]

50lbs? Do it all at once.

 

[mtlion]

Cool you just saved me a step, making my RO/DI water now, v e r y s l o w l y...Probably going to take me forever at this rate to get the tank filled. Pesky working getting in the way of my FOWLER, haha!

 

[Ziggy953]

Excellent plan!!!

I agree with Captin, get all your LR at the same time.

When you add the salt mix I would suggest adding it to the sump rather then the main tank. As it is pumped up into the tank it will mix. Also you may want to make sure your water is heated it will aide in the mixing of the SW.

 

[mtlion]

Good advice about putting the salt in the sump! The water should be heated as I plan to run everything with just fresh water for at least a day to get the water moving that has been sitting there for a few days.

 

[mtlion]

Check that last few days comment, the water may be sitting for quite a while. I just checked on my first batch of RO/DI water and it has been running for 50 mins and the 5G bucket isn't even half full, grrrr.

 

[mtlion]

Just another thought, should I plug in one powerhead when I get enough water in the tank just to keep it moving and from becoming stagnant?

 

[Ziggy953]

Cold + low water pressure = slow RO/DI output.

 

[Ziggy953]

Just another thought, should I plug in one powerhead when I get enough water in the tank just to keep it moving and from becoming stagnant?

Always a good idea to keep the water moving. I would, I believe it is what I did when I first filled my tank. (not the current one the old 72 a few years back)

 

[mtlion]

Yeah, it is cold here, and I'm using well water the pressure is about 40 PSI and that is as good as it's going to get. I'm really worried about the time it is going to take to fill this tank. I don't think there is anywhere around here where I could buy RO/DI water for the initial fill.

 

[mtlion]

BTW, I'm looking at your threat for the 120 Build in progress, what a nice looking tank. How did you fill up that tank with water?

 

[Ziggy953]

Well I had 90g of water in the pond that was holding all my LR and most of my corals. I had 64g of new SW mixing while I Was taking down the old tank and putting the new on up. I also had a tote with 40g of water and some other corals in it. I had a lot of water on standby and ready to fill the tank.

My RO/DI unit will make 32g in less then 12 hours. I don't know why mine works so fast but it does. Lucky I guess.

 

[CaptainAhab]

Don't bail out now. This is your one chance to have crystal pure water. What are you looking at? 24 hours or so? Get started on 4/5/6 (get the base rock delivered at the same time too if you can)

Make sure you have a handle on the flow rate though so you can estimate when fill up should be done. Wouldn't want it happening at 3am when you're dreaming of your sticking list and overflow everything.

Most importantly... R E L A X

 

[mtlion]

Yeah I am actually kind of bummed about this RO/DI (cost $400) but I didn't know what else to do for the water. I really don't know what I'm going to do when I need a PWC with the LR. Everything I have been reading says to change 50% when curing...there is no way I'm going to be able to do that. Do you have any suggestions for buying RO/DI water, at least till I get this tank up an running?

 

[mtlion]

Acutally do you think that RO water or distilled water alone would work ok? I could probably get either easily, but not RO/DI.

 

[sooju]

My water runs around 40 psi too and it takes 4 hrs to fill a 5 gallon jug. Are you running your RO/DI directly into the tank or into smaller containers that you then empty into the tank? I run water into the 5 gallon jugs if it's during the day and into my 20 gallon rubbermaid if it's overnight. You'll need some sort of large container (ideally 20% your total volume) for the future to always have PWC water ready and waiting. If it's big enough you can run it overnight without worrying about overflowing. I've done that a few times...what a mess.

I agree with the suggestion about adding the salt to the sump, not the main tank, but that only works if your system is full of water so you can turn on the pumps and heater. If you can run the RO overnight you may get the system filled sooner?

It's only this hard the first time around - from now on you'll only be doing partial changes! And this is your best opportunity to start out with the best possible water conditions. A couple more days - Hang in there!

 

[cooltop]

I would look in getting a booster pump for the Ro/Di unit to bring the pressure on up

 

[mtlion]

Ahh man waiting is going to be horrible, I need to fill this tank with more than 72G to get the sump up and running...oh well you are right about starting with the best water.