cofusion from my LFSs

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evenings

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 11, 2004
Messages
168
Location
New York
for a 30 gallon FOWLS tank.

Today I added 40lbs of LS the salt, buffer and installed the eheim 2215. LFS A told me that I wouldnt need a protein skimmer running until the cycle is complete and i added a few fish. LFS B said that i should have a protein skimmer running during the cycle.

I havnt bought a PS yet.. Im looking for an Aqua C remora.
LFS B asked me if I was going to add LR. I dont plan on LR now since I dont have the lighting yet.

which LFS should I be listening too?
do i need LR for cycling?
am I starting off wrong?
 
If you don't have any live rock there really won't be anything to skim so you don't need that. But you will need something to get the cycle going LS may work for you but if it is the stuff in the bag(dry) it's a toss up from what I hear. Sometimes it work some times it doesn't. I would recomend LR. that is what I used. LR will also be a great bio filter. If you don't want lr you can add a couple of uncooked cocktail shrimp from the grocery store. This will create a spike in the Amonia thus starting your cycle.
 
Hi! I have a fairly new tank (set up in Feb.), but when we cycled we used LR to cycle it, LS was in there also. If you cycle it without LR and add it later, your tank will cycle again, I would add it all now the rock, sand, dont really think you need the buffer. I used a skimmer during the cycle, I have read it helps with odor and cleans the water so less life is lost during the cycle. We also did some water changes during the cycle for the same reasons. Hope this helps:)
 
you should have:

2 lbs of LR per gallon

4-6" of sand

you will need a skimmer, but don't expect it to pull alot of stuff out for quite some time. Mine didn't start pulling stuff out (same skimmer) until 6 months after setup.
 
which LFS should I be listening too?

This is the problem with LFS. I have run into the same problems. My answer is:

Aquarium Advice

You are sure to get the right answers here. Then you can compare them to the LFS and you will know which one you can "trust"...(not exactly the word I was looking for.)

Mike
 
evenings said:
which LFS should I be listening too?
Evenings, here is what I did:

I have a 60 gallon that has been running for about a month now. I bought the protein skimmer from the very beginning of the setup and started running it. It didn't seem to be doing any good until I put the liverock in. After the liverock was in, the protein skimmer pulled out a lot of nasty, smelly junk. I think it was beneficial to have one.


evenings said:
do i need LR for cycling?
I used liverock to cycle my tank, however the rock was already cured and matured enough that I didn't see a spike in the ammonia until I put two dead, raw shrimp in the tank. The rock was so efficient as a biological filter that my tank cycled in exactly one week! :)
 
wow great help thanks guys..

today I bought 30 lbs of FIJI LR.. still no PS. I want to buy an Aqua C remora... can someone help me?
 
what did ya want to know? I use the aqua-c remora 18" tall hang on back. it's a good skimmer. I got mine with the maxi-jet 1200> Don't buy it with the rio pump. As you may or may not have heard, Rio's Suck. :evil: :mrgreen:
 
ReefRaff said:
what did ya want to know? I use the aqua-c remora 18" tall hang on back. it's a good skimmer. I got mine with the maxi-jet 1200> Don't buy it with the rio pump. As you may or may not have heard, Rio's Suck. :evil: :mrgreen:


I ordered mine this morning. it comes with the maxi jet 1200. should i get the pre skimmer boxy thingy ?
 
wouldn't hurt. Although i don't have one, there good for skimming the top of the water. Some times it seems like there is a oil slick forming on top of the water, and this will help get rid of it.
 
Yes Sir! The AquaC Skimmers are the best by far, and IMO, absolutly crucial. SOme people will tell you that you may not need a skimmer, but that is total BS! Yeah, you can get by without one, but with all the money and time your going to be investing in this hobby, your not going to want to just get by. You are going to want to have superior water quality, so your livestock can thrive, not just survive.

I tried a tank with no skimmer once, and it totally crashed after about 6-7 monthes, due to extreme nutrient build-up. See it's an accumulative thing. Right away you will think everything is fine, but down the road you might be asking for trouble! HTH

Try marinedepot.com they have the entire line of AquaC skimmers for a decent price. You may be able to find one a little cheaper somewhere else...I don't know. Check out a ton of different web sites if I were you. I personally have ordered supplies from marinedepot.com at least ten times, and I have never been dissatisfied....ebay too maybe...you stand to save some money if you go that route :wink:
 
Yeah I dunno, I have my CPR Bak Pak 2 running now without LR in the tank and there are no bubbles being pushed up into the collection cup yet. I hope thats cause there is nothing for it to collect yet and not that its broken. we will see soon enough.
 
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