Final setup questions

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ellisz

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Alright, hopefully someone can answers these questions or advise :)

We got the 75 gal tank set up yesterday. The wet/dry filter is running great. Only thing in the take is water and salt. We have a Rio 2800 SS pump running the return at the moment. I know Rio is not regarded very well but it came with some other stuff. I would like to get something quieter and more reliable though. This will be a good back up.

My main question is on LS and LR. This tank will not house any inverts. We currently have 70lbs of aragonite and 2 bags of aragalive. I had hopes of finding a cheaper solution(play sand) but we have it so we will probably just use what we have. I am not sure of the depth it will give but we have seen an ad for 13 lbs of LS from a reef tank that looks good. Would seeding our aragonite with this live sand be useful at all?

Also, would adding 45lbs of LR help or just be decoration? We have not determined the decor of the tank yet. We will add some stuff from our current tank but not much. I was thinking LR and some fake plants might be nice but I don't want to foot the bill for a full FOWLR set up. Maybe later on more LR can be added, maybe not. Will having a bit of LR, LS and bioballs hurt at all?

Thanks again for the help/suggestions. I have spent a lot of nights reading old posts lately :)
 
I think you can still add LS and LR even though you are running a wet/dry with no problem. I think you will have a hard time keeping your nitrates down with the wet/dry, but if you are really intent on not keeping inverts, then this really isn't a problem as long as they don't get too high (i.e. > 40).

Keep in mind, you need a good bit of circulation in the tank if you keep LR. Three Maxijet 1200 should do it.
 
We have the Rio 2100, a ZooMed 228, and I was going to order a Maxijet 1200. I have read the ZooMed rotating action tends to fail but has been running ok so far.

Can you kill LR and LS? Is proper lighting and circulation all you really need for that? I am hoping the wet/dry will filter more/better than the 2 HOB filters I have used on my smaller tank for years.

Are frequent water checks needed? I am buy a seachem kit because our old kit used tablets that are no good anymore. I have not tested the water in a long time though. Just do gravel cleaning and water changes when the water gets low. My fish(dog puffer and percula clown) are 5-6 years old.
 
Can you kill LR and LS? Is proper lighting and circulation all you really need for that? I am hoping the wet/dry will filter more/better than the 2 HOB filters I have used on my smaller tank for years.

Yeah you can kill it. It needs about 2-3 wpg for it to really flourish. Normal output lighting is typically ok though. It also needs proper circulation. Minimum of two ph for that size tank. Also it needs proper calicum, magnesium, and stroetium levels to grow as well. However, regular water changes will take care of this.

Are frequent water checks needed?

They are definately needed in a new system, especially when adding uncured or "precured" live rock. You don't want the ammonia and nitrite to get to high when using LR to cycle the tank so that you don't kill all the animals on the LR you are paying so dearly for. We actually have an article about curing LR on this site. Go here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=6
 
With a uncycled tank, can you just put the LR in? I thought I read that somewhere. Frequent water changes just need to be done. This is inturn curing them in your tank right?

Since we have no fish in the big tank yet seems like it might be easier now than later.
 
IMO now is the best time to add LR to a tank and no change of water for now ... just monitor ammoniac and nitrates and nitrites and of course salinity ..
Calcium also but that can wait a little
 
If it is true "cured" life rock, then you don't need to cycle anything. Just put it in the tank and you are done.

It is is "uncred" or "precured", then yes, you can use that to cycle the tank.
 
You don't use it to cycle !!! The rocks have to cycle ...
If they are cured then you put them in and you cycle the tank all together and the water will go through the algea bloom first diatom ( green) then brown and then coraline and the good stuff ...
 
Based on what was said, I will get some LR and LS to put in my uncycled tank. We will put in the aragonite tonight and probably be a week or so before we get the LR/LS in there. It can all cycle together.

I will order my test kit and another PH too.

Then we can wait till it cycles before we move the fish from the other tank. I might go ahead and some of the big ornamental stuff to put in the new tank. It has the nice stuff growing on it.
 
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