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MikeyD

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
120
Finally got everything situated. Let me start off by saying wow startup cost is expensive but going to be worth it in the end. I have a 40 gallon tank with live sand, live rock, a fluval 305 filter a 200 watt heater and I'm picking up my dual t5 ho system with led moonlight. Going to put about 30-40 more pounds of live rock. A flame angel, couple clown fish, some jawfish, a decorator crab, some cleaner shrimp, a flame hawkfish and a starfish as well as some anemones. I think I did it right. I was big into freshwater had numerous tanks. How long does it usually take to filter the water to where it becomes clear again about 24 hours or so?
 
You can save some money buy buying dry rock less than half the cost of LR. (Why pay for water weight?) live sand is a farce it sits on a shelf for months buy dry sand. Buy 6-10 lbs of live rock it will seed all the other rock get a cup of live sand from your LFS just be sure they take it from a coral tank that way you know there's no copper in it My tanktook 2 days to clear but my sand is sugar sand very fine grained
 
Well I work at petsmart that's where I got my sand from and we received it that day that I bought it. I was gonna try to find some dry rock from somewhere. We really don't have many lfs near me anymore all are about an hour away.
 
I'll second support for the base rock from reefcleaners.org - I just got in 30lbs from them last week and it's pretty awesome. Check out the photos on the SW build thread in my signature for what their rock can end up looking like.
 
Will do grizz I definitely need way more rock in there
 
So can I speed up the process by dropping in a shrimp in there?
 
Hi! Congrats on the new set up!! I have a 40 gallon breeder tank as well. I bought my (dry) rocks from MarcoRocks.com His rocks are awesome!! Startup is definitely expensive....but my advice is to buy the best you can afford now, or else you might regret it! When I started I was looking for the cheaper route and I ended up upgrading a few things. If you plan on having corals, go for the best lighting system, even the bulbs make a difference! I bought some cheapo lights in the beginning and then I upgraded to real bulbs (twice the price) and what a difference!! The cycling process seems to take forever! It's hard to look at an empty tank! The wait is worth it though, you don't want to hurt any new livestock!! Good Luck
 
I put pics of the fish i wanted on the back of my tank when i cycled, it was a reminder of the great things to come :) My grandson looked them and said cool fish poppa lol
 
MikeyD said:
Well I work at petsmart that's where I got my sand from and we received it that day that I bought it. I was gonna try to find some dry rock from somewhere. We really don't have many lfs near me anymore all are about an hour away.

I don't where your located but alot of querys have lace rock dirt cheap talking 50 cents a pound.. all u have to do it clean.
 
Well I put a raw shrimp in the tank today. Checked the ammonia level a couple hours after it was up to .50 ppm. Gonna check it before I go to bed. Tank water is clear now I'm happy I can finally see the live rock. How long should I leave the shrimp in there?
 
The Shrimp will get sort of a bubble around it, that is the bacteria developing....I left mine in till it was almost gone. You should see the ammonia level go up and then level back to 0!
 
I'm using a fluval 305. I don't have it rippling the top. Should I get an air pump with airstone to bring up the oxygen level?
 
No air stones are bad for SW fish you can add a small power head and aim it at the surface thats a better way or raise your out put to cause ripples on the surface
 
Will do. Thanks everyone I know this is probably getting annoying. But thank you for all the help
 
That's why AA is here... keep up the questions... how's that saying the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked...
 
Well checked ammonia today it's at 1 ppm. This is a very patient process huh?
My salinity is at 1.022 so I'm in the money. Ph is between 7.8-8.0 should I raise this at all. Live rock seems to be doing ok. I will post a picture. And yea I know I need alot more rock but will get this weekend.
 

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