New tank started up today

[missusliz]

Hi all, I am so thrilled to be a part of this community! Forums are absolutely the best place to get information in such a hobby as this! Thank you in advance for all the wonderful advice I am sure to receive here!!!!

OK, here goes....I just bought a 70 gallon tank. I put crushed coral substrate in the tank. The water is in. I am in Metro-Detroit, water quality here is the tops. I dechlored and added salt. I have a powerhead in there, a heater, and I am running a Fluvo filter for mech filtration. I plan on putting in a sump where I will put the heater and possibly a protein skimmer. I want to do this on the cheap, the pumps were like $90! Any other alternatives, like using a fountain pump from Home Depot, for example? I will put the live rock in after the tank settles a bit.

I will pick up a testing kit tomorrow. Any other advice for start up?

Oh yes, I do have four powerheads. This should be enough, eh? Also, the LFS, which is considered very good around here, said the Fluvo can't hurt--it will serve well for mechanical filtration and 'what the heck, hook it up!' So I did. I don't plan on adding fish anytime soon. The water is quite cloudy right now from the new substrate. The Fluvo should help with that, eh?

 

[seaham358]

Do some reading on the stie there is a ton of good info on this site.
I am not a fan of crushed coral, it traps waste and over time the waste breaks down into nitrates... Cleaning the CC will be a regular chore and it will not be fun.
Most use a sand bed now or some even go bare bottom. Sand is natural, looks nice and your crabs and snails will do the cleaning so you wont have too.
there are lots of places to buy pumps that are better and probably cheaper then HD.

 

[missusliz]

Where would I find one of these pumps? At the fish stores they were a fortune. I need something to pump the water up from the sump into the tank. Any resources you can offer?

Hmmmm, well I am kind of stuck with the CC now, eh? First newbie mistake, here we go....

Thanks!

 

[MaryPa]

I made the same mistake with CC when I set up my first SW tank. I ended up adding 4" of sand on top of the CC. It worked out fine until I changed tanks. If you use the fluval for circulation take out all the media. I prefer using powerheads instead.

 

[missusliz]

Thanks Mary, taking the media out. Can I leave the balls and quilt batting and just take out the carbon and foam? I've read to take the media out on another site as well.

I do have two powerheads. Have them off right now as I am waiting for the cloudiness to settle in the tank. Circulation is being provided by the fluval right now.

Can I just put sand on top of the cc?

I took my first readings today. Here they are. I thought they were all supposed to be 0 right now, except for the PH.

Ph: 7.8
Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Specific Gravity: 1.026 This one is boggling as I did not put the full amount of salt in according to my gallonage (70 gal). But I am still high. However, I've heard from the live rock sales rep that this number is good.

 

[zacdl]

You need to start your cycle.

When I did my SG it as high too.

1.024 or 1.025 is ideal, just replace some water with fresh.

Go get some raw uncooked cocktail shrimp from a store, (Maybe two for starters) and throw them in. Just let htem float around. You will see your ammonia rise and fall, nitrite rise and fall, then nitrates rise. When your nitrates start rising your cycle is done and you are ready for one fish.

Can you ake the CC out?

Putting sand on top will not work. Sand will work its way to bottom, and CC will work its way up. Can you take the CC out and take it back, or something?

 

[zacdl]

You dont need to take the bio media out. Whats the use? Its more bio media for you to use. Your primary filtration will be your live rock, which is why she suggests powerheads.

You can leave the bio media in there alone, just relize its not your main filtration.

As for ammonia something might have gotten into your tank. As for nitrates, its normal to have that in almost all water. You need to raise your PH, but for right now dont worry about it.

 

[K Dub]

What are you planning to do in your tank?? FOWLR, Full Reef? etc.

 

[missusliz]

Well, I plan on doing a reef at some point. Have to get my feet wet first, pardon the pun.

I have live rock at the moment, and more coming.

I did put sand over the CC, but I put down nylon screening first, so I am good to go! Sand was expensive. Done spending for a while, lol.

I definitely am taking the foam out of my Fluval as I have read too many posts where it kicked the chemistry up too high. What are the pro's and con's of carbon in a sw, as the Fluval has LOTS of carbon....

 

[K Dub]

Some people run carbon constantly and others only put it in when the water starts to yellow because the carbons adsorbs good and bad things. Depending on what you are doing with your tank will determine what you do with your carbon. I have a FOWLR system so I run my carbon constantly.

 

[zacdl]

I run my filtration constantly, as well as carbon. No problems.