New to the forum, new to salt.

[Diesel84]

So I have been a freshwater junkie for awhile. Now its time to get into salt. I have my 75g all cleaned up, new filters in my Emperor 400 and penguin 200. Now what? Lol. My LFS says I have everything I need to get started, just need to go buy the water, salinity tester, and pick out what type of sand/gravel. 2 different LFS have told me 2 different ways to start the tank. 1 says set it all up, wait for water to clear and add a couple of damsels then wait 4-6 weeks for the spike and things should be fine after that. #2 says set it all up, add a few clowns or something hardy and add Turbo Start to start adding fish after a couple of weeks. What do you all think? Any advise would be awesome!

 

[cgthebeast]

You need to pick up an ro/di unit for water. It's handy and will pay for itself in the long run. Then pick up your rock and sand. Don't listen to your live fish store, that's a fish in cycle an it's cruel to the fish. Put some raw shrimp, 3-4 pieces and let it break down. It will cycle your tank.

 

[Diesel84]

What does the ro/di unit do?

 

[cgthebeast]

Gets rid of everything in the water. It saved you money and heartbreak in the future. Removes coper, dissolved solids. TSI all the bad stuff. Btw, if you have any questions while setting this up, cycling, lights ect. Just shot me a pm and I'll be happy to help

 

[Convict2161]

What does the ro/di unit do?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-...reverse-osmosis-systems/standard-systems.html

http://youtu.be/ihuHUiE6r0k

 

[Diesel84]

Is that used with a sump system? I'm planning on just running HOB filters.

 

[cgthebeast]

Nah, you hook it up to a faucet or pipes and it filters water to put in your main tank.

 

[Diesel84]

I know it sounds lazy, but can I buy my mixed water from LFS? They sell it cheap enough and I don't have to worry about over mixing

 

[cgthebeast]

Sure, that would work. I think wal-mart sells it too

 

[Diesel84]

The LFS I use, mixes their own, runs it through the Ro/di. And does UV. Sells it for $4 for 5 gallons

 

[cgthebeast]

Cool, that's a good price too

 

[Diesel84]

So shrimp, as in from the grocery store.... just toss them in with my sand, and live rock? Is that still a 4-8 week process correct?

 

[cgthebeast]

Yep, sure will be

 

[Diesel84]

So I got my live sand, salt water and live rock all in. Started with 30# to see what it looked like. Set it all up last night, this pic was taken this morning.

 

[donniea1800]

Yeah don't cycle with fish. The ammonia burns their gills and it's cruel to the fish. The other ideas about raw shrimp will work but it can be messy. I cycled my tank with pure bottled ammonia and it worked perfectly and you have more control over the process. The key is to make sure you get pure ammonia with no perfumes or surfactants in it. I got mine at Ace Hardware. When in doubt shake the bottle. If it foams up dont get it. Pure ammonia will not foam up. Let me know if you are interested in this method and I will walk you through the process.

 

[Diesel84]

OK, added another 35# of live rock, here is a photo. Trying to figure out a power head, or 2 maybe. Right now my hobs are pushing 680 gph. Thinking about Hydor Korilia evolution. Possibly a pair of 750s? Will that be enough flow for a 75gal?

 

[Diesel84]

So week one of cycle... parameters are as follows SG 1.025, pH 8.2, ammonia .25-.5 ppm, No2 2.0 ppm, No3 5.0 ppm. Should I be checking more than once a week for now?

 

[Diesel84]

Question.... I am running a penguin 280 and an emperor 400 for filtration, can I take the cartridges out of the 280 and use LR in it for a filter?

 

[egrape]

if you want, but I don't really see why... carbon is great for dealing with any sort of chemicals or toxins that enter the water, like with coral and their tendency to chemical warfare. that being said you don't need that much carbon at one time, so I think you would be fine either way so long as it stays in one of the filters.

 

[Diesel84]

It is the end of week 2 of the cycle. Is it too early to do a 10% water change?