Plans

[Sharkbait430]

Ok, so here are my plans for my tank and its status at the moment. Please let me know if I'm on the right track or not!

Tank Status:
-Crystal Clear water with a salinity level of 1.020
-Daily check of Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, pH, & Alkalinity - Everything Perfect!!!
-Water Temperature of 76F
**Nothing alive yet as I wanted to get everything up and running w/ perfect water conditions (this is Day 3)

Future Plans:
1. Today, going to buy livesand to add a layer on top of my aragonite/crushed coral substrate (is this ok??? I have the tank filled, will it be ok to pour the live sand in even with the tank filled????)
2. Tomorrow, going to buy 10lbs of LR - in two weeks will by another 5-10lbs with a plan of having a total of 20lbs of LR in the tank
3. 2 weeks from now, will buy my first fish or two. I will probably start off with 2 clownfish
4. Plan on having about 6-7 fish, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2-3 anenomes, 1 starfish, and possibly a sea slug and/or clam

How does this look? Any suggestions?

[divedeep1689]

just keep a check on your levels after you add live rock once everything is settled then get your fish

[melosu58]

I personally would remove the CC and replace with sand. If you add sand now then it will eventually find it`s way through the CC and under it. It`s pretty easy to remove and replace with sand. Just siphon out the CC with a hose and take a PVC pipe and run the well rinsed sand down the pipe to where it needs to be. You`ll have a small sandstorm but not like if you just through it in. Just a suggestion.

BTW welcome to AA

[An t-iasg]

You can't really measure your parameters of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate yet - you have nothing alive in the tank.When you get live rock, your tank will go through a cycle and build up the beneficial bacteria needed to support the fish. Please don't add fish until this cycle is completed - you can't really say that you're going to get fish in two weeks because the cycle may not be done yet. Anemones require a more established tank to do well - don't add them right away.

How big is the tank? You need 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon in order to successfully support the bioload of the fish and corals. For a 29 gallon tank, you will probably need more rock than 20 pounds. You can cure it right in your tank since you have nothing alive in the tank that would be harmed by the resulting ammonia and nitrite spikes. After the tank cycles, if you would want additional rock, then it would be best to cure it in a separate tank.

When you do test your parameters, please post the exact numbers from your test results, rather than saying they are perfect or ok. The numerical value helps us better determine where you are in the cycle.

Here are some articles to get you started:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...ank/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...ick/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...ate/Page1.html

[melosu58]

Those are some greatarticles Deb gave you. Please read them to get the concept of cycling.

[Sharkbait430]

Alright so just to update, I ended up not having crushed coral for a substrate like I thought I did - I made the mistake. It's strictly aragonite. I understand completely about the live rock and all and will be picking up about 10lbs of it today. Next week I will be away on vacation so the following week I am going to buy another 15 lbs. I'm definitely going to wait until the tank cycles before I put any livestock in there. I want to do all this right. What do you think of live sand? Yes or no? And how am I going to put it in the filled tank without having a sand storm in there????

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by melosu58

Just siphon out the CC with a hose and take a PVC pipe and run the well rinsed sand down the pipe to where it needs to be. You`ll have a small sandstorm but not like if you just through it in.

As far as the sand storm I already suggested this. I say get dry sand. I really doubt the validity of "live" sand. The dry sand will become live over time.

[Sharkbait430]

Ok, here's an update...

I bought 11lbs of cured LR yesterday and put it in the tank. I plan on buying another 10lbs or so before the end of the week. Should I still plan on sticking one raw fish (as it said in one of the articles provided to me)?

Thanks for your help everyone!

[thincat]

I would use raw uncooked shrimp. Shrimp breaks down better then fish and your tank will have less fats that will only take longer to decompose. for a 29g one large cocktail shrimp is enough.

[thincat]

One thing I missed in the above post, Your salinity is to low. Try to bring it up to ~1.025.