Some Questions on LR

[Viperboy]

So my 29gal has been set up and running with 40lbs of live sand in it for about 2 weeks now. Today my 2 powerheads, protein skimmer, test kit, and light get in. Tonight I was thinking of ordering some live rock online probably from liveaquaria since it is so expensive at my LFS. Here is my main question .... i will probably be ordering some fiji premium in about a 40lbs box and when i get it in is there anything special i need to do with it (like cure it or something /// i dont really fully understand that whole process yet) or can i just put it in the tank and continue my fishless cycle with it in there and everything will be fine.

On a side note .... is there a certain place or position i should mount my powerheads at

TIA

Ray

 

[lando]

Since your tank is cycling you can simply order the rock, wait for it to show up and put it in the tank. Use the die-off on the rock to help with the cylce. This is assuming you have no livestock in the tank.

 

[roka64]

or can i just put it in the tank and continue my fishless cycle

That might cause another, small cycle (due to some die-off), but I think you should be ok. What about some base rock? That would be cheaper and will turn live. 80Lbs is a lot if LR, are you planning on a fuge, to put some in. The reason I am asking is you might limit some of your livestock, like the folks who need some swimming room.

is there a certain place or position i should mount my powerheads at

Try both sides of the tank, facing each other, near the top, for some nice surface agitation.

 

[austinsdad]

I like the idea of adding the base rock along with the new LR. As the bacteria is established during the cycle, you'll have it living on the base rock also.

Also, if the LR has really dead, foul smelling stuff, that you can pick off or scrub off (using a new, non-metal parts) scrub brush. Just the major pieces of anythiong dead that's already almost falling off. There'll be enuf die-off remaining to continue the cycle.

Watching your ammonia and nitrites during this whole process will help you see what's going on.

 

[Viperboy]

Yea i thought about getting some base rock but i figured that would take longer to have it turn color and to get the bacteria fully grown or whatever .... i have done 3 or 4 fishless cycles on FW and im assuming it will be about the same for SW. Im actually using small doses of pure ammonia to get it started and ill do my first test today when i get my SW test kit in. I only plan to add about 40lbs or so of rock and i think the rule around here is about 1.5lbs per gallon so i decided 40 was enough and that will still give me enough room to add about 3 or 4 fish right? .... im looking to start with probably a pair of clowns first and some inverts for cleanup and stuff. Thanks for the powerhead advice and ill try it out ... also i had a question about my skimmer seeing as i have never used one before and dont really know how or when to set them up. Should i wait until my cycle is over and i add fish to put it on or should i go ahead and try to get it working even though i just have live sand ..... i hope to add the rock sometime towards the end of this week.
TIA

Ray

 

[roka64]

rule around here is about 1.5lbs per gallon

It's not really a rule, just people's personal experience. Generally folks like to have 1.5-2 LBs per Gallon, for good filtration.

 

[ntswift]

Are you adding 40lbs to an existing 40lbs? I had a 29 gal with about 46lbs of lr and that was a lot! It would have been really tough to get another 34lbs in there. Let alone some fish! If you do wind up getting LR, just get uncured because it will be dead when you get it either way unless you get it Airfreight. As far as the protein skimmer goes, you can get it now or later it doesn't really matter right now. I think it would be best to wait until the cycle is over though. Check this site out for LR:

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/index.html

They have some sweet LR! However the cheapest and best way to go is base rock. It will turn purple just as fast as your LR sometimes. Plus you dont get any bad hitchhikers. HTH

 

[Viperboy]

I have 40 lbs of live sand in the tank right now ... not rock ... so no im only going to have around 40-45 lbs of live rock ..... i got my powerheads skimmer and test kit in today and hooked up the powerheads and they seem to be working good. Im gonna hold off on hooking up the skimmer till the cycle is over. I also got in my shipment a digital thermometer and when i put it on its been reading about 82 .... so i turned my heater off and im gonna see if it drops any. Now i know its not by a window or vent but it is upstairs in our duplex so i was wondering if it stayed there and i couldnt get it down would that be a huge problem. I also got my text kit in and got my first readings .... ammonia is at 0 ... nitrite is about 3 or 4 ppm .... nitrate is about 10ppm .... and ph is around 8.3 or so .... id love any advice people can give because i am just venturing out on this whole SW thing

TIA

Ray

 

[roka64]

i was wondering if it stayed there and i couldnt get it down would that be a huge problem.

That would depend on what you want to add to the tank. Most people just buy a fan and have it blow across the top of the water, to cool it down.

ammonia is at 0 ... nitrite is about 3 or 4 ppm .... nitrate is about 10ppm .... and ph is around 8.3 or so

Sounds like you are well on your way. How long have you been cycling your tank?

 

[ntswift]

Sorry, I read your first post wrong. I thought you said you already had 40 lbs of LR in it. My bad! Sounds like you are getting pretty well set up then. Do you have any kind of lighting hooked up yet or are you in the future?

 

[Viperboy]

Well funny story about my lighting ... i got it in today and its the coralife 130 watt double linear CF strip. So ill be at about 4 or so WPG ... but i was putting on the adjustable legs i got with it and snap ... one of them broke so i have been seeing i can try and fix it and get my lighting all set up before the LR i ordered gets in tom. I would say my tank has been cycling for about a week but the filter running on it was from an establish FW tank so i dont know if that made much difference.

Ray

 

[lando]

i got it in today and its the coralife 130 watt double linear CF strip. So ill be at about 4 or so WPG ... but i was putting on the adjustable legs i got with it and snap ... one of them broke

Bummer. This happended to me with my coralife as well. I first used the clear plastic legs and they are so brittle they snap if you tighten them too much. Coralife also makes a black set of legs (not sure which ones you got) that are much much much better. More durable and you can tighten them down. I would go to a LFS and see if they sell them as oppossed to trying to fix what you have. You do not want the leg failing again while the fixture is over the water. Better to be safe then sorry.

 

[Viperboy]

I actually have the much better black ones and they are the ones that snapped ... but i got some gorilla glue (stongest on the earth) and let it dry and i think it is all good ... i also discovered that with this light i cant use my glass top anymore .... wont this mean fish can jump out or do only FW fish do that? .... also i got my live rock in today from live aquaria (45 lbs of premium fiji) and i put it all in the tank where i think it looks good and is stable (and stupid me forgot to take out water before i put the second big piece in and boom some water landed on my foot) ... but ill try to take some pics as soon as i can and see what you guys think. Also i was wondering if i should leave the light on for some of the day while i finish up my cycle cause i noticed the rocks still have some type of corals growing on them.

Also once my ammonia and nitrities hit 0 and nitrates are high i just do like a 50% change just like FW and then do like a 10% or so every other week to keep em down. I also plan on getting the algae and detrius attack packs on live aquaria cause they seem like a good deal and will take care of all that right? .... my first fishes i think will be a pair of clownfish that i might get at the store or i might order off live aquaria with the attack packs.

Ray

 

[roka64]

wont this mean fish can jump out or do only FW fish do that?

Some people use egg crate, for Lowes or HD. This will reduce the lighting, some but it's better than having a carpet surfer. It also depends on the fish. Lots of wrasses are considered jumper. There others but I can't think of what.