Cuc and sand question?

[Marcquez08]

I am starting a 55g saltwater tank which I only plan on it being a fowlr. I am using some aragonite sand that I got out of a friends tank. I really like the sand but I am wanting to get a cleanup crew but am not sure what to get based on the fact that my sad is not really fine. For example I don't know if the cleaner packages on reef cleaners would thrive in my tank.

The pictures I attached are not that good but they will give a good indication of how course my sand is.

Also I bought a couple pieces of live rock to seed my base rock; my question is will my barren base rock eventually darken after time? Although I know patience is key, how long should I expect to wait before I may see the coralline algae start to spread?

Thanks for any advice and everyone's opinion is greatly appreciated!

 

[Marcquez08]

A few more pictures

 

[mr_X]

Yes, the rock will all turn a uniform color.
I would not suggest purchasing a "cleaner package" from one of the popular websites. Many of the creatures in those packages will starve to death in a new tank.
You don't actually need any snails/shrimp/crabs/starfish at all. You can keep a beautiful tank without them.

I would simply go to the LFS and buy a couple snails, and a couple shrimp or whatever you like, and add more as you wish.

 

[Marcquez08]

That is what I figured. Just was not sure if having a cuc would be much more beneficial than not having one. Would the aragonite sand that I have be a bad choice if I wanted to have fish that move across the sand (for example an eel)?

 

[mr_X]

All aragonite means is that it's calcium based. I believe this to be the best sand for a salt tank because it helps buffer the PH.
I don't think an eel cares either way.

No, I don't believe you are better off with a standard "cleanup crew" from one of those websites.

 

[don_chuwish]

We have some very similar looking 'dry' base rock from MarcoRocks. It went in the tank two weeks ago and has already started to show signs of coralline development. Scrape on the live rock a bit to disperse some 'seeding'.
I really like the look of the coarse sand, but couldn't tell you myself what the tank residents will think! Too much of a newbie myself.

- D

 

[Marcquez08]

That's exactly where I got mine from! Got about 54lbs for $110 and it looks great! Definitely saves a ton of money and I couldn't be happier!

 

[Marcquez08]

Yea when I bought the few pieces of live rock the water that was in the was full of algae particles. So I shut my filter off and poured the water in in front of my power head so it would spread throughout the whole tank! So hopefully that works out pretty well.

I just did not want to buy too much of the live rock at once just in case the coralline died off right away...

 

[mr_X]

Coralline is a tough algae. It is actually a nuisance algae, but people seem to like it because it's colorful. If it dies, it will come back.

 

[Marcquez08]

I feel like everything I now know is because of Mr. X lol. You must get paid to post on these forums all day lol.

 

[mr_X]

I wish. I'm just off a lot in the winter months, so I'm here more.