advice needed please

[thepirate]

first of all, thanks to everyone here for the advice that i have already recieved, i wouldn't even be at this stage without the help of this site!!

my tank is now in position, filled with ro, temperature and salinity stable

130 gal tank (shallow sand bed)
30 gal sump (mechanical filter/ refuge -6" dsb)
canister filter (sponge/floss/carbon)
temp = 75f
salinity = 1.021

i am just about to add my 3 shrimp to start the cycle, howver before i do this i have a couple of questions just to keep me on the right track and confirm that i amdoing things along the right track.

1) should i add the cured lr straight away (lfs recommends this)? will the ammonia spike kill off the life that i'm paying good money for? i am planing on 40 kg (88lb)

2) does my filtration system look ok? i am planing on adding lr rubble to a submerged compartment of my sump. in the mean time should i add bio balls?

3) do i need to add my skimmer (deltec 600 asp) straight away?
my wife is not impressed! does anyone have any advice on how to reduce the gurgling from the stand pipe, or any other noise reduction advise.

4) gurgling - with anything running the setup sounds like Nigara falls!! my wife is not very happy! does anyone have any noise reduction advice?

i know there are no hard and fast rules in this game, but your advice and/or thoughts on these points would be greatly appreciated.

once again guys, thanks for your advice, iwouldn't be at this point without you.

regards

Mark

 

[seaham358]

Add the LR now, If the LR is cured you may not even have a cycle...
I would bring the temp up to 77-78. IMO.....
Add the skimmer now.... It may not skim right away in a new tank but this will give you time to get used to it and figure out how to adjust it.
88 lbs is a good start... Most like to see at least 1 lb per gallon.
There are fixes for the sound on this forum..... Do a search...
What type of overflow do you have..... Overflow box, tank drilled- back or bottom?
NO bioballs at all..... With LR BB are not needed.....
I would only add 1-2 shrimp ...
Do you plan on corals??? If so you may want to bump up the salinity to .025 in that area. Don't get me wrong corals can live in .021, but .025 is the preferred SG/salinity.

 

[thepirate]

cheers seaham,

the tank is drilled at the back with a wier, in the wier is an open top 1 1/4" about 1/2" below the top edge of the weir. from the back of the tank a felxible waste pipe runs to a ball valve and then into the sump. i've already searched for the noise issues, i'll try again.

i will get some base rock to supplent the live rock for now, , live rock is ridiculously expensive in the uk - £9kg ($8lb).

i'll increase the salinity and temp - cheers

mark