New to saltwater need some help

[Bsnow0410]

My tank is coming along piece by piece and I'm getting so anxious. My return pump should be here today...Ordered 75lbs of rock today along with supply's like test kit vacuum another power head to make that 3 power heads. And the only thing that will be left to do is plumb it and test it.

 

[Bsnow0410]

Finally got my rocks and got my aqua scape together. Trying to get my ro/di system hooked up and not going so we'll. once I figure it out I'm gunna rinse my why crystal reef sand and get that in there only looking for about an 1 inch maybe 1 1/2 inches. Still gotta get refugium mud and algae but that will come after the cycle.

 

[Rmckoy]

Looks very nice .
Maybe over time you can add more rock .
I would recommend more sand then the 1" mentioned .
2" is ideal

 

[Bsnow0410]

Looks very nice .
Maybe over time you can add more rock .
I would recommend more sand then the 1" mentioned .
2" is ideal

Thanks man and yea that's the plan...once I get the water I'm gunna get the cycle going and buy some actual live rock to help the cycle even more along. And yea I don't want to much. I started out with 60 pound so if I need to buy more I'm gunna mix in some black sand So I'll have about two inches all together hopefully

 

[Rmckoy]

What size tank is it ?
Ideally you want 1.5 lbs of rock per gallon

 

[Bsnow0410]

What size tank is it ?
Ideally you want 1.5 lbs of rock per gallon

It's a 75 and yea that's what I'm going for around there. I got 75 pounds in there now roughly

 

[Rmckoy]

I have a 75
And close to 160 lbs of rock .
No sump and hang on skimmer .

 

[Bsnow0410]

I have a 75
And close to 160 lbs of rock .
No sump and hang on skimmer .

Wow that's a lot of rock

 

[Rmckoy]

I read a lot about the Berlin method
Stating the use of a good skimmer and 2lbs rock per gallon is a good method for filtration .
I run a eheim 2217 with only filter floss just to remove the dust and to polish the water

 

[Bsnow0410]

I read a lot about the Berlin method
Stating the use of a good skimmer and 2lbs rock per gallon is a good method for filtration .
I run a eheim 2217 with only filter floss just to remove the dust and to polish the water

I'll keep that in mind I still have to pick up a skimmer for my sump

 

[Bsnow0410]

Finally got my ro/di system hooked up and running so the past two almost three days have been me filling 5 gallons and putting the water in the tank. I got my live sand in and bought an extra 5 pounds of live rock from my local fish store just to help get the cycle started. I'm still in the middle of filling it Alls I have left to fill is the sump. I dumped biospira in as we'll to help the cycle but I'm gunna get a raw shrimp tonight to finish off starting the cycle haha. Almost have my salinity at 1.025 so its almost good.




Gunna be acouple days before is in cloudy haha

 

[Bsnow0410]

I need help big time. I made a mistake and I was putting rufugium mud in the sump and it got real cloudy then obv that water went into the tank and now my whole tank is murky and cloudy...what do I do??? And also my ph is a little low

 

[mr_X]

Well, you should have done this while your return pump was off, and then turned it back on AFTER it settled, but now I would suggest using a HOB or canister filter to clean the mud out of the water.

 

[Bsnow0410]

Ok thanks. And yea i turned it off but it was just alittle to late. I put the filter floss in my hob canister and I'm gunna run it for awhile

 

[Bsnow0410]

How do I raise my ph?

 

[Bsnow0410]

And is it a bad thing that some of the refugium mud went to the bottom and settled on the sand. Is it bad in my display tank???

 

[bribo12]

What's your pH? And I don't think so on the mud

 

[Bsnow0410]

Also just tested my parameters ph was 8.0, ammonia was .50, nitrites were about .50, and nitrates are 5.0. So the cycle has begun

 

[bribo12]

That pH is fine. Don't even worry about pH until your cycle is done

 

[Bsnow0410]

Ok thanks man and yea I figured I wouldn't really have to worry about it but if it's good now I'd rather try to keep it that way. And the mud I'm hoping isn't back. I mean when I do a water change later this week I'm gunna suck most of it up probibly but there will still be some so I don't with it to harm my clean up crew when I get them or any other aquatic life I have in there.