New FOWLR Tank; Some Setup Questions

[srg]

Hi everyone,

I decided to take the plunge into saltwater. I picked up a 38 Gal tank kit. I'm filling it with deionized water. I have 20 lbs of aragonite substrate, plus 20 pounds of aragonite live sand.

So far, I added the "dead" aragonite, and I'm in the process of filling up the tank (it takes trips back and forth to my DI-water source).

Once it's filled up, I plan on adding Instant Ocean as well as turning on the electronics (HOB filter and heater) and stabilize the specific gravity/salinity and temperature. Then I'll add the live sand as well as order a live rock (maybe 20 lbs?). Finally, after that is fully cycled (should I add some ammonia to help?), I'll add a fish.

My question: If I'm using deionized water, do I still need to treat it with a conditioner?

Eventually, I will be upgrading to a canister filter. Hopefully my HOB filter will be ok until then. I also plan on getting a skimmer when I add some livestock down the road.

Is a powerhead recommended for circulation? Maybe a 500 gal/hour one?

Thanks!

[Zacks]

Well, first of all an hob filter is not gonna do you much good at all really, use the hob but with a protein skimmer as well, the 38 gallon is a decent size for a nano fowlr tank, but also isn't small enough to not need a skimmer. As for sand, you sound pretty good in that area... As for live rock, you can buy live rock (gets expensive, I bought all mine live) or you can buy base rock. What I did in my 20 gallon was I used a bunch of leftover pool filter sand from my 55 gallon, added 21 pounds of live rock, then put a bottle of bio-spira bacteria supplement and it was ready for fish in a week. I don't have a skimmer, as my tank is half the size of yours and I do 20% water changes every week now. I also run a 370 gph canister and a uv sterilizer, and a 500 gph powerhead and my little system works put perfect, hope yours does the same 😄


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[Zacks]

Another answer to your question, when cycling, you can basically *** tap water, the water itself will sort itself out over time and w/o livestock present there won't be any issues


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