Initial water fill

[MarkW19]

When I start up my tank, I'm going to be putting some livesand, cured live rock in it from the beginning. But obviously I need to mix my saltwater first. So, should I put the RO water/salt into the tank and mix it with the powerhead/heater and then when it's at the correct SG, THEN add the livesand into the water? Will this cloudy the water up, or will it settle down after a bit? Then after the water has cleared, I'll add the liverock, and turn my filter on.

Does this sound ok?

 

[MACATUA]

You can do it either way. If you do it that way it will cloud the water, so you will have to wait for a settle or run a filter on it for a few days. The easier way is to mix your water in anther container. Put all the sand in and put a plain glass plate on bottom on top of the sand. Pour you water on that and you won't stir up as much sand. Then add you LR so you can then see what you are doing.

 

[chase33]

If you put the sand in after the water your tank will become cloudy and can last from a few days to a week or so. I agree with the suggestion made by Macatua.

 

[roka64]

I agree, premix the water. If you are using a hydrometer, get the temp to what you are going to run in the tank. I found that hydros don't measure correctly with cold water.....

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'll be different...

Premixing that first fill outside the tank is a pain. If you're going to put your rock directly on the tank bottom, and not on the sand, I'd say mix it in the tank. Just make sure you get the water up to temp before adding the salt. Then add your rock. Easiest way I found to add sand with rock and water in the tank was to fill ziplock bags with rinsed wet sand, squeeze the air out of them, and seal them. Lower the bags into the water and carefully open the ziplock and squeeze the sand out. You'll still end up with a sandstorm, but it should be fairly minor and settle out in a day.

Benefit of putting the rock directly on the bottom is that you are sure that nothing is going to burrow under the rock and topple your aquascaping. However, it does make it pretty much impossible to remove rocks without messing things up really bad.

 

[austinsdad]

I like mixing it in the tank also. Leave the top 4th or so empty for any FW adjustments needed. Also this'll allow room for rocks and sand and the water displacement that'll occur. I mixed my sand in the tank and pointed a couple of PH's at the bottom. All was fine in a day or two. Of course the added sand will make it cloudy for another day or so - but at that point, get the PHs from shooting at the bottom now.

 

[melosu58]

So, should I put the RO water/salt into the tank and mix it with the powerhead/heater and then when it's at the correct SG, THEN add the livesand into the water?

Yes I would do it this way. Then let it run a day or two so the salinity will stabilize and then add the sand and LR. Yes the sand will cloudy the water up but it will settle in a few days. Make sure you do a good fishless cycle.

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