Just added live rock, got a question for ya?

[Mach]

I just added 160lb of LR into my tank and 50lbs of live sand. My water is cloudy as hell. Should I just let it settle on its own, or turn on my canister filter? The water looks very thick and milky sorta. Is this something to worry about? Also when should i do my first water change. And how much should I change out? One last question. I know LR does bio filtration on its own, but should I put my canister filter to rest or continue to use it with the rock?


Thanks,
Anthony

 

[Mach]

Also should I be turning on my powerheads for water flow?

 

[steve-s]

Should I just let it settle on its own, or turn on my canister filter? I know LR does bio filtration on its own, but should I put my canister filter to rest or continue to use it with the rock?

If you run the canister, I would suggest using for extra water flow or when needed to hold media. It can be great for resins, carbons and a polyfilter pad but I would not suggest using at an actual part of your filtration. Let your sandbed and rock do that.

The water looks very thick and milky sorta. Is this something to worry about?

At this stage it is nothing to worry about. It will take a little time to clear up but if you have a skimmer get it running and it will help immensely. Is the rock cured or uncured? A little carbon in the canister will help with any nasty odors if the rock is "raw". Just be sure it gets cleaned out regularly or it will become clogged and impede your progress.

Also when should i do my first water change. And how much should I change out?

Really depends on if the rock was cured or not. If pre-cured you will most likely not need to do a water change until the ammonia and nitrite portion of the cycle are done and then do a large water change afterwards to get the nitrate down and the chem back in order. There will still be some die off if the rock was pre cured so you should get enough ammonia to fuel the cycle. If not you can easy drop in a few raw shrimp to aid with that. This article should help with that...
How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish.

If the rock came in uncured teaming with life you will need to do water changes regularly 10-15% or possibley a bit more depending on die off. You need to keep the ammonia from reaching high levels in order to keep as many hitchikers alive as possible. This article should help you in that case...
Curing Live Rock? I didn't even know it was sick!!

Also should I be turning on my powerheads for water flow?

As much water flow as possible as possible (within reason) will always be best, especially surface aggitation. For a 90 gal tank I would shoot for about 1200-1400GPH excluding the skimmer pump. I would also suggest just running with actinic lkighting in the beginning for only few hours a day. It will help keep the light dependant hitchikers and coralline going but will minimize unwanted algae problems.

Cheers
Steve

 

[fishfreek]

I was going to answer this but once again steve-s has it coverd.