My 1st saltwater tank

[Lindsay1718]

Hey everyone,
It has been a long process but my tank is almost ready to cycle. I had initially thought I'd just buy pre made saltwater but, after thinking I would pay the same amount for water 1 time filling tank and quarantine then buying a ro/di system I went ahead and ordered one. So just waiting on that should be here in 2 days. In what order do I put the water, sand, rock? And how does sump get filled just let it fill itself. Here's some pics so far.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Nice looking tank!


I would put the rock in first, then the sand, then gently add water.

Rock first so it's already on the bottom. Then if you have fish that dig they won't cause the rocks to shift.

Sand second because if you are gentle with adding water it hopefully won't cloud up too much.

What are your plans for the tank? Fish? Coral?

 

[Lindsay1718]

Well I want to start with fish and some soft corals then add some more lights later for hard corals. I like
Pair of clown
Flame angel(I know they can nip but I really like them)
Purple fire fish
Watchmen goby or engineer goby not sure yet
Fox face
Carpenter wrasse
Not sure what else yet.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Oh yeah I was going to mix salt in tank for the initial setup so I thought of putting water 1st, thoughts? Anything I should know about adding salt?

Lindsay

 

[Beengirl]

Water first is fine. I did it that's way for initial set up. Then rock. Then put bags of sand IN the water, cut it (while in water) and pour it out. This might take 2 people, depending on how coordinated you are - I'm NOT, so took 2 of us. Lol. Doing it this way, my 55g with 80# sand was clear in 2 days.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Anything I should know about mixing salt?

 

[Beengirl]

I used instant ocean salt, others might be different. But for each 5 gal bucket, I put in 2 1/2 cups of the salt. Mixed it up a little and poured it in. That'll give you a specific gravity right about 1.025. Then I put in the heater and let it heat up overnight so the salt would dissolve. Then added rocks and sand next day.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Ive heard you don't use a skimmer for cycling. So do I just leave off until cycle is done?

 

[Convict2161]

Ive heard you don't use a skimmer for cycling. So do I just leave off until cycle is done?

You don't need to run the skimmer during the cycle, there's little to no skimmate.

 

[Beengirl]

Yep, no skimmer for cycle. Leave it off till cycle is done. Whether you're doing the shrimp rotting method or feeding the tank fish food, the purpose of a skimmer is to remove excess organics before they can turn into ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. For the cycle, you WANT those things to turn into amm, nitrite and Trates. So having the skimmer on will actually work against your cycling.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Makes since. I am so excited I got 80 lbs of live sand today and will pick up live rock on thursday. I'm getting rock off craigslist he's keeping it live with heater and circulation it has done mushrooms & purple coraline algae on it, will they survive the cycle? Also, he only has 60 lbs will that be enough for my 70 gallon tank?

 

[Beengirl]

That amount of rock will be fine. There are tanks that are fish only- no rock at all, and they do fine. You can really have as much or as little rock as pleases you. Bacteria will grow on the rock you have and the sand and filter (or sump) and anything else you put in there. It'll all work out. The 1 1/2-2 # is a guideline, not a hard and fast rule.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Will the mushrooms and coralline algae make it through cycle?

 

[Bearchumjs]

Coraline will. I had minimal lighting and it did fine. Mushrooms? I don't know.

 

[flyingazel]

Beengirl helped me learn more about the live rock and sand so thanks, cool set up here.

 

[Beengirl]

Beengirl helped me learn more about the live rock and sand so thanks, cool set up here.

Glad I was helpful!! I live to serve! Lol