Thinking about a saltwater tank...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Whatever you can afford, really. You can add more base rock as you go and build up to the goal.
 
So could I really just put in the sand and water and start cycling and add rock as I can get it? Because if I can start earlier without my rock, that'd be awesome.
 
I think you need some rock to start with so the bb has a place to live and grow. Then add more base as time goes on.
 
But the filter media is where a lot of the BB lives as well. I'll just start off growing BB there and add my rock as I go and the BB will also start developing there.

I got my sand and salt water today! Over the next few days I'll work on moving the inhabitants over and cleaning out the tank so hopefully this weekend I can set it up. I just have zero dollars for any rock...

Do I really HAVE to have rock to set up the tank?
 
Well I don't see why you can't start with out it. It will grow in the media I've just always thought it is better to have more places for it to live so everytime you add a new invert or fish you had more surface area for it to colonize. :) maybe someone else will chime in who has done it before without the rock to start. I had it so I have no real experience without it.
 
I'm not getting any fish or inverts until I get my rock in there. I just want to set it up with the water and sand and filter to kick start the cycle. The BB will start to colonize the filter and I'll add in my rock ASAP. It's not like once the filter cycles the rock won't. Once I add in the rock the BB will also grow on there. Will this work out fine? I'm just too darn excited to get this set up, and I don't have the money to go and get any rock yet.
 
Ya that should be good you are adding base rock after setup so the fear of a mini cycle should be null and void. I say go for it.
 
Of course you can start cyclin without rock. Some tanks are fish-only, as in NO rock. The BB will start on your sand and filter. Then add base rock when you get some cash, and it'll spread to the rock.
 
The guy at my LFS cut me a deal so I got my rock today! And it's live! I only got about 4 lbs, but he said they will get a shipment in of dry rock sometime next week so I can add some of that later.

So I cleaned out the tank and moved over all the FW inhabitants and such and put in the sand and water. The filter is running as well. The tank is so cloudy you can hardly see in at all so pictures once it clears up...

I tested the specific gravity, and it was at 1.030! That's like crazy high, isn't it? And this is the premixed stuff from petco too... you'd think it would be in a reasonable range. Unless I used the hydrometer wrong?? I bought four gallons of distilled water today, so tomorrow I'll empty some of the salt water out and add in the distilled until I get a lower reader. What should I aim for?
 
1.022-1.027, fish can tolerate lower end, corals like higher end. I usually keep mine 1.025, leaves me a little leeway on either side. :)
 
Okay, sounds good. I think I may have used the hydrometer wrong... Lol and perhaps I didn't get all the air bubbles out. I'll retest again today and if it reads the same i'll switch it out for some distilled water. Any idea how much water i'd need to lower the specific gravity? I have no idea.
 
Thanks :D

I have my shrimp in there now as well. Let the cycling begin! I also boiled some shells and put them in.
 
Shrimp as in my cycling shrimp... NOT the cleaner shrimp lol.. thought I'd clarify that.
 
I had to change out a gallon and a half of saltwater for fresh to get to a reasonable reading... it's now slightly higher than 1.025. Will this suffice? Or should I try and get it a bit lower?
 
okapizebra said:
I had to change out a gallon and a half of saltwater for fresh to get to a reasonable reading... it's now slightly higher than 1.025. Will this suffice? Or should I try and get it a bit lower?
Click to expand...

That's a perfect salinity!! Don't mess with it! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Starting cycle
Replies
4
Views
833
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
P
Worried about exploding tank
Replies
2
Views
180
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
M
Is it even possible to have an Uncycled SW tank?
Replies
2
Views
828
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
R
Tank and Gravel Question
Replies
1
Views
405
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
S
Can I put a 75 gallon tank on hardwood floors?
Replies
3
Views
310
dcutl002
dcutl002

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom