Setting Up My Tank

[SkiFletch]

dont use lava rock, very often it has very nasty stuff in it that you dont want in your tank. I'd just fit as much LR as you can in the space provided without putting stress on the walls of the filter. i've got no feel for the size of your canisters, but if you want to seed other rocks within them, use baserock (dead liverock) which is usually much cheaper. beware though, some places sell baserock which really never was liverock to begin with. check the rock out and make sure its porous and even perhaps has dead critters all over it

 

[Aquascaper]

As SkiFletch says, put as much as you can comfortably fit in the cannisters without stressing it. I personally wouldn't put anything other than cured live rock in the cannisters as you don't really have the time to wait for reef bones (base rock) to seed, this being your main filtration but it will come down to cost.

If you do decide to add some base rock one way check if its any good is to knock it against another piece. It should crumble, if it doesn't then its more than likely ocean rock which is non-porous and pretty much useless. Generally the lighter the rock the better the porosity, ocean rock tends to be very heavy and smooth, sometimes with large holes through it whereas reef bones look the same as live rock, just a lighter colour.

 

[ANIM4L]

ok i have a few peices of big base rock, the good kind, one in the tank and one not being used, there are little things that lok like dead corals and stuff on them (small stuff) but it is very light. should i then seed it with live rock in the cannister or not? should i not use filter floss or anything, i was reading around an dpeople said if you dont then debris floats everywhere, is this true? or would i be fine iwhtout that, im going now to buy some live rock, ill be back in a bit...

 

[Aquascaper]

If you've got the base rock and is surplus to requirement then break it up with a hammer and put it in. Filter floss is a waste of time and you'll find that after an hour or two all floating debris will be caught by your rockwork where it will decompose and be broken down.

 

[ANIM4L]

ive heard lots of debate against and for filter floss in the aquarium, i know it catches so much it causes nitrates to leak into the tank, but will the tank still look really good without all that floss in it? if so, i might set up the rena xp3 for bio and leave the xp2 for just flow... or should i take another approach?

what happens with the live rock if there is no lighting hitting them? cuz inside of a canister there is no light, will the LR still work just as good?

 

[ANIM4L]

also side note, do bristleworms sustain massive temps? if i can get rid of them now if i have any (obviously dcant tell yet) i want to before i add anything to the tank, so like, if they cant sustain low temps ro high temps, can i kill them off that way, or would i cause more harm than anything elsE?

 

[Aquascaper]

ive heard lots of debate against and for filter floss in the aquarium, i know it catches so much it causes nitrates to leak into the tank, but will the tank still look really good without all that floss in it?

Filter floss is a waste of time and you'll find that after an hour or two all floating debris will be caught by your rockwork where it will decompose and be broken down.

Filter floss is used to 'polish' the water as a final stage of filtration to remove fine suspended particles mainly in freshwater tanks, due to the increased levels of micro-organisms in saltwater the floss gets clogged fast and these micro-organisms break down causing Nitrate levels to increase.

what happens with the live rock if there is no lighting hitting them? cuz inside of a canister there is no light, will the LR still work just as good?

It's the bacteria in the live rock that does the filtration, not the stuff living on the outside, thus it does not require any light to 'work'. All live rock requires is a good flow of water runing over & through it.

also side note, do bristleworms sustain massive temps? if i can get rid of them now if i have any (obviously dcant tell yet) i want to before i add anything to the tank, so like, if they cant sustain low temps ro high temps, can i kill them off that way, or would i cause more harm than anything elsE?

Why would you want to remove one of the best detritivores that you can find that will help keep your tank clean?

 

[ANIM4L]

thanks for the straight forward answers, that helped a lot! Ok so i set up my tanka little bit differently, more water flow mainly... but abotu the bristleworms, i just didnt want to get any of the bad kind i heard about, but i iwll leave it all alone now...

ok so my tank, after running for 11 days, now has much more water flow, i got rid of the rena xp2, i fi need to carbon the tank for medical reasons, i will set it up on the floor on the side, temporarily, but until i need it, it is in the closet, i moved things around abit, added a bit mroe rock, and this is what i have now:

60 gallon tank

2x aquaclear 700 (400gph each)
2x zoo med proscraper rotating powerheads (270gph each)
rena xp3 canister filter (350 gph and all live rock inside)
marineland seaclone protein skimmer 100 (up to 100 gallons)
over 75 lbs live rock in tank
30 lbs base rock in tank
40lbs live sand
60 lbs aragonite

1690 gph water flow (28.16 x turnover)

this is what i have running, currently, my readings with tests have been pretty good, i was testing every day, but iwth minimal change, i decided to test every 3-4 days, tonight i will be testing, but according to the last test 4 days ago, my ammonia is down a bit, to .25, nitrites still the same, and nitrates i bit hgher, i dont remember numbers, nothing high, but still dont want anything in the tank yet, i may go start a clean up crew on thursday, went down to my friends fish store, and i might be getting about 20 blue legs, some snails, couple peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp to start off, pretty cheap, and then later a couple emerald crabs and others, first fish is probably going to be a firefish, but i might wait on the fish part, i want to order my new lights first.... do the cleanup crew need lights on the tank? i have no lights on right now whiel tank is cycling, is it ok to put the crabs and stuff in? thanks for all the help