Water

[seffieuk]

Will be getting water and live rock next saturday so will start to post pics on my progress

Don't forget you will need to bring the water up to temp, then add the salt and powerheads for at the least 12 hours but better 24 hrs - so maybe water, Saturday, rock Sunday

you need to be looking for a sg of 35ppm or a little under

Seffie x

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

Hi Seffie .. Thanks for that .. I iam determined to take this slow . My big problem at the moment is to try and get the salt / water ratio right .. how much salt per litre . when i get that sorted i can then multiply by 34l = how much salt .. east peasy ??

 

[seffieuk]

35 grams per litre , try putting in a little less to start with and then check sg with a refractometer

Seffie x

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

35 grams per litre , try putting in a little less to start with and then check sg with a refractometer

Seffie x

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

Thanks Seffie.. I am hopeing to get to my LFS after work tomorrow .So with a bit of luck should have my live sand and water in tomorrow night. and live rock in on Saturday.

 

[seffieuk]

Whoaaaaaaa, hold your horses, water in first, then live rock, then sand

Seffie x

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

ooooops .. just thought that the live sand that i.ve got is in a pre packed bag and looks damp ..so presumed that it would be ok with the water ...
Told you new to salt ... boy i have a lot to learn

 

[seffieuk]

I can understand your thinking and its a common mistake, luckily you asked first

We put the rock in first as we have many creatures in our tanks that like to burrow, so if they burrowed under the sand which is under rock I expect you can guess what might happen - the whole thing can come crashing down

Seffie x

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

when you put it like that . it makes sense .. totaly different from TROPICAL .. You guys must think i'm a numpty.. well you're all probably right...
Still .. i think i'll check every step with you guys ... THE EXPERTS... thanks

 

[seffieuk]

Nah, we have all been there and done that, so to speak - I would be more worried if you were not asking

Seffie x

 

[Yuma]

Lookin good Dive!!

And don't worry about asking too many questions....trust me I've asked a TON.

Once you get your water, live rock and sand in you can start your rock watching.

If you're lucky, you might even find a few hitchhikers on that rock that make the watching a little more interesting. You'll want to keep an eye on your water stats so you can know when you have completed your cycle. Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH. It's not necessary to do EVERY day, but I did when I started so I could watch the cycle happen. If you've got good quality live rock you may have a very small/short cycle.

I think I saw on your other post that you had skimmer, etc. No need to run the skimmer as there's nothing to skim at the moment, and if you have filter, I'd take the media out....your live rock is going to be your filter. Definitely want your powerheads in there though circulating your water.

Looking forward to your progress.

Yuma

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

Hi Guys.. Thanks agian .. Just to clarify

1st water
2nd leave 24 - 48hrs
3rd live rock
4th leave 24hrs
5th live sand
6th leave to cycle 2-4 weeks


the equipment i will be using
34 litre aqua one 418 tank
t5 lights on timer
48 led blue lights on timer
wave generator
protien skimmer
heater

oh !!!! and a lot of luck

 

[Yuma]

Dive-

Pretty much. The 24 hours on the water is for the salt to be fully mixed in and to stabilize the PH (oh, and bring the temperature up). There are differing opinions on how long this takes, but as Seffie mentioned, 12 hours is generally minimum, 24 recommended.

After water is mixed and stable, the live rock goes in, and you've got that setup like you want it, sand can go in right behind it...no need to wait 24 hours, unless you wanna take a look at your rock configuration a few times to see if you have it "Just like you want it".

I laugh, because I think everyone on here has moved rock around at one time or another eventhough they thought they had it just like they wanted it. I messed with mine for a week before I got it where it is now. If you do change it once the sand is in, make sure you give it a couple good twists to get it down on the bottom of the tank as much as possible.

Honestly, if you don't have anything on the live rock that needs it, i.e. hitchhikers, softies or mushrooms, there's no need for lighting either as you'll just grow algae. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something easily avoided. On a positive note, algae does go away after it depletes it's food source or is eaten by your clean-up crew so no need to worry about it too much. I put my lights on an 8 hour cycle to start, just cause I wanted to watch the tank in some light and my second batch of live rock had some mushrooms on it so I had to have the light.

Then you're down to the cycle. I've seen some in as little as 2 weeks, and some take 6 weeks. A lot will depend on the quality of the live rock and it's hard to know for sure just what you're getting. The only way to know when cycle is finished is with the water tests.

One other note. Powerhead placement. The goal is to maximize flow in as much of the tank as possible and certainly have good flow over/through the live rock. Any low flow or dead spot areas will tend to grow algae. If you have more than one (and you should) you should direct one at the surface for surface agitation to help with the gas exchange on the surface. This will aide in PH stability.

Sorry, that got long winded. Cliff notes version is you can eliminate "4th" in your steps.

Yuma

 

[DIVEPHOTO]

Hi Yuma .. It's not long winded .. as always good info. i have the internal filter that was used when it was a tropical tank .. i could use the powehead part for the surface flow. and the wave generator for flowing over the live rock .(seffie informed me that i dont need an internal filter due to the live rock ... sweet now i can use the powerhead ).
Really looking forward to getting started .. some of the pics iv'e seen are stunning .. may take a while but iv'e got a pic in my minds eye of what i wan't ?? so fingers crossed

cheers

 

[Yuma]

Looking forward to see it progress.

Don't forget to start a journal and take lots of pictures...we like pictures.

Yuma