Start of new tank

[Fballvera22]

Well i did it. I finally started my salt water tank. I am going to work on it over time. I have 15 lbs of base rock in a 29 gal with 10 lbs of live rock throughout. I was told that after about 6-8 months the live rock will have cultured the base rock. I was also told that i could help the process by adding a little bit of calcium and by doing water changes. Is that all i need to do? I am going to probably buy a skimer next weekend. Would it help at all to add the skimer to the tank.

This is perfect for me b/c now i am forced to wait 6-8 months before doing anything else ( i tend to dive into things and try to do everything at once). It will also allow me to save up some more money and do some more research. Thanks.

 

[1979camaro]

i wouldnt add calcium, but you will need to do water changes...the salt mix should replenish any calcium being used up

and, you wouldnt necessarily have to wait 6-8 months for the rock to seed before you could being stocking, but it will help...and you may find some exciting things growing out of your LR

welcome to the addictive world of the SW hobby

 

[dbacksrat]

hmm...while curing my LR, i found it helpful to have my skimmer running

yeah you could wait 6-8 months before you stock that tank--but i dont know how someone could be that patient

 

[Fballvera22]

Well, to be honest, i probably wont wait that long. But not having any money and knowing that i am going to be moving in about 7 months. So it would be easier for me to just let the base rock seed and save up money untill i move and then start really getting in to it.
So if i got it right, get a skimmer, water changes, would you say 10% weekly or what?, no need for calcium. Is there anything else i could add that would help.

Thanks for your help

 

[wayne]

If you're doing 10% weekly I'd say anything more is wasting your money.

 

[DSK]

WOW, let me get this straight you set up a sw tank, with base rock and live rock, your going to wait 7 months, then move, then set it back up?

When you move just make sure you keep ALL of your water. that just seems like a lot of unnecessary work. Why didnt you just wait until you moved to start it? Dont get me wrong i think that rocks that you got a sw tank. and good luck!!!!!!!

 

[aresgod]

i did the same thing but with a 40 gallon, it was not such a big deal to move it... takes about a day to breakdown, move and set up again

 

[Fballvera22]

Well, all i have is the rock. I dont have any thing else. So it shouldn't be that hard to move. I will put the water in some 5 gal jugs for the move. I am only moveing about 5 min away so it wont be that bad

 

[1979camaro]

personally, i dont think you even need to save the water, most of your goodies will be in the LR so if you keep them wet you will be good...though for a 5 minute drive you might as well

 

[dbacksrat]

if its only 5 mins away, you could get away with a couple of fish...and some inverts

 

[Fballvera22]

I probably could, but this way i am forced to take it slow and it also gives me a chance to save up some money

 

[DSK]

Your doing it right by waiting it out, most people dont want to, and dont but congradulations.

Let us know how everything goes for you.

 

[Fballvera22]

Will do and thanks to everyone for all of your help

 

[Fballvera22]

I got some great deals this weekend. My LFS had a "garage sale" where people could bring thier used items and sell them. I went and got some amazing deals:

Red Sea Prizm Skimmer - $15
Rio 2100 Pump - $2
AquaClear Powerhead 201 - $2
AquaClear Powerhead 301 - $2
300W & 200W - $8 each
3 lbs Live rock - $12

All of which are in working order and the owner said that if any of the items crap out after a week or two, he will replace or refund. SO now i have about 15 - 18 lbs of live rock, a skimmer, a heater, a powerhead, and a whisper filter on my tank, which will soon be moved to my 29 and at that time i will add a cruched coral bottom or a sand bottom. I cant decide which to go with. Any suggestions

 

[1979camaro]

i would go with sand

looks like a nice assemblage of equipment there, should get you on your way

 

[aresgod]

I would go with sand as well, looks much nicer than crushed coral, and depending on the grade it will help with the nittrification process more than the crushed coral, i know a guy that sells great live sand, 70$ for 50 lbs including shipping
its good stuff, all sorts of worms and creatures and what not. let me know if ur interested

 

[S.Reef]

Carib Sea sells 20lb bags of live sand for around 30 bucks. I use this in all of my tanks and like it a lot.

 

[1979camaro]

garf grunge is some awesome stuff too...and pretty cheap if i recall my readings

 

[Fballvera22]

I was wondering. What keeps the live rock alive. The bacteria needs something to live off of and i would assume it is ammonia. So if i go a length of time with out fish or adding ammonia, will anyhting happen to the rock?

 

[aresgod]

no, the rock will develop better and if you give it time you will find all sorts of stuff, I just found a bright green shrimp looking thing that i think is probably a pod, he is about 3/8" long bright green and has eye balls that stick out off the side of his head, pretty cool looking, and im finding stuff like this all the time, so no your rock will be fine, anyone know what the green guy is? sorry to hijack you thread...