Filling first tank!

[ericbye]

I just bought a 50 gallon long tank, it will be FOWLR. If i am going to do the live sand should i first add the live sand and have water ready to go in it? I dont have abucket large enough for all the water, so it would probably take at least 3 to 5 seperate water additions. Or could i add the water into the empty tank, get the salinity right and then add the live sand. haha and last question, could i just use 20lbs of live sand and let that seed a bunch of regular sand from hd, i asked an lfs this and he pointed out another bag of sand that wasnt live, but still cost the same.
So basically sand before water? or can i do water and then sand?
For this size of tank how much sand am i going to want to add, and how much live sand willl it take to seed it. I also plan on getting some live rock soon after teh fill and sand.

 

[kraze3]

I would fill with water and get your salinity right. then add your LR then finally tour sand. placing the rock on the bottom will lessen the chance of them falling over especially if you get any borrowing fish.
Yes you can add play sand and then seed with live sand. many fellow reefers would be glad to give you some of thier life sand. You can look at your local HD for kolorscape sand its about 3 dollars and change for a 50 lb bag.
Finally how much sand is up to you, I dont like DSB's so I just add an inch or two of sand for the look.

 

[reefer_for_life]

get enough sand to whatever looks the best for you. dont buy that live sand in a bag, waste of money. get the LFS to give you some sand out of one of there tanks when you buy your live rock, this will get your sandbed plenty alive. i would add the dead sand first, fill with water using the garbage bag method to fill your tank, then get your live rock and live sand, let cycle for a few weeks and your ready to roll. good luck.

 

[ericbye]

ok, i also heard that when you buy sand from hd or whatever you should put it in a bucket and run a hose at it until its clear, this supposedly removes all the light dusty stuff that will cloud the tank easily. and jsut to make sure
Doesnt really matter if water goes in first.
How much live sand do i need to seed dead sand?
Thanks a ton this place has been a lot of help.

 

[kraze3]

Yes i rinsed mine like that. filled a bucked 1/3 with sand then with water, swish it around and dump out the top cloudy water. do it like 10-12 times and the water should stay pretty clean. on my last rinse i used ro/di water.

Just about any amount will eventually seed your sand. The more you get the faster it will be til its all LS. I also would recommend getting from more than one person, adds variation.

Im not sure what you mean by "Doesnt really matter if water goes in first." I only suggested that your rock be on the bottom for extra support. There are other ways: You can build sort of "shelves" out of pvc, you can glue rock together, plastic zip ties, Plastic rods thru the rock. Theres many ways to do it right, sand last is how i did mine and I have had no problems.

 

[ericbye]

once all the cycling is done what you you guys say would go well in a 50 gallon long, fowlr. I was thinkin about getting a pair of clowns, but not sure what else yet. Im lookin to keep with pretty bright colors, thats why i switched to sw from fw

 

[angelsj247]

maybe a flame or a coral angel

 

[gabegmonkey]

What about a Mandarin fish? That's probably my fave SW fish and they have enough color for two or three fish...

 

[angelsj247]

like a dragonet mandarin? those are suppsed to be addded to a well established tank.. because they only eat copepods, harldy ever acept fish food, and it takes months to get them well established.. but i do really like those also.

 

[gabegmonkey]

Maybe if Eric likes that type of fish it could be a long term goal... you know like save enough tank space for a Mandarin and keep it running long enough to get one. I'm just starting to get into Saltwater myself, so I don't all the ins and outs of everything... I'm in the "going to the library and reading all the books they have before setting up a tank" phase... HAHA

 

[mslade1979]

take on board what angels has said, i started a thread, and wanted the same fish "mandarin" and ive had several posts stating that they need a well established tank and will find it hard to feed, if there is not enough pods!!!! there such a nice fish but u have to do whats right buy them or not at all, its a responsebility not just a hobby after all !!!