first tank cycling question!!

krusieski

krusieski

New member
hey whats up im new to this and first tank. alittle background i have a 90g rr 60lbs of live sand 30gs of rodi water ready(all i can hold at a time) and salt. i had a question, can i lay the sand on the bed and add 30g of ro water add a time? and start making more water. i know its going to take acouple a days for me to make the 90g and the sump water. so my question is is it ok to add all of the sand and 30 g of water today and over the next couple of days keep adding water as i make it ? i was unsure if it would be bad for the sand if it takes acouple of days for me to fill the whole tank up. thank you for input.
 
krusieski said:
hey whats up im new to this and first tank. alittle background i have a 90g rr 60lbs of live sand 30gs of rodi water ready(all i can hold at a time) and salt. i had a question, can i lay the sand on the bed and add 30g of ro water add a time? and start making more water. i know its going to take acouple a days for me to make the 90g and the sump water. so my question is is it ok to add all of the sand and 30 g of water today and over the next couple of days keep adding water as i make it ? i was unsure if it would be bad for the sand if it takes acouple of days for me to fill the whole tank up. thank you for input.
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Mix the ro with salt with circ pump...put in tank only as mixed saltwater and use wavemaker to move the water. Start added stability or quickstart. Im new so if someone gives different advice they are likely more correct than what I suggest. I filled 200g by mixing 30g at a time until a few inches from overflow. Kept water moving and had live rock without using sump at first.

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I added heater right in tank to keep temp constant..had two since tank way bigger than sump but dont know if needed normally.

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As mentioned above - it is ok to add the water you have to the tank with sand in it, but if it doesn't have salt in it (mixed to 1.024-.026) you will kill anything that is live in it, although at least IMO, there really isn't much live in "live" sand unless it came directly form somebody's tank. "Live" sand in a bag is more a marketing ploy than anything.

Putting one of your heaters in there will help things along as well, and fwiw, having two smaller heaters is way safer than one large one, When they fail they tend to fail "on" and there is less chance of cooking your tank that way..

hth
 
Ok so I can ad all the sand 30g of water today and maybe 30g tomorrow and Tuesday and so fourth? Until I reach desired amount and then add all of the salt and bio spira ?


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krusieski said:
Ok so I can ad all the sand 30g of water today and maybe 30g tomorrow and Tuesday and so fourth? Until I reach desired amount and then add all of the salt and bio spira ?


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krusieski said:
I mean 30g of water with salt mixed in already my bad


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Ok good. :rollface:

Water + salt = good

Water + no salt = fresh water tank:fun4:
 
lol yeh i just wasnt sure if me adding 30g of mixed ro water each day with 60lbs of sand was ok ? becauee it would just be sitting in display tank not moving around


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Yes as long as it's done ASAP! You can do it just don't mix the salt directly in the tank, I have scene some people do it in the past with sand and live rock = disaster.
 
yeh i have it mixing with a powerhead in my brute im going to do 30g tonight and 30g tomorrow and 30g tuesday thats as fast as i can do it lol


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I had about week in which I started filling my tank with salt water. I added one bag of live sand...added live rock only enough to be covered by saltwater u pour in. I didnt fill completely because sump parts were being shipped. After live rock base stones are in you can add your live sand...I added 6 bags of sand a few days after the bulk of saltwater was in there and live rock mostly in DT. Keep in mind that the rock and displacement is quite a bit and you will want to be sure you are ready to turn pump on in sump if you fill to the overflow. I had to add saltwater to cover liverock because my live rock is covered in good and bad algae , worms etc. If the rock is generally not used or already dead it likely can stick out of the water but not 100% sure. You technically do not need the sump going or all the live sand or all live rock or all the saltwater in the beginning. You can just put them in and keep the water moving with a pump. Add stability -like good bacteria. Without fish and inverts to worry about should be able to get started without a huge worry. I dont know if it would be beneficial to put bio filter rock bag in DT temporarily or not so others would want to correct my advice if wrong and chime in on the point of trying to start having a bio filter established for later to put in sump.

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I can mix 30g salt very fast and use it within hour or so. I use red sea coral pro and add 15cups to 30g a little at a time with pump. Clears up quickly...final stir plus 15 min and check salinity.

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Yup you can do it in an hour or less each 30 gallons. It needs to cycle either way and will mix in the tank. Just make sure all salt is desolved in water before adding to tank (stir the heck out if it).
 
ok great i should have the 90g added in acouple of days i was worried the mixed water sitting would be a problem with tge sand wiithout a return pump going for acouple of days


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krusieski said:
ok great i should have the 90g added in acouple of days i was worried the mixed water sitting would be a problem with tge sand wiithout a return pump going for acouple of days


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I usually siphon the mixed salt water into 5g containers.It's nice to have it stored up sometimes. We do the same with ro/di. I hate pouring from the containers but its nice to have on hand.

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Good to know you can mix 30 gallons in an hour or so. I will need to fill my brute container like 4 times to get mine full. I should be able to get the whole thing done over the weekend then.
 
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