Newbie questions

[_salty_]

Hi Reef Central!
I'm in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank; a used 90 gallon reef ready, and I have a couple questions. My tank is dry, I'm still staining the stand so I have a ways to go.

Do you keep the power heads, skimmer and return pump running 24 hours a day? Stupid question and I'm leaning towards yes but it must be asked.

I have about 90 lbs of previously live, now bleached and dried rock and bought 60lbs of new, dry sand. I'm fairly sure I got most of the dead/organics off the rock. I plan on ordering 20 lbs each of live rock from Tampa bay saltwater and gulf live rock and also their live sand for biodiversity and bacteria. Should I put the live rock/sand in when I first start the tank or should I let it all dry stuff cycle first and add the new live rock/sand? Has anyone mixed dry sand and live sand? Does it matter if they are different size grains??

I bought a used system that came with a light. How do I know if the bulbs are still good? They turn on but how do I know if they are...what word am I looking for...potent? Strong enough?
It's a 48" Coralife LED bar, has 2 rows of lights. I don't know how old it is or how long it was used.

Thanks reefcentral!

 

[James77]

Hi and welcome to the site

Yes, keep powerheads, return and skimmer running all the time. You may choose to briefly stop them during feeding. I never have.

If by bleached rock you mean actual bleach, make sure you rinse that rock well. When starting a tank yeah you can add it all and let the die off, and subsequent cure/cycle happen. I wouldn't bother with the live sand, any dry sand will turn live with the rock you are adding. "Live sand" can be a waste of money. Same can be said for a lot of the live rock out there, but the live rock speak of will actually have some life on it.

LED last quite some time. It is hard to say how good they are in terms of original power without knowing the age, but LEDs typically run 5-7 years of still being usable. That particular fixture is going to be fairly limited in what it can keep. But there are plenty of lower light LPS corals/polyps that will likely do pretty well. I am not familiar with the light, just going off a quick glance of its info online.

 

[pshootr]

Yes, all of your pumps will run continuously.

You may want to cycle your dry rock with the sand before you add any live rock. This way you will have some biological activity for any die off you may have on the live rock. Different sized grains of sand is not a problem, however you may want the top layer to be the larger grain so that it will move around less from your pumps.

LED lights do not need to be replaced frequently like T5's or metal halide, so the lights should be fine as long as they are the correct wattage and Spectrum.

Hi Reef Central!
I'm in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank; a used 90 gallon reef ready, and I have a couple questions. My tank is dry, I'm still staining the stand so I have a ways to go.

Do you keep the power heads, skimmer and return pump running 24 hours a day? Stupid question and I'm leaning towards yes but it must be asked.

I have about 90 lbs of previously live, now bleached and dried rock and bought 60lbs of new, dry sand. I'm fairly sure I got most of the dead/organics off the rock. I plan on ordering 20 lbs each of live rock from Tampa bay saltwater and gulf live rock and also their live sand for biodiversity and bacteria. Should I put the live rock/sand in when I first start the tank or should I let it all dry stuff cycle first and add the new live rock/sand? Has anyone mixed dry sand and live sand? Does it matter if they are different size grains??

I bought a used system that came with a light. How do I know if the bulbs are still good? They turn on but how do I know if they are...what word am I looking for...potent? Strong enough?
It's a 48" Coralife LED bar, has 2 rows of lights. I don't know how old it is or how long it was used.

Thanks reefcentral!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[vrba]

When you say "bleached", hopefully not with with actual bleach.

 

[_salty_]

Yep, actual Clorox bleach water, as instructed by the local fish store:worried2:

 

[pshootr]

Yep, actual Clorox bleach water, as instructed by the local fish store:worried2:

To be safe, you could put that rock in a brute trash with a powerhead and let it run for a few weeks just to make sure that any of the chlorine has off gased.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[pshootr]

Freshwater could be used for this. After a couple or few weeks it should be fine.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[pshootr]

Or if you don't have a brute trash can, you can simply do it in the tank. It just may take longer for your cycle.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[_salty_]

They sat outside for a couple months and were full of spiders and grew a little algae. I dipped them in 30 gallons of water with 1 cup bleach to swish all the spiders and moths out. Then soaked in prime and water for an hour and dried in the sun and then taken to my basement. Still needs a couple weeks in fresh water?

 

[pshootr]

They sat outside for a couple months and were full of spiders and grew a little algae. I dipped them in 30 gallons of water with 1 cup bleach to swish all the spiders and moths out. Then soaked in prime and water for an hour and dried in the sun and then taken to my basement. Still needs a couple weeks in fresh water?

I would say chances are any chlorine has already off gased. However it wouldn't hurt to put them in circulating water for a week or two at least just as a precautionary measure. If you have a way to test chlorine then just test it after you fill the tank.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[_salty_]

Will do, thank you for your replies!!

 

[pshootr]

Your local fish store might even be willing to test it for you

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[pshootr]

Will do, thank you for your replies!!

No problem. [emoji106]

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk