This does not equate to the OP wanting to put all their critters in their tank all at once :surprise:

The nitrogen cycle needs to be visited here, and the OP should re-consider their plans, or re-read about the cycle and have second thoughts

I don't want to come across as some kind of 'naesco' kinda guy( and I kinda respect naesco's thoughts most times), but there are limits to my keeping my lips 'zipped'

It's nice to see you asking questions about populating your tank, so take some good advice from members here

Don't rush it, and don't use 'snake oil' additives to 'help you along'

My opinion, albeit limited, is you will fail if you start a tank from scratch and add all that you said you will .... :surprise:

I have found that the key to success with a reef tank is Patience...

Now that my tank is over a year old I finally feel that is cycled enough to add fancy coral and the expensive fish I want

With dry rock, it's just not gonna happen. I did this with my tank, but all rock was real live rock that had cured separately for 2 weeks with about 30% of it coming from my previous tank.
Without a full compliment of bacteria, you're going to kill things.

even if there is added bacteria for the fish byproduct, it takes months typically for a system to properly "level out" and mature.
I personally think you would be throwing out a lot of dead coral and a lot of money down the drain.
you can speed up the initial process perhaps by adding the "stabilty stuff"..maybe throw in a fish or two to start (durable ones)..but I would not go beyond that step for a while.

thats awesome :P

You have to be kidding right? trying to get a rise out of the forum? 1st of all as stated this is not freshwater your dealing with, the Live rock is chalked full of bacteria that will filter your saltwater. there is more life on that rock than you could ever imagine. Dry dead base rock will not cut it period. you could add base rock to a system with live rock already in place. the live rock will then seed the base rock with bacteria but this can take some time. Stability is by no means a life starter, stability is a product made by Seachem with the intention of easing stress on marine inhabitants. Spend your money first off on Lots of live rock 100-150 lbs is a good start. a sand bed will host anerobic bacteria and once added should not be mixed around. Amonia will spike in your tank no matter what you do during the initial cycle of the tank. this is caused by the initial die off of micro organisms found on your live rock and dont worry it will all grow back. if you belive you can just dump a bunch of life into that glass box and youll get it right, try an experiment, open a bottle of old dutch ammonia and let it sit on your counter, see how long before your face eyes and skin start to burn from the ammonia released into the atmosphere. then think of how your critters are gonna feel when your outside catching your breath from the chemicals. Marine aquaria is a game of patience end of story. you need to read up a bit on what your getting into, any more questions ask around the board we will be glad to help, not flaming you or anything but you need to do this one step at a time. :wink:

Looks like it worked :razz:

Oops :redface:

Yea. Wasnt trying to get a rise. But I guess some people think they are aquaria gods. Oh tips, thanks for the info on how to start a tank. Been there, done that!!! It was a simple honest question. I wanted to try a new thing, it was brought up to me by someone. I saw it done on the show tanked too and likr I said I wanna try something new. Have a nice day guys

DO IT ! DO IT! DO IT!



NOT.