I'm a bit surprised that there is a LFS in Kitimat that sells saltwater. Do they carry a decent selection (fish, coral, equipment etc)?
Its suppose to be better to calibrate a refractometer with a solution of known salinity rather than distilled water. However I've done both at the same time and the difference was only .001 so its probably not a big deal.
BTW why did you buy 'live sand'?
This is how I would perform the steps.
Step 1: fill tank with water and mix salt in it until desired salinity All powerheads turned on
Step 2: put rocks and sand in tank
Step 10: Turn on skimmer
Step 3: Buy LR to seed the tank
Step 4: Wait patiently for cycle to be over
Step 5: buy CUC
(Dont over do it, I've often watched people add too many snails, crabs etc only to watch everything starve to death or kill each other. 1 CUC member per 5-10gal is more appropriate in my opinion.)
Step 6: Buy more CUC if previous CUC has croaked or is not doing its job well enough
Step 9: Buy 2 true percs
Step 7: Buy inverts (what kind of inverts are you referring to?)
Step 8: Buy some corals added at 2 week intervals so as not to overwhelm the system (Fish impact the bioload of a tank much more than coral do. Coral simply need a mature tank to survive and thrive.)
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