water, lr, ls.. what order

[cwickham]

hey everyone... so i think im almost ready to put water in my tank and my lr and ls... whats the easyest way to do this..

thanks
craig

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Water first. The next two are a matter of some debate, but lots of people will say that you should put your rock in first so it's sitting securely on the bottom of the tank, and won't shift on the sand. It doesn't REALLY matter, though.

Good luck!

[banditpowdercoat]

depends how deep of sand. If 1-2" then no problem, sand first, then wiggle rock a little to make sure its sitting on bottom. Adding sand after rock, gets sand all over rock, just a pain to clean after LOL

[ner'T']

If you're using uncured LR wait a while before adding sand. All of the junk that dies off your rock is easy to clean of the bottom that way. Then your sand wont be full of wastes/nitrates.

[Myka]

IMO, put the water in first, then add the rock. Wait for your tank to cycle. Siphon out any detritus off the rocks and bottom of the tank. Set up your rocks the way you want them, and make sure they are stable without sand. Then add sand, just be sure to add the sand after your cycle is over since your live rocks will be dropping a bunch of detritus off them that you don't want all mixed up in your tank. By making sure the rocks are stable without sand, then when you have critters that move the sand around they won't cause an avalanche of live rock!

[cwickham]

my rock has been cooking for a few months.. so hopefully i wont have too much die off, i was thinknig to go with 2 inches of sand, how much sand is good?

[Myka]

If your rock has been cooking that long, then you can add it all in one go. Water, rock, sand. I like to have about 1-1.5 inches of sand. Have you tested the water your rock is cooking in for phosphates and nitrates?