Possibly starting first ever small FOWLR SW tank and looking for info

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

What kind of LS should I be looking for and where can I pick it up locally in Calgary? Think I need much to cover the bottom of 6G tank? Should I also think about putting some with LR in my sump and would that require lighting the sump? My sump is basically done so I am starting to look for supplies etc and still need to hunt for some small nice looking chunks of LR. I measured it out last night and I have a total water volume of approx 10G ... maybe slightly less to account for sand, rock and enough space for water to drain to in case of power failure.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by CGY_Betta_Guy

What kind of LS should I be looking for and where can I pick it up locally in Calgary? Think I need much to cover the bottom of 6G tank? Should I also think about putting some with LR in my sump and would that require lighting the sump? My sump is basically done so I am starting to look for supplies etc and still need to hunt for some small nice looking chunks of LR. I measured it out last night and I have a total water volume of approx 10G ... maybe slightly less to account for sand, rock and enough space for water to drain to in case of power failure.

you wouldnt need much sand and if you post an ad you can get some for free on here i guarantee it , you will just have to rinse it very well. you would only need around 5lbs and ideally around a 1-2" sandbed but you can go more if you like. buy a few pounds of rock right out of someones tank and transfer it home in water the less time it spends in transport or being taken out of water the less dieoff you will have and the shorter cycle you will get.
you can always add small amounts of liverock to your tank later without a cycle if there has been do dieoff cheers

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

When you say rinse it very well... does that require using salt water? and wouldnt that just get rid of any living creatures/bacteria in the sand? guessing its a stir it up in the bucket and dump the floatin stuff out situation?

I was looking at Ocean Direct and their line of Live Sand... kinda odd that it says it contains bacteria when its in a sealed bag for who knows how long... or is it similar to fresh water where they have "bacteria boosters" that are questionable on if they work or not?

Also... thinking of getting a koralia nano... any opinions on this vs a different brand of power head? Do I need a grounding probe for something this small?

My thread title is misleading now since I think the SW tank is pretty much a go once I get all my equipment
I am makin my list and hopin someone will check it twice... (and give me suggestions and guidance)
LS
LR ( depending if I find a nice looking shaped chunk or 2)
Salt
Marine Test Kit
hydrometer or refractometer
Powerhead (koralia nano seems to be popular)
grounding probe?

[Magma]

The koralia nano PH would a for a 6gal tank its small I have one in my sump to keep the water moving in there.

Grounding probe is not needed, get a GFCI plug or GFCI powerbar and you will be fine, the grounding probe will take any stray voltage you have in the tank and give it a path to ground which is great but IMO it hides the fact theres a problem, at least if a GFCI trips you know you have a problem. I just checked my tanks with my meter and one tank had 0.04V showing and the other had 0.02V all used equipment expect my power heads so personally for me with a combine total between my two 40gal tanks of 0.06V im not worried at all.

[reefwars]

Live sand from the bag is like uncured rock , in the way that it contains dieoff, so this Alone is enough to start a cycle but nit enough to sustain a "bioload" or be a filter. Alot of people run barebottom tanks (no sand)

koralia nano is fine indeed but I don't like how it's one piece (mine is anyways) makes it hard to clean.

Refractometer over hydrometer , hydrometers are not accurate

[reefwars]

To wash simply rinse with ro water,as your gonna have a cycle anyways you only want to remove the filth from it. I used a fine fishnet and buckets rinsed each netful a few times each.

[AHHope]

good luck with the small sw system
i recently just set up a 2g fluval spec at work for a contest and its doing really well for such a small tank (even all the sps is doing awsome under the LEDs). Ive even been thinking about buying one for myself and putting a small zebra mantis in it.

[Magma]

Originally Posted by AHHope

good luck with the small sw system
i recently just set up a 2g fluval spec at work for a contest and its doing really well for such a small tank (even all the sps is doing awsome under the LEDs). Ive even been thinking about buying one for myself and putting a small zebra mantis in it.

that the ones at pisces pets?

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

@Magma Thanks. Is your Nano PH a specific model? I see the nano is available in a 240 or 425 gph.... guessing 425 would be way too strong for a small tank?
I figured the grounding probe was unneeded since I recently installed GFCI's but I thought I would ask.... thanks for confirming.

@reefwars How dirty is LS from the bag? Could I get away with dumping it in and filling the tank slowly? I imagine its going to make the tank cloudy either way just to different degrees?
Looking at the manual for the nano and under the maintenance heading it says that it can be disassembled as shown in figure 4 ... not sure how exactly but there must be a way.
Wow I didnt realize a refractometer was so expensive! $70 bucks is the cheapest one on Big Al online. I might just go with the hydrometer for now since its only $15

@AHhope same question as Magma... is it at Pisces? I saw the Specs there and they both looked great!

[reefwars]

It's def cleaner but you should still rinse, after put your rock in and pour sand around . Pour water in slowly to create as little stir up as possible. I use plasic bags weighed down with plates or cups and once it's full just slowlyremove the weights and pull the bags out slowly