Almost ready to add water - advise please!

[Madmak]

Originally Posted by Rogue951

you can always post here see if anyone is shutting down a tank and is trying to get rid of live rock. You can save almost 50% that way.

Just be sure you trust that it hasn't seen any copper treatment, that could ruin everything. But I agree, used live rock can be cheaper and nicer that LFS stock.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Madmak

Just be sure you trust that it hasn't seen any copper treatment, that could ruin everything. But I agree, used live rock can be cheaper and nicer that LFS stock.

Used rock is just that, used. It is likely plugged up with detritus, full of PO4 and just a problem waiting to happen. Unless you know the person and they're shutting down unexpectedly, and you know the rock is nearly new, I'd avoid buying somebody else's used rock. It's really not the area of a reef to scrimp on..

[gridley]

Thank you very much for the cautions re: the used rock. I really appreciate it.

[jostafew]

I started my system exactly the same way; I had all my aquascaping done with dry rock (BRS Reef Saver in my case) and the sand in the tank then filled with RODI over a couple days. Started the pumps, set the salinity (SG), then waited for the cloudiness to clear which took a few days for me. Once cleared up I seeded with a few choice pieces of live rock.

You didn't talk about cycling but I'll pass on a tip that you might not have heard; you don't need actual fish making poop to cycle a tank, just nutrients. Throw in some shrimp meat or fish food or whatever you have handy, let that break down and that will feed the ammonia cycle. Once the bacteria population gets this start the cycle with real fish will be reduced and not nearly as stressfull for them. I find the whole idea of buying hardy fish and subjecting them to poor conditions to cycle a tank to be somewhat cruel.

Happy reefing!

[gridley]

Originally Posted by jostafew

I started my system exactly the same way; I had all my aquascaping done with dry rock (BRS Reef Saver in my case) and the sand in the tank then filled with RODI over a couple days. Started the pumps, set the salinity (SG), then waited for the cloudiness to clear which took a few days for me. Once cleared up I seeded with a few choice pieces of live rock.

You didn't talk about cycling but I'll pass on a tip that you might not have heard; you don't need actual fish making poop to cycle a tank, just nutrients. Throw in some shrimp meat or fish food or whatever you have handy, let that break down and that will feed the ammonia cycle. Once the bacteria population gets this start the cycle with real fish will be reduced and not nearly as stressfull for them. I find the whole idea of buying hardy fish and subjecting them to poor conditions to cycle a tank to be somewhat cruel.

Happy reefing!

I appreciate this - I had thought through some aspects of cycling, but not the details of cycling - I had kind of thought that it would do that just by adding the live rock. Are there two cycles that the tank should go through? One once I add some live rock and another when I start adding some nutrients?