Brand new to the hobby and need advice - 75 gal

I filled a tote with water, put my pump in it, called the family in to see, plugged it in, and exclaimed maniacally, "It's alive!" Then, there was a nice fountain in my tub.

 

Cool Jmann I'm glad the worked fine. I hope you didn't get water all over the floor. Lol. A rubber pad will work for the vibration. Just make sure it's not collated with any coloring. You could also check out BRS they sell pads for pump, pretty cheap too. I got one from the and they were pretty cheap. I think I paid less that $4.00 for mine. The scape looks good for your first attempt. I'm sure you will go thru other renditions before you settle on one. I think we all go thru it. By the way how many pounds do have in that design? I know you don't want an over crowded look, are putting additional rock in your sump?

 

That was about 28-30lbs. I will be adding more to it though. I'm havent decided if I want to add some rock rubble to my sump or not.

 

J it certainly won't hurt to have rubble in the sump. It will increase your bio filtration of the DT. I have about a good 20 -30 pounds in my sump. ;D

 

I'm just not sure how much room I'll have in the fuge section once the sand and chaeto are in there. I'm going to try to get some rock in there though.

 

I just realized today that all i need is about 15lbs more sand and 50lbs more rock and I can crank it all up.

Is there anything I need to do to the dry rock that I've been buying from the LFS? It was dry when I bought it and has just sat in a box at home since.

Also, how do you rinse sand?

 

Sounds like your tank may be up this weekend. ;D. Are you using live sand? If you are I would not rinse it out. What ever particles may float will settle in 24hrs.

 

No, it won't be up this weekend. Too many graduations to attend. Plus, There's not enough good rock at any of the LFS's to get the other 50lbs I need.

No, I'm not using live sand. I will however be picking up the last 15lbs tomorrow morning.

 

How long can dead sand sand sit in a tank and sump before you put water in it? I have 90lbs of sand in 15lb bags sitting around here and the wife is starting to not like the cluttered corner of the house. I'm working 6 days a week now and don't have as much time to move stuff around to bring the stand in, to set everything up. It'll probably take me another week to have the tank location cleared. Can the sand sit that long after rinsing, or will I have to rinse it again?

 

If it is dead sand and dry it can sit as long as you want it too, if it is previously live sand but now dead I wouldnt use it but if you chose to do so let ti sit as long as you want and then rinse very well,. If it is live wet sand then do nto let it sit at all