Brand spanking newbie. Have some questions.

Ok, my set up is a 75 gal tank with what will be a 30 gal refugium. I've done my research on most things but I seem to be having the most trouble with just getting the water in the tank.

I put tap water in the tank, mixed the salt, and it was cloudy as my brother's piss. Researched a little and found that straight tap water is a dumb idea because of all the extra chemicals and elements. I don't have the money for a RO/DI right now so I bought a bottle of Prime.
Drained the tank, filled it again, and dosed it with the Prime. This seemed to work great. I could tell that the water was definitely clearer than last time. Mixed the salt with the jets running. Checked on it the next morning and it looked fine. Not perfectly clear but still good.

Now, here's where my headache comes in. I bought some sugar sized Oolite and rinsed it as best I could (this is what the bag says to do even though some say not to). Placed the sand in the tank. I tried to do it gently so it wouldn't cloud up but as soon as it touched the water it disintegrated. I knew it would cloud up a bit so I leave it over night without jets going.

Check on it the next morning and it's clearish. I notice there's a fine white powder on the surface of the sand. This is what is clouding the tank whenever something moves. So I grab a gravel vac and take a bit of it out. Seems to get quite a bit of it out but stirs it up some more. Now I don't know if it's just me being impatient or what but I get some Crystal Clear to see if I can get the particles to bond and fall to the bottom. This doesn't really seem to work.

At this point all I have is the sand and water in the tank. Nothing else. It's been filled for the second time for about a week now.

So, here are the questions:
Am I just making things harder for myself by not having a RO/DI?
What am I supposed to do to get this freakin powder to either move under the gravel or remove it?
How long does it usually take just to get the tank set up?
For the refugium, I don't understand where the skimmer pump is supposed to go. Does it just sit on the bottom where the inlet drops water?
As for filtering the tank right now, what should I be running other than the skimmer?

Thanks all. I'll appreciate any response.

 

Am I just making things harder for myself by not having a RO/DI?

no i use tap water and it works alright for me

What am I supposed to do to get this freakin powder to either move under the gravel or remove it?

i had the same prob. eventually with enough cleaning it will all work itself out

How long does it usually take just to get the tank set up?

depends on what you mean by "set up"

For the refugium, I don't understand where the skimmer pump is supposed to go. Does it just sit on the bottom where the inlet drops water?

Read the directions, i have a coralife super skimmer 125 and it has to be no more that 4-5 inches below water level

As for filtering the tank right now, what should I be running other than the skimmer?

Dont run the skimmer yet, you dont need that for quite awhile. put some pieces of shrimp quite a bit of food in the tank to get it cycling. just something to get the tank nasty and good flow is all for now

 

"eventually with enough cleaning it will all work itself out"
Should I just keep vacuuming the powder like I have been? I assume you mean water changes as well?
"depends on what you mean by "set up""
By set up I mean to the point that I can add fish and inverts.

 

hmmmm. where do we start?

Im gonna need back up helpin you out. You are definitely a newbie. But thats ok cause we all started somewhere.

I think you broke a few of the reef ten commandments.

Thou Shall not use tap water.
Thou Shall not mix salt water in tank
Thou Shall not place gravel/sand after putting water in.

What type of tank are you setting up? Fish only, Fish only with live rock(fowlr), or reef. Those are your 3 options for saltwater tanks. As for you my friend I wouldnt try a full reef at this moment. I would recommend a Fish only or fowlr.

You do not a ro/di unit to have ro/di water. Your lfs should have plenty of it to sell to you. I purchase mine weekly for about 50 cents a gallon. You will have a living nightmare but not using ro/di water. Algae problems... water params. Wont be successful in keeping coral and saltwater fish.

In regards to your substrate and cloudiness.... If it is not live sand and your purchased it dry. I have always rinsed my substrate with water before placing it in the tank when setting a new one up. This will minimize your cloudiness which is caused from the fine particles in your substrate when you purchase it. You want to place your substrate in first. Then set your base pieces for your rockwork in. Then pour water in gently.

You almost started you new tank backwards. I would have made a checklist before you started setting up your tank.

So that leads me to this. Tell us everything you have. From start to finish in regards to your equipment. Ex lighting, sump, protein skimmer, powerheads. Absolutely everything.

This will help everybody here at 3reef guide you in the right direction.

 

Man...I always seem to learn everything the hard way.

75 gal display
30 gal sump/refugium
lights: I'll have to give specifics later as I'm not at home. But 2 actinic and 3 high intensity
caribsea sugar sized oolite for the substrate. No live sand yet. Plan is to get some grunge from garf.
5 maxi jet 1200's
A larger 900 gph pump (don't know the brand)
Remora skimmer (probably too small)
A large skimmer but the guy I bought this stuff from made it himself. I don't know how he got it to work so I'm probably going to buy another one.
Eshopp pf-800 overflow box is in the mail.
Instant ocean salt
....can't think of anything else

 

Ok, your water should be fine mixed in the tank. It's new and nothing in it... Adding sand after sucks. The water will clear and eventually all that "dust" will end up in your sump. Take your time.

What are you using to start the cycle?
Do you have any Live Rock?

Your tank will be fine if you let it settle throughout the cycle... you do have 6 weeks so be patient.

 

I just read my responses, and I don't mean to sound harsh. I'm just telling what I feel will help you. I know it can be discouraging to do so much work, and then have someone tell you that you did much of it wrong.

You didn't really do anything "wrong," but you could have done things a bit differently. You generally make the same mistake just once in this hobby. Rinsing sand is not necessary; as the rinsed material is beneficial for coralline growth, and won't hurt anything once it has settled. You just have to clean your glass daily, and within a week it will be crystal clear. If you can't afford an RO/DI today, consider using bottled water from the grocery store (read the label to make sure it says "treated by reverse osmosis,") or, you can use distilled water.

As long as you don't have any livestock in the tank, you can mix your salt right in the tank, but this is not a habit to get into--you should only do it ONCE that way, then forevermore--you mix your saltwater OUTSIDE the tank only.

Consider a refractometer off eBay for about $30 and get your salinity to 1.025-1.026.

If you're going to keep corals, come to these boards and read, read, read. When you know everything, start asking questions. Ask as many questions as you can think of. The folks here are great, and you'll find a lot of help.

Good luck, bud!

 

I'm too cheap to buy live rock so I made some. Used a recipe with crushed coral and a little cement. The pH of the water is now about 8.4 to 8.5. From what I've read it's getting to be about cured.
My plan was to set everything up so I know it's working, place the rock, add the grunge and whatever else I needed to start cycling it.

 

The icky poo powder stuff will go away eventually. Soon, it will be the least of your worries as the tank cycles Algae blooms and crud gallor.

It would have been easier to put the sand in the tank, place a dinner plate or something on said sand, and pour/pump water in onto the plate where the sand doesn't go anywhere. That's what we did and our tank was clear after 45 minutes. Then add the salt.

Tap water is "ok" on the first run, but I highly recommend against it. You can find RO water at your local fish store, or even at a grocery store. We get our water from Publix down the street.

And as for the skimmer, is it an "in sump" skimmer or hang on back? If it's an in sump model, I wouldn't put it directly in the fuge. You'll want some sort of barrier to seperate the fuge from the skimmer/ pump area. If it's hang on back, you'll be fine.

It looks like you're off to the right start, just a bit of a hiccup on getting the water and sand in The 3 primary filtration things you'll have going will be live rock (do you have that, yet? Or getting it later?), your skimmer, and the macro algaes in your fuge. Any fuge and tank substrate helps with filtration, but those three are your primary methods.

EDIT: ok I just saw your live rock post. Do you know how many pounds of stuff you've got made? Or plan on having?

 

I appreciate all the great input guys. Thanks.