:) Give me a timeline of howyou added things to your tank.

We started our tank yesterday.
we added the sand and tap water, then dechlorinated it for 24 hours. this morning we added our salt, and plan on letting that sit for a week.
next we will be adding live rock. a few questions about that:

how do you handle the live rock? bare hands?gloves? and what do you set it in the tank with? if we are sticking our hands in the water isn't that going to throw everything out of whack?
How do you know when the live rock is done cycling? is there something we should be looking for specifically to know its done?
also, when purchasing live rock, how do we make sure it is healthy? are there any things if we see it on the rock that we should steer clear of?
and lastly LOL for this time hahaha is there anything we have to do to treat the LR before putting it in our tank?

Thanks so much!!!
-Amanda

 

tap water = very high chance of major algea outbreaks this is not the best choice check in to RO/DI water now before proceeding any further. You MAY be able to get away with it (some do) but its not worth the risk. this is how I done mine. Rock,sand,water,cycle in that order. done with cycle= start adding fish,corals,cuc, SLOWLY. take your time. I use bare hands rinsed very well before hand so to minimize the risk of contamination. test your water every few days. it may take a few days before you start seeing a climb on your test kits. you should see a spike on the test kit and then it will come down. when readings get to 0 you will know the cycle is over.

What are you going to use for cycling. I used a dead raw shrimp on my first tank.

 

wait, so you are supposed to put your live rock in before you add the water

 

I would suggest putting your base rock, sand, then adding water and LR at the same time. anytime you add LR after your tank has cycled you can have a mini cycle due to the dieoff from the LR.

 

Not to be mean but your starting off wrong. Take the tap water out asap your gonna have alot of problems down the road with algea

 

Get rid of the tap water. Use RO/DI water, some folks can use tap if their water is very, very clean - but that's rare, and still a risk.

Never mix salt inside your tank, get a barrel, tub, or other mixing container. Mix thoroughly in the separate container and then transfer to your tank.

No need to let water and sand sit for a week, put your live rock in the tank - it's best to add rock then sand, so burrowing critters don't move sand and cause a rockslide later. Place the rock directly on the glass (or since sand is added, gently push it into the sand to touch bottom). Then build up.

 

What I would do is drain the tap water see if your local lfs sells ro/di water. I too would be scared of algae outbreaks from tap water. I would then mix the salt in a seperate container. Some use barrels or trash cans (plastic of course) I use 2 brute force 32 gallon trash cans. Then I put your live rock in water and sand. you want to try to get the rock on the glass in the even that and critters or fish dig under them later they wont topple. If ro water is not available at a local store then try to get one. I saw a sale on them through bulkreefsupply advertised. they have nice 5 stage looked like 144? I have seen very few people be able to use tap water but some have. This is just my .02

 

I called a local filling station, and he said he can get me $35 gallons for arounf 26 bucks, and thats an extra gallon on top of it for topping up.
We were so excited and now, I am feeling very leary LOL
The LPS has a saltwater set up he said he doesn't use a skimmer or sump or anything like that, just a basic filteration system and checks the tank regularly, I have been going through the specs/tank pic page and it seems that no one runs it like that. his tank is crystal clear, with lots of fish, beautiful coral etc. I just want to know if I am setting myself up for failure.
He said all that stuff isn't necessary with a 35 gal tank becuase with regular cleaning, water small, more often water changes it will be managable.
so, after I drain out this water, is there anything I should do to the tank? can I use the sand that was in there? or do I have to completely start over?

 

You've come to the right places to ask questions. I would not run a 35 gallon without a skimmer personally. Don't get discouraged, it's early enough in you can start correctly. Be happy and think of all the algae blooms you'll avoid by using RO/DI

Another thought, is if you had live sand, filled with fresh water, then added salt, the sand is now pretty much dead sand. Rinse it in RO water and re-add to the tank. No need to discard.

 

the sand we used is
caribsea-
aragonite


I have no idea if this is live sand orn ot, it doesn't say anywhere that I can see.
I am starting to get a bit irritated with the local fish guy! LOL