Brand New - Need Help

[landonworth]

I just got the 24gal pod yesterday and I need all the help I can get. Can someone step me thru what I need to do or reccomend a book I can read to educate myself. I believe that I made a mistake right off the bat. I just placed the salt in a 2 gal bucket and mixed it with a spoon and poured it in tank. My water is extremely cloudy.

system : 64W Compact Fluorescent System - Includes: Surface skimming filtration system, 1-32W square pin Dual Daylight 10000°K/6700°K Daylight bulb, 1-32W square pin Dual Actinic 460nm/420nm Actinic bulb, 2 blue LED lights, cooling fan, mechanical sponge filter, 290 gph submersible pump with flat nozzle, and complete instructions.

 

[sadielynn]

Mixing that way is ok for the first batch however get a bucket or bin from wal-mart or like store for mixing in and a couple xtra power heads airate the water 24 hours then add salt and mix an addtional 24 hours you want your spg to be 1.023-1.025.....now you get to add your sand I use and recommend agralive , and your live rock try to find interesting shapes and sizes place the live rock in your tank and you can begin your cycle the water may cloud up for a few days but it should clear up for you ..Also try for cured rather than uncured your nose will thank you and you will have a shorter cycle time than you would with uncured...I would recommend leaving the lights out other than to peek in to help control algea blooms (which are normal in a new tank) I would also recommend looking to upgrade the lights should you want a reef tank if you are gonna keep it as a fish only with live rock (commonly referred to as FOWLR) you should be ok ....A good tool is the search engine above and a good book is the
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner .....Ask questions the group here has alot of people to help you are off to the right start by researching you have a bit of time to do so as you are a ways off from fish and coral. And :welcome nanotank


This link is not ment to scare you but rather inform you please read up on the aqua pod recall
http://nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2864

 

[skipm]

It sounds like Sadie has pretty well covered your initial question. :welcome to the board, I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.