Itchin to start!

[leakyfaucet]

Hey guys! I just went and got me a 2.5 minibow to finally get my nano started! Got lights and everything all I need now is some sand, rocks, and water haha. I was wondering if I could get your opinion on what kind of substrate to use. Fine sand, crushed coral, or reef substrate? (forgive me if the latter two are one and the same...) I was thinking of possibly purchasing one of those pre-mixed "natural saltwater" thingies from Petco for. $9.99. ratehr than get the salt separate and mix my water myself... any opinion on this as well? Do you think my LFS would be willing to sell me 2.5 gallons of their water (lol..maybe??? om ) and maybe a little bit of sand to seed my sand bed... do you know if they're generally cool about those requests? Anyhow, I can't wait to get started! Thanks in advance for your help!

cly

 

[sadielynn]

They may very well sell you some water and sand . I prefer the agra live sand for our tanks primairly because it is in water thus making it easier to sink As for the lights what did you get if it is just a screw in pc there will not be enough for most corals perhaps you could get away with gsp, and some shrooms maybe some zoas ..... As for the premade water I have used the nutri seawater but felt that it was cheaper for me to mix my own. But the fact is that if you chose to use premixed that is a prefrence for you if you want to do that by all means go for it ......
Keep in mind that with the sand , lr , and the sand to seed your tank you will still need to cycle it , it can take any where from as little as 2 weeks up to 8 weeks depending on the quality of the live rock and to the degree inwhich it was cured . HTH :mrgreen: