Ok ready to order Live Sand & Rock!

[KAYBEE]

Reefman wrote in another thread.......

You will want to fill up the tank with saltwater, turn on the filter, add the rinsed sand to the tank, add the LR...let this set until the cycle is over. in order to judge the progress of the cycle, you will need test kits. PLEASE purchase these...dont rely on your local fish store to do it for you. after the cycle is showing signs of coming to an end, add the cleanup crew to clean up the detritus and all the dead matter off the rock and sand. Nassarius are a great choice for the sand bed, ceriths and margarita snails are good choices, as well as a couple blue leg hermits.

*****************************************************
I've got all the equipment I need for a 10g including skimmer, heater, filter, power head and pc lighting. I am planning on ordering the sand & rock as soon as the tax refund arrives!!!

I just want to get the order of things straight for the day my live shipment arrives.

1. Add the salt water? (I would have put the sand in first had I not read this.) Turn on filter.
2. Add rinsed sand.
3. Put in live rock.
4. Wait, test, wait, test, wait, test.........

I've been reading and collecting my equipment over the last 6 months. I'm just a bit nervous about "the day" my shipment finally arrives.

Any other newbie advice would be greatly appreciated. :loveface

TIA,
Kay

 

[reefman23]

Nothing to be nervous about...maybe very anxious, but not nervous. It sounds like you'll be fine.

What kind of lighting, skimmer, powerheads, etc did you get? always curious!

Jesse

 

[KAYBEE]

Nothing to be nervous about...maybe very anxious, but not nervous. It sounds like you'll be fine.

What kind of lighting, skimmer, powerheads, etc did you get? always curious!

Jesse

Well....without unpacking everything as it's all neatly stored in my closet at the moment, lol, here is my equipment list by memory:

~10 gal glass tank
~96w 50/50 compact fixture with moonlight
~Topfin HOB filter (going to put LR rubble in this)
~Rio power head submersible pump thingy
~Aquamedic miniflotor skimmer & air pump
~heater & thermometer
~hydrometer

I'm thinking of listing the miniflotor on Ebay for whatever I can sell it for (it's new in box) and getting a prism skimmer instead. (What do you think?) I still need to get eggcrate for the top and I figure it would be much easier to deal with the HOB type prism skimmer plus I understand they are superior to what I have.

My "to get now" list includes:

~Sea Salt Mixture
~Testing Supplies
~Live Sand
~Approx. 10 lbs Live Rock

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to buy the pre-mixed salt water initially and then develop my mixing set up as I'm waiting for the tank to cycle? I feel overwhelmed at the idea of recieving my shipment and then having to mix the water and all of that at once.

Am I forgetting anything???

Kay

 

[skipm]

It sounds like you are well on your way Kay. There are alot of us that use the bagged livesand called Arag-Alive, all you do with this one is pour it in the tank (DO NOT rinse this product, just dump it water and all). Buying premixed saltwater is fine, you just need to check the salinity level it is mixed to. If you are talking about bottled saltwater like Catalina water or Nutri-Seawater disregard my previous, if it is mixed at your LFS they may not mix it to the level needed for a reeftank. As an example water mixed for a fish only system could be mixed to a specific gravity of 1.017 and though this is fine for fish it is low for corals, they need more along the lines of 1.023-1.026.
Upgrading the skimmer is a good idea IMO but if it were me upgrading I would spend a little more and go for an AquaC Remora hang on, it is a much better skimmer and would allow you to use it on a larger tank later if you decided to upgrade.
Just a little note on the eggcrate, when you get it before you make any cutouts for equipment look at the eggcrate through the "holes", you should notice that one side the grids are tapered and the other side they are not. You want to make it fit so the tapered side is towards the tank to help get the most light possible in the tank where you want it. Feel free to post when you are ready to set everything up, it is really nothing to get stressed about, after all this is a hobby.

 

[reefman23]

Upgrading the skimmer is a good idea IMO but if it were me upgrading I would spend a little more and go for an AquaC Remora hang on, it is a much better skimmer and would allow you to use it on a larger tank later if you decided to upgrade.

I definitely second this. I buy catalina water from my LFS and the SG is usually 1.026. So all I do is add a little RO water to it to drop it to around 1.023.

 

[r00onmac]

i get mine from a shop called "reef aquarium" usually between 1.024 and 1.025 depending on the day, but thats right where i keep mine...

this may sound like a "duh" but just in case: dont fill the aquarium to the top with water, then try to add sand and rock... it will overflow... fill it like 3/4 of the way then add sand and rock,, if it isnt full then add the rest in... it can be one hell of a mess if you fill it up, drop in sand and watch water spill all over your plugs and stuff..

 

[KAYBEE]

this may sound like a "duh" but just in case: dont fill the aquarium to the top with water, then try to add sand and rock... it will overflow... fill it like 3/4 of the way then add sand and rock,, if it isnt full then add the rest in... it can be one hell of a mess if you fill it up, drop in sand and watch water spill all over your plugs and stuff..

LOL...this is the kind of advice I'm looking for...the "duh" stuff! LOL I have a 3 hour window when my lil guy is in school to have "quality time" to do this so eliminating the "duh factor" would help!!! :lol3:

I will also look into the AquaC Remora though I figure I'm pretty well commited to the 10g since I already have the PC fixture.

Thanks everyone!
Kay

 

[skipm]

Remember that running skimmerless is an very realistic option as well. You can control your nitrates by not over feeding or over stocking along with doing weekly water changes of at least 10%, not only does this keep the bad stuff down but it also replenishes your trace elements, calcium, iodine, etc.

Here is a link to the skimmer we mentioned, I would get the one with the MaxiJet powerhead (there is also a model available with a Rio): http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... Code=AquaC .

 

[KAYBEE]

So it's ok to go ahead a do the set up and worry about the skimmer later?

The weekly water change is no big deal for me since I do them on my FW tanks already.

The one I have would probably be adequate but it's so darn big and conflicts with the space available for my lighting.

Kay

 

[skipm]

Yes its fine to add a skimmer later. The other problem that came to my mind with the skimmer you have is that it goes in the tank and with only 10 gallons of space loosing any of it can be a bad thing.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

My only suggestion is to get rid of the Rio powerhead and replace it with a microjet.

 

[KAYBEE]

Yea, I just listed my miniflotor on Ebay. It's new in the box so maybe I can make a fraction of my money back on it. Since it's tax refund time I might as well think about upgrading to the better skimmer now! :snap:

Kay