Sand and live rock (Fiji, Florida, The Moon) I dunno :(

[reefindown]

I got my 28gal JBJ Nanocube HQI w/ stand for Christmas only to find my stand extremely damaged to make a long story short after receiving and sending back 4 (yes 4) stands I finally got one that wasn't damaged (A great first time experience with drs. foster & smith) now it's finally put together. I have been doing some basic research on live rock and sand and can’t decide weather to get them from a LFS or online?!? The pink fiji sand caught my eye…would I use that on it’s own or would I have to mix it with another substrate? And as far as the live rock goes…I have been looking at some different kinds online (“branch” “slab”) I heard the highest quality was Totoka from Fiji or something? Does it matter? I don’t mind investing $$ in high quality sand and rock especially since my tank is only 28 gal. If you have any pointers for an overwhelmed perfectionist trying to set up his first reef tank It would be much appreciated. P.S. Any Highly recommended up to date books on reefkeeping?

 

[funkngroovy]

It's all aesthetics really.

The only Live part of live rock that is of interest to a new system is the de-nitrifying bacteria that it contains that will become part of your system as it grows.

Most of the live stuff will die, this is part of the cycle.

The die off will cause amonia to build up and will be in turn consumed by the bacteria ect ect.

As for the 'Live' sand, I am not convinced that it is of any use. Unless you are intending to use the sand in huge amounts to create a Deep Sand Bed,

http://www.aquaristsonline.com/blog/aqu ... n-methods/

it will be of no use and the bacteria will probably die off due to the amount of
oxygen it will be exposed to. The same sand is available dry as a substrate and will cost much less for the product and the shipping.


If you can decide approximately how much Live Rock your system will eventually have, you can buy 2/3 of it in normal (cheap) live rock and let your tank cycle with that.

when the cycle is complete, buy the best premium stuff you can get your hands on and you will have lots of little corals and hitch hikers that would otherwise have died off during the cycle if it was added at the beginning.

Don't know about buying online or at the store because I am in Australia.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

[funkngroovy]

oh, and the book will probably be old by the time you walk out of the shop.

There are a couple of good ones out there but I don't use books. So somebody else will have to help out there.

I find all of my info online.....CAUTION.

Like myself, everyone is an "expert"

The truth is, this hobby has done 10 backflips and a whole lot of changing in the past 20 years and it is only improving as reefers try new things.

You can check out tanks of the month on reefcentral.com to see the workings behind some successful set ups.

Otherwise, you need to do lots of reading. Lots on the same topic from different authors so you can decide which one makes more sense.

As for me, I like to keep things simple, regular water changes, a good amount of Live rock, A deep sand bed (DSB) and patience.
No skimmers, reactors, controllers blah blah blah.

 

[TimSchmidt]

Great info. I do use the fiji pink live sand as I am lazy. The dry stuff is cheaper, and true all you need is a tiny bit of "live" sand to quickly turn dry "dead" sand live quickly. BUT, dry sand usually creates one heck of a sand storm in the tank and can take FOREVER to clear out. For the simple fact that "live" sand is bagged wet I use it so I don't have to rinse the sand over and over. For the rock honestly look around and find pieces YOU like. Any piece of "live" rock will do it's job just fine, some types are more likely to house the types of hitchhikers you want, but that shouldn't be the reason to buy rock in my opinion.

I like keeping things simple too, but what can I say - I like toys too. I have and use reactors, controllers, chillers, LEDs, fuges, sumps, skimmers, timers, and just about any "cool" toy I can afford/get my hands on.

:welcome to Nanotank.com by the way!