Start up question's

[mikejensen]

I decided to dive in and try to start up a salt water tank. I have a couple question's and these's may soud dumb. Regarding salt how do I know how much to add when filling my tank. Once filled what type of sand/coral is the best for the bottom, and last how long should I let the tank cycle before I add live rock and do I let the tank cycle with the sand and that's it? Thanks.

Mike
Best advice I could give you is buy a Book. You could spend months posting and still not get the insight some of these books give you. although many members here give great advice to new commers its better for you to go out and read alittle before you dive in

[cath]

Hey!

MrMike is quite right. Reading books and moving slowly is the right way to start. Why don't you take a look in the archives for a topic aptly called "Book Reccomendations" from January of 2000. Good material there to help you find the right books to get you started out right.

Keep posting, and good luck.

Keep posting and ask quetions,

[toefu]

one of my favorite ways to learn stuff.. is just read the old forum topics.. most of the time, what you want to know has already been answered in previous posts. you can spend hours reading old posts from reef forums around the web.

[Doug1]

I second the recomendation to get at least one of the books listed. While some of the material may be getting a little dated as far as currently favorable methodology you need a basis from which to understand the process.
Reef forums are a valuable tool, Gawd I wish I was online when my old tank started evolving, but without at least a knowledge of the basics, how will one interpret and sift thru the vast amount of info out there. I mean seriously, you have several people with marine science backgrounds that post, a hell of a lot of experienced reefkeepers, alot of well meaning hobbyists that got lucky with the method they chose, and some people who are clueless, but like to see their own words in print. Without an understanding of at least the basics, How will one sort through all that. After a while of reading forums you will start recognizing those who can be depended on for sound advice(coming here is a good start<G> ) but to be a reef keeper requires a quest for knowledge that is ongoing. Some of our senior members so to speak, have been in the hobby a while, participate in reef clubs, work part time at LFS, are in online marine education classes, attend trade seminars and read through everything that comes along. The one thing we have in common is we were all where you are at one time, but have the obsessive desire to know more.
To answer your question directly, you need to mix SW in a seperate container( 30 gal trash cans are good) according to directions using a good hydrometer to measure the Specific Gravity(1.025) See the thread on sand bed structure that is running now, there is a ton of good info on it. You need to add your live rock in order to cycle the tank, there must be a source of nitrigen compounds like ammonia in order to get the bacteria that do the conversion to multiply. HTese are found on the LR and will feed off the stuff that dies of in transit. Once you have gone through the ammonia, nitrite peaks you can start slowly stocking your tank. Be aware the first 6 months will bring all sorts of changes that will settle down in time. There is no way to hurry this along