starting my first saltwater tank

crazymark · 05-22-2006, 12:44 AM

hey there im new into the saltwater community and i love this web page, it has given me alot of info about what im wanting to do. to start off im going to start out with a nano tank. the tank that im going to use is a aquapod 24g tank, with live sand the one that is black and white sand i thought that it would look good under the moon led lights, 10 lbs of figi liverock, and 10 lbs of the manmade liverock all is cured, and 20 gal of the pre mix saltwater. i was wondering if there is anything else that i would need to start my cycleing and what would my process of the cycleing be as far as from me starting to the time that i can start stocking it. if yall can help me out with the questions that i have that would be great, thanks in advance.

Mark

BGJ223 · 05-22-2006, 11:18 AM

First off
WELCOME TO TRT!!!!
Now that we got that out of the way. let me just say be patient!!
You have everything that you need to start the cycle in your tank. Just make sure and do some regular water changes and try to keep your Salinity levels in check.
You are going to want to wait atleast a month before you start stocking your rank, and you are going to want to do that slow also.

I hope that answered your questions.

crazymark · 05-22-2006, 05:10 PM

thanks for the welcome. yes you have answered my ? i hope to see alot of pics of nano tanks im getting some ideas about it.

Tim224DT · 05-22-2006, 05:19 PM

Welcome to TRT!!

Personaly i would save the money on live sand and just get regular sand at the pet store. Patients is key to a healthy tank!! The longer you wait before adding anything to your tank the better it will be.

Once you have your ammonia spike and nitrite spike and all you have left is nitrate then your cycle in complete. To reduce your nitrate you can do water changes. With the aquapod i dont think there is anywhere to add a skimmer so you will have to be doing water changes to keep your nitrates down. A cycle can be as quick as a month or as long as 3 months sometimes longer. Do not add anything to the water that claims to help cycle your tank. In the long run that stuff is not healthy for your tank.

Tim

wharyat · 05-22-2006, 08:17 PM

Agreed with tim on the live sand; the "dead" packaged sand will work great, within a week of being around live rock (LR) it will become semi-live and able to do some ammonia processing. 3 months and it is as live as the live sand you could have bought.

Patience in the beginning is indeed the key to a healthy, stable tank later on.

And of course... Welcome to TRT!!

dobejazz · 05-22-2006, 09:58 PM

Welcome to TRT Mark

Hardhead Cat · 05-23-2006, 10:28 AM

Welcome to TRT - you can save $$ by using dead sand and live rock - - if you want to speed up the cycle you can use the live sand too. For me patience is the hardest thing about this hobby but it's worth it if you can wait long enough for the tank to cycle completely. Then pods, worms and other animals will start to live in the sand, and your fish (when you start adding them) will be happier!

HHC

daviddd · 05-23-2006, 04:40 PM

Hey Crazy Mark...what type of Protein Skimmer you using with your AquaPod??
David D.

Tim224DT · 05-23-2006, 08:56 PM

Welcome to TRT DavidDD!! From what i can tell you cant really run a skimmer on the aquapods. I may be wrong.

Tim

wharyat · 05-23-2006, 11:39 PM

Welcome to TRT David!

I havn't owned an aquapod; but if there is room on the back for a hang-on-tank skimmer I would recommend the AquaC Remora.

Tim224DT · 05-23-2006, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wharyat

Welcome to TRT David!

I havn't owned an aquapod; but if there is room on the back for a hang-on-tank skimmer I would recommend the AquaC Remora.

that is a good skimmer or the CPR PakPac skimmer is another good one that i like.

Tim