[ylmaya]

Ok - after I water test on Sunday - providing nothing leaks, I will ad salt and then dead sand.

What is next....

1. Live Sand.....how long until ......
2. Then Live Rock...then
3. How long to wait before any "critters"?
With the live sand do you think the cycle will be longer than 2 weeks if the rock is already pretty much cured?

4. Fish? then corals - or corals then fish?

Thoughts anyone........you know of course I would LIKE to just add everything all at once on Monday - but if I have learned anything in this hobby over the past 10 years it is patience. Not that I have it - but I know I need it and I have promised myself to do this one right!!!!!

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Sand.... Then saltwater, preferably pre-mixed...

Then LS and LR.... Then wait for the cycle... (try and use ugly LR that you plan on using for baserock for the cycle.. buy pretty stuff later)

Then add a couple fish... (reef safe fish of course but no damsels, unless you are willing to rip apart your rock when you want to get rid of the bastads...)

Make sure the lighting is good and water parameters are good.. I'd wait 6 months before adding corals.. Give the tank a chance to settle in and establish itself...

Remember, just cause it's cycled, doesn't mean it's established... You'll still have to deal with bouts of diatoms and cyano, etc...

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Oh.... when adding fish, figure out what fish you want in the tank first...

Get the least aggressive and introduce them first and work your way up to the most aggressive fish... Wait at least a week before adding another fish...

If you buy a pair of something, add them together...

Basically, you want to add by species, the least aggressive, to the most aggressive in week intervals... This will give the tank a chance to adapt to the additional bioload slowly and will give the peaceful fish time to set territories and find hiding spots before the roughians move into town...

 

[grazhopr]

Good!

You could also check on some recent threads with ideas of how to pour your new water on top of the sand to avoid stirring too much the fines in the sand. I'll check and see if I can find it...

 

[Prismaco]

Put a tarp or plastic over the LS, then add water slowley...the thread had more details on how to do it...


-Paul

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Lay a sheet of wax paper or plastic on top of the sand.... Weigh down the corners with rock and along the edges....

Slowly fill the tank.... This should keep it from getting too cloudy..

When you remove the plastic, remove it very slowly...

Now that I think about it, it would be a good idea to lay the sand, then lay some LS on top, then cover with plastic, and fill and leave the plastic covering for a while to give the bacteria and crirrers a chance to take hold with the new sand...

Anyways... you get the idea....

 

[grazhopr]

Found it!

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17816&highlight=tarp

There's also another thread posted by Jay named "How many bags of sand...."