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Need help on set up


piano15

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I have my LR and base rock in seperate buckets waiting for set up this weekend.(liverock in SW with circulation, base soaking in distilled)

 

I need some help, we have planned on setting up the tank this weekend but I wanted to make sure I have it right.

 

I will be placing egg crate on the bottom, rocks and sand over eggcrate. I got reef epoxy to secure my rocks together.

 

Can I fill my tank with water after aquascaping rocks/sand and then add the salt?

 

How long can liverock be out of water? I expect die off but won't that help my tank cycle?

 

I have read that it's not necessary to run carbon etc until you are stocking the tank.

 

My set up will be filteration from LR/sand and a hob filter with carbon etc.

 

Any suggestions, trying to start out right.

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You should be fine doing it as you describe. Uness you have your live rock out of water for a very long time four or more hrs.), I would not worry about a little die off.

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LR is fine out of the water for a little while.

 

You should really mix the water/salt before putting it in the tank, though.

 

As for carbon, it is not necessary. Some people use it if they think there may be some sort of chemical in the tank that needs removed. The other reason would be for water clarity. Its really up to you whether you use/need it or not, but it definitely should not be used until after the initial cycle period.

 

How big is the tank?

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For a 20G, your water changes should only be 2-4 gallons so a 5 gallon bucket would probably be the easiest way. Just use a small pump or powerhead and a heater.

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righttirefire

I set up my tank, twice, the first time live rock on the bottom glass, dry sand, and premixed saltwater. Added heater and ran hydro 240gph powerhead. No filteration. About a 2 week cycle. The second time was a tank transfer. On the rebuild side. I added egg crate about 5 gallons of water, 20 gallon long tank, added live rock, sand, and replaced my livestock and corals. Read, read, read is the best advise I can give you. And spend 1-2 weeks researching before making decisions on modifications and stocking

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My debate is mostly for the initial water set up rather than water changes. Mixing salt for a water change is simple, setting up 20g ahead of time is rather tricky.

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My debate is mostly for the initial water set up rather than water changes. Mixing salt for a water change is simple, setting up 20g ahead of time is rather tricky.

 

IMO, you should have the means to make enough water to do a 100% water change 24/7. Easily done with a 20g Brute can. I keep mine filled with 10g salty water and have at least 30g of RODI on hand at all times--more like 60g--in two 32g Brute cans. I have one can for top off water and the other for mixing salty.

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-Commercial-Products-Brute-20-Gal-Grey-Round-Trash-Can-with-Lid-FG8620-20GRA/100211748

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-Commercial-Products-BRUTE-Trash-Can-Dolly-FG264000BLA/203207009

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I have my LR and base rock in seperate buckets waiting for set up this weekend.(liverock in SW with circulation, base soaking in distilled)

 

I need some help, we have planned on setting up the tank this weekend but I wanted to make sure I have it right.

 

I will be placing egg crate on the bottom, rocks and sand over eggcrate. I got reef epoxy to secure my rocks together.

 

Can I fill my tank with water after aquascaping rocks/sand and then add the salt?

 

How long can liverock be out of water? I expect die off but won't that help my tank cycle?

 

I have read that it's not necessary to run carbon etc until you are stocking the tank.

 

My set up will be filteration from LR/sand and a hob filter with carbon etc.

 

Any suggestions, trying to start out right.

 

Hi Piano,

 

For the egg crate, I'm not exactly sure why that's needed... I mean I've seen plenty of bottoms with egg crate - but usually as part of making a plenum (A la GARF). Can you explain what you're hoping to achieve by putting egg crate down?

 

I'm with the others in suggesting you mix the salt outside of the tank. It is a lot of water but it's not like you have to do it all at once. Fill a bucket with water, mix salt, dump into tank - repeat. As you're not adding it to a tank with fish I don't think you need to worry about letting the mixed water sit for any length of time beyond the time it takes to dissolve the salt.

 

When scaping don't rely too much on the epoxy. It's useful for creating a place for a rock to rest on but I've never had much luck with epoxy actually sticking rocks together. In other words if you want a certain rock to sit on top of another rock in a specific position you can use the epoxy to position the rock but unless you use a few sticks per rock they won't be stuck together. Also when scaping don't be afraid to bust out the hack saw and chisel... Make things more stable by using a hack saw to give a rock a flat spot to sit on the bottom. Make a boring rock more interesting with a chisel.

 

No need to run carbon during the cycle. It's tough - but try not to mess with the tank too much during this initial phase as most things you would be tempted to do are actually counter productive. All you want to do is let any dead organic material on the dry or live rock break down and then build up the biological filtration. If you think your dry rock is very clean and there's very little expected die off on the live rock (as in it's been thoroughly cured) then read up on ammonia dosing. By dosing ammonia you can build up your biofilter in a safe, quick, and controlled manner.

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The egg crate is used to stabalize the rock and not put pressure directly on the glass bottom.

 

I'm not sure that's a valid issue though... Egg crate really isn't all that strong to begin with so the weight distribution effects are minimal. And you would either need to be dropping rocks on the bottom glass or something similar to cause breakage. So putting normal sized rocks directly in contact with the glass shouldn't be an issue.

 

IME the stabilization aspect may not work out as you intend either unless you have a way to actually fasten the rock to the egg crate (such as with zip ties or something). Reason being is that the square holes are small enough that they create an effectively flat surface unless your rock is particularly rugged and it can actually rest inside individual square holes. Ultimately I think that using a hack saw to flatten a section of rock produces a very stable piece.

 

Anyways - not trying to say you're wrong for wanting to use egg crate as a base, but unless you know something different I don't think that the benefits of using egg crate outweigh the additional height added to the sand bed, the potential for it (grid structure) to be exposed as sand moves around, and the potential for reduced sand movement. Not to mention if it covers the entire bottom you would need to un-do all your rock scaping if you take it out some day.

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Heh not so sure it's really a debate, it's more about what you're hoping to accomplish and the pros vs. cons of the various methods to achieve it. It's not like egg crate is a required piece of equipment for every new tank...

 

I'm not trying to dissuade you at all from using egg crate on the bottom - I just wanted to be sure that you're not just doing it because someone told you that's the only way to stabilize rocks or that putting rocks directly on the glass was impossible or something. It's amazing how often advice is given like "that's the only way" or "This is how someone did it" when often times there are better ways to accomplish something.

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Oh ya for sure. Some ppl think that the way they are doing something is the BEST way but there are a lot of good ways to do things:)

 

I feel better placing egg crate under the rocks but I will only be placing the egg crate directly under the rocks leaving the rest of the tank bottom for sand only.

I might zip tie the rocks together too, plus i have epoxy.

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