antigonus Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 I have finally assembled almost everything I need to start my first salt water tank (Biocube 32), other than a bucket and auxiliary heater for mixing which i'll get today, and even though i'm sure this sounds like a pretty stupid question, my biggest quandary is figuring out how to add water to the tank initially. Ideally I would want to add rock, sand, and then water, but i'm not 100% percent sure I will be able to have enough water already mixed in another container to pour all of it in at once. My next idea was to add the dry rock, then most of the water, then add the live sand and live rock, and finally top it off with a little more water to make sure it's completely full. I want to make sure the live rock doesn't have time to dry out and that it is added to water which is around 78 degrees Fahrenheit so there isn't a significant die off. Anyway, i'm not sure if i'm making any sense, and there is a good chance I am making this way more complicated than it needs to be, but i'm just curious how other people have initially set up their aquarium, and would certainly appreciate advice and tips. Quote Link to comment
Donny41 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 I would just add the sand and rock followed by water. Make sure you don't pour the water directly onto the sand so you don't stir it up too much Quote Link to comment
antigonus Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 Thanks, would recommend having all of the water mixed and ready to go? This is certainly what I want to do, i'm just not sure about the logistics. Quote Link to comment
Donny41 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 as much as you possibly can. Since there's no life besides whats on the live rock you should be able to use freshly mixed saltwater without letting it aerate or sit over night, which many people do with fresh saltwater. Quote Link to comment
antigonus Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 That's really good to know! I was planning on trying to have all of it already aerated in a big bin or something, but if I can add freshly mixed saltwater this will be a thousand times easier. Quote Link to comment
Donny41 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Definitely is, just check your salinity at least a few hours after you add all of the water, sometimes the salt will not dissolve completely and you can adjust it with fresh water as necessary. You don't want to do that when you have fish or coral in the tank but it should not have an adverse affect on your rock. Quote Link to comment
antigonus Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 Thanks a lot, this should be pretty straight forward then. Once the entire thing is filled and running doing water changes will be pretty easy because i'll just need a five or ten gallon bucket and heater, I guess I was stressing out too much about the live rock. Quote Link to comment
SaltyBuddha Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 I would recommend on having more buckets and heaters on stand by. You never know when you will need to do an emergency water change. Sounds like you are using dry and live rock. I would mix all your water. While this is mixing, I would add sand and the dry rock to the tank. Use a plate or lid to add the mixed SW to the tank without disturbing the sand bed. Don't worry about the water being heated first if you only have sand and dry rock in the tank. Turn on your pumps and heater. Get the water to temperature and then add the live rock to the tank. Then wait 4 to 8 weeks for the cycle and you are good to go! 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 Having more than 1 bucket is definitely a good plan. I have 4 just to be on the safe side. I to mix water in, 1 to siphon water from the tank during waterchanges. For the initial set up, it's fine to Add rock(I like to place eggcrate first so no pressure points from rocks are directly on the glass) Add sand(should pre wash this) Add water Make more water and add. It won't hurt anything doing this since the tank is new and there is nothing in it. If you are using liverock and want to prevent die off- buy a spray bottle. Put sw in it and spray the liverock to keep it wet until it gets in the tank. I 1 Quote Link to comment
antigonus Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 Thanks for the responses. I think that probably is the best method, dry rock first, then sand, salt water, and finally live rock once the heater has been on.? Quote Link to comment
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