More questions...

[cmoreash]

OK, thanks for the previous help, everyone.   I have some different questions now.

 

What hours should the lighting be on for my 29 gallon tank?  I am gonna have a 55 watt pc blue, 55 watt pc 6500k, and maybe a 20 watt NO 50/50.

 

For the protein skimmer.....it is gonna be a visi-jet skimmer, which is powered by a powerhead...should i leave it on all the time, or for just a while? if so, what hours?

 

I decided on getting half live rock, and have normal rock to attempt to "seed" the normal rock.

 

Water goes in first, right?  How should I cycle this tank?

 

 

-thanks for the help, I will be waiting with more questions soon...

 

*EDIT:   Oh yes, what would be the best thing to put in the AC 300 going on the tank?  I was thinking a bit of live sand, and a sponge or 2

 

(Edited by cmoreash at 4:16 pm on May 22, 2002)

[SLOreefer]

ok the lights should be on between 10 and 12 hours a day. it is best to have them on a timer so your actinic can come on about an hour before your daylight this way you do no tshock the corals. about the skimmer the choice is yours. i would personally run it full time during the cycle process then slow down to about 12 hours a day. add the base rock in first then add the live on top of that. to cycle just add the lr and ls and wait. it will cycle itself with the rock and sand. for your aquaclear you could do exactly what you proposed and that will be fine

[cmoreash]

cool, thank you, so how exactly DO i cycle the tank?  do i do it the way i would do a freshwater tank: add a fish or 2 to help get everything going?     And in what order, and how long should it be until i add crabs, snails, coral, etc...?

 

I will put in live rock, and sand before anything above, don't worry..i just want to know if the live rock NEEDS the fish and stuff to stay ok..

 

(Edited by cmoreash at 4:47 pm on May 22, 2002)

[Toyfreek]

Cmor,

DONT BUY THE VISIJET SKIMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought one it it held together with plastic wire ties. and it dosen't skim at all. Totally worthless, However I am using the adjustable powerhead in my nano as the flow is like 50gph.

I bought an air stone drivin skimmer that works ten times better for $15 its called a piccalo.

I hope I caught you before you bought it.

HTH,

Toy

[Toyfreek]

Oh yeah,

Place your sand and rock in your tank BEFORE you put water in. You will have virtually no cloudiness if you pour the water in over a piece of plastic wrap on top of the rocks. And an added benifit is you can see your rock when you aquascape.

HTH,

Toy

[SLOreefer]

i would throw some fish food or a piece of table shrimp in for it to decompose and help the cycle. your lr will also have dieoff which will cuase the cycle. i do not recommend using fish since it is a great possibility they will die. the tieline goes as this:

1)start tank ycling

2)add cleanup crew uwsually about 2 weeks later

3)keep up on water tests when reads ok maybe add some easy easy corals(mushrroms)

4)keep testing when everything reads 0(trites trates ammonia) add a fish.

 

keep it slow and dont rush anything. th emore you ruch the more problems you will have.

[cmoreash]

ok, sounds good, i wasn't gonna rush anyways, i gotta save up anyway.    i need saltwater test kits for this right, cuz my FW ones won' work, and do i need a hydrometer?   i think i might be able to handle this now!

 

(Edited by cmoreash at 5:04 pm on May 22, 2002)

[Sahin]

You do need a hydrometer

And some test kits work FW and SW eg Tetra-test kits.

 

Good luck.

[cmoreash]

How tall of an airdriven skimmer do I need then?  which is better, the red sea one, or the Lee's one?    And what power of an airpump will i need?   Thanks guys!

[lizbeth]

I'd put your heater in the Aquaclear, it works for me. The less junk in the tank the better. I've also heard you can put one of the Sanders Piccalo skimmer in there too.

[Toyfreek]

Thats exactly what I did in my 7gal. the sanders piccalo!

I forgot the guy I bought it from it was on e-bay. I'm using a big a$$ dual hagen 1000 or something like that (its under the stand and i cant see it) I run it to a dual adjustable gang valve with flow meters it was like a buck and a half. The other outlet i turn off unless I'm hatching Baby brine or Phytoplankton its very usefull that way.

HTH,

Toy

[Satchmo]

Does anyone know where to get a piccalo mail order?  I can't seem to find them anywhere.