Cloudy/hazy water...new tank syndrome?

Its Marine safe, but there's really no need for chemicals right now. If there is chlorine in the water (though there shoudlnt be any in your RO water) you can use Dechlorinator.

 

Thanks! Just fresh, pure RO/DI water + salt mix it is then. Keeps it simple. I do feel that it's best to keep the system as "natural" as possible...I've heard some horror stories from people who got carried away with all of these additives/supplements...unless you really know what you are doing...conditions can spiral out of control quickly...

 

I mixed my salt water right in the tank, but I did it before I put the sand in. I can't think of a logical reason other than cutting down on cloudyness that you'd do it the other way around. While it doesn't matter, it's way easier to mix. I haven't experienced any salt creep at all so far. SG is at 1.023.

This is sort of the flow of events I followed for initial setup:
1)fill DT tank with RO water
2)add salt and mix to correct SG
3)add sand, wait for sand to settle
4)add live rock, and wait, and test, and wait, and test....

 

Like I said, It wouldn't harm anything to mix the salt and water in the tank, I just cautioned not to get used to it.
The only negative aspect I've experience with mixing SW in the tank is that once you think you've got the SG down correctly, there's always salt crystals that dont disintegrate right away and it slowly drives your SG up. The good part is that its a simple fix, just do a water change and add a little less salt. (You dont really want to do a water change until your cycle is over however).

 

exactly. theres no point in using chemicals because RO/DI water has already been de-chlorinated, stripped of its TDS, and de-ionized.

API's stress coat, i used to use this all the time in my freshwater endeavors, but after awhile I realized it wasnt actually really helping anything. so i personally have become a fan of 0 chemicals unless theres a serious problem that the nature in my tank cant fix itself.

Alot of these 'chemicals' sold are marketing ploys. Id say if you were using tap-water, YES you need chemicals. RO/DI water saves you money on those things.

 

OK, so our decision to go back to the drawing board has been working out well for us so far. Tank, sump and all equipment was drained out and cleaned up. It was pretty clear that the circulation was not strong enough and the salt never mixed completely. With our saltwater staging setup in place, we now have ~80g heated (~75F), mixed (to 1.024sg) and ready to go. We are picking up our Bali LR from the LFS tomorrow!

So, if the LFS tells us the LR is not yet fully cured, we will just go through the curing process ourselves. However, if they do say it has been cured, after we place it in our tank can we bypass the curing process and simply proceed with cycling? We're confused because, as was previously mentioned in this thread, if there is going to be some more die-off anyway should we go through the curing process again?

We're thinking that as soon as LR enters the tank cycling commences...regardless of whether LR is cured or uncured. So cycling and curing occur simultaneously...and the water changes during curing just prolong the time needed to cycle. Generally during curing you keep lights off and do extensive water changes. Whereas normally during cycling you could run the lights and would not do any water changes until after both ammonia and nitrite have spiked and zeroed and nitrate begins to rise.

Does this sound right? Do we know what we are talking about?? What steps should we take tomorrow if we bring home "cured" LR to address any additional die-off?

 

This is really a new question so I'll pose it as such. This original question from this thread has been resolved.

Matthew