Going to make this wet.

well if its a leak in the plumbing i would shut of any pumps (return) that would be moving the water where the leak is. from there i wouldpatch the leak either by taking apart the plubing and refitting it with pvc glue. or another possible option would be to patch it up with some sort of putty, but the 1st option would be best. is your plumbing PVC?

 

I have a mix of pvc from the bulkheads to to ball valves then a barbed fitting to flex hose to the sump for the drain and return.

 

I wet tested my entire system with tap water for several days before I added any sand, rock or saltwater. I cured my 180 lbs of live rock in Rubbermaid tubs and an old 55G aquarium in my garage before adding it to the tank. The sand is a 5-6" DSB consisting of 330 lbs of unrinsed Southdown sugar sized sand with all the fines and dust intact since this is the most important part of a DSB and supposrt the most live bacteria. I suffered through a week or 10 days of a milkshake effect but in the long run it was 100% worth it.

I added the dry sand first, then enough mixed new saltwater to fully immerse some live rock and built up the rock work as I went along. When adding water I placed a trashbag on the sand or rock and poured the water on that to cut down on disturbing the sand bed. It helps but you still get cloudy water. I then added a couple cups of real live sand from friends well established reef systems to add diversity and give the colonizing bacteria a jump start. Once the bacteria starts colonizing the sand its drops like a rock and the cloudiness goes away. I was always taught all good things take time in this hobby and I'm a firm believer in that. Waiting out the sandstorm was a smart move as my nitrates and phosphates are still undetectable after over 7 years due to the diversity of the DSB.

 

^^ Good idea. When I did mine I didn't even care mainly because the lights were off and it was cycling. No critters in there so I just filled it up. That's the lazy route

 

I thought about that but I bought my live rock in the shipping boxes directly from the importer and picked it up at the airport air freight terminal right off the plane so it needed massive curing. I didn't want the die off in my fresh new sand plus it got pretty earthy smelling in the garage for a few weeks!

 

Makes sense. I was completely new to SW so I ended up pitching the $s for all live rock. Oops!

 

I got my rock from BRS and I am very happy with the shape and the condition of the rock I got. It is completly dry so I plan on seeding it in the tank I have seen good things using Brightwell aquatices Microbacter 7. I think this will cut down on some of the sink at least I hope it does the tank is in the dinning room.

 

WOOHOO!!! Congratulations! Your future looks bright, and salty.

Same for the original poster. Good luck to you.

 

I just did my first SWT a week ago today.. I added live sand, got my lr from liverockusa, put that in a tub of sw for a couple days, I rinsed and drained the sand once, I did not want to lose all of the nutrients.

I put some eggcrate in the tank where the rock would sit so it was not touching the glass or anything, added the sand, made my scape with my LR put a plate on the bottom and I used a 1G pitcher to fill the tank, it's only a 28, so it was not bad at all.. After only one week my levels are already looking good. Like I read on this site quality LR, sand and R0/DI water will make for a quick cycle.

So far a couple lessons I have learned.. 1) I am so glad I invested in a R0/DI system I can't imagine hauling water from the lfs and on top of that having control over the salinity is a much better option. 2) Eggcrate is not always called eggcrate, if you go to HD or Lowes go to the lighting departmant and ask for light diffuser 3) It's alot harder than it seems to be patient and not rush out and add something to the tank, I just want to put something in there, waiting a few weeks for my tank to cycle is going to be hard haha.

 

The longest waiting period of your life!;D