Saltwater..here I come! (Rough beginning)

Okay, so I'm diving into this saltwater thing. I have over 25 years of freshwater experience and it's finally time for saltwater. I was at my LFS talking to a girl about purchasing a tank when an older gentleman turned around and offered me his 110 gallon saltwater reef set-up.. protein skimmer, canopy lighting, sump, refugium, overflow, 4 inched sand set-up that is running with only a single piece of live rock (he recently moved the rest of it to a bigger tank he just purchased).

First of all, I have to move this thing to my husband who lives 5 hours away. This'll be interesting, and I pray I don't bust the thing before I get it home. This is an older tank, are they more prone to having leaks? Research on-line says that I should drain it, carefully move the live sand to some buckets and keep it wet but not submerged for the trip.

Okay, so I bought about 50 pounds of dry rock to start as a base. Our plan is to stick in a piece of live rock with that and let it sit and grow for a few months (no plans of adding ANY fish for a loooong while). Our plan is for it to be mostly a reef tank with a side of small fish and invertebras. I have to do more research on exactly what corals I want to grow.

Here is my main question: Do I need a heater for my 110 gallon tank during the time that I am just growing live rock? About how long should it take to grow up the 50 pounds of base rock if I add (say 1 pound of) live?

Here are some other questions: How many powerheads are suggested? And do you advise that I get anything else at this point? For ex..should I buy more live rock? Or is 4 inches of sand and 50 pounds dry a good place to start?

Any help is DEEPLY appreciated!

~Pepper

 

Honestly! I'd ditch all the sand but a cup or 2! At this point, you don't know whats in that sand! I'd pour in new sand and then add the little bit of LR and a few cups of sand! Then add a little bit of fish food or a raw ahrimp and let it cycle! i'd also add about 75 pounds of dry base rock at his time too! In about 4-6 we4ks add your first fish after nitrates read almost zero! i'd get a stocking/wishlist ready so you know what else you need to buy!

 

drill the dry rock for dowels before you add it!

 

get ready to open up your wallet!!

 

to actually answer your question, i'd put it all in the tank and let it cycle naturally! prob 4-8 weeks!

 

I agree, except I wouldn't use any of the live sand. Buy new sand and get a bottle of some Dr. Tims "one and only" you can watch the video here to understand what it's about ( the video on the left called "bacteria in a bottle") Because using someone else's sand can cause a ton of grief. I wish I would have known about this when I started my tank.

 

Let me add that when I went to view the tank today, it still had an angel fish in it that was very healthy looking and a few sparse pieces of happy looking anemone. Do you still think I should ditch the sand? Also, at this point during cycling do I need a heater to help the live rock?

 

Def ditch the sand. It's fine if you leave it as is, but as soon as it gets stirred up it can release real bad things. You could rinse it real well and dry it out, but for the cost of new sand I wouldn't want to go through all that hassle.

 

I just started using it yesterday. Dead rock, Dead sand, a bottle of Dr. Tim's one and only and 2 clownfish. The thread is on here posted "29g biocube build"

Also, ditch the sand. You don't know what kind of stuff you will be stirring up and releasing back into the tank if you use the same sand. Especially a 4" deep sandbed.

 

Thanks, guys! Now I just have to convince my husband to ditch the sand.