Starting up a new tank - When to do what?

So my 75 died (dino) - i took it all down, am nuking the rock, have almost finished replumbing and the new sump. I'm starting to think about the best way to get things up and going again...

I think that this is the order/timing of the steps for getting my new tank going - I wanted to see if anyone has advice for better ways to do this.

This is a 75 gal tank with 30 gal sump and 20 gal fuge

1. FW test, then drain it all out again.
2. Start filling with RODI
3. Put together rock/aquascape in empty/filling tank
4. put sand (rinsed) into DT
5. put deep sand bed into fuge
5. once system full, add salt
6. turn on sump return pump
- keep skimmer off
- turn on heaters
7. wait for sand/cloud to settle, then start up closed loop
8. Start cycle
- put in small amount of new LR, LR rubble, and live sand (LS in DT and fuge)
- ?cocktail shrimp, too?
- keep MH lights off
- keep actinics off? or just short light cycle?
9. Supplements? I use oceanic salt, and had to use b-ionic two part daily to keep up Ca++ and alk, as well as mg weekly. Should i start testing and dosing these how soon after i start cycling the tank? Will the need for these be related to starting up the skimmer?
10. When to start up skimmer? - once I add livestock, once cycle ends, or any other landmark that people use for this step.
11. Fish or corals first? My local reef shop says get fish in the tank first for several months to help get the tank ready for corals. really?
12. When to start phosban and carbon?

Sorry for the dumb questions, but this is the second time I'm starting a reef tank. I managed to do alot wrong the first time around, so now I'm trying to get this one going as cleanly as possible.

 

dino?

 

at first glance of your list, i dont recommend mixing the salt in the tank after you put ro/di water into it. i recommend you pre-mix and then add to the tank when its ready.

i also doubt you'll have to dose any of the calc/alk. im sure during the initial cycling process the elements in the salt mix will keep those up. but if not you'll know because you can test for them and see if they're low. if so then you can dose accordingly

 

developed dinoflagellate infestation. thought it was cyanobacteria like usual until corals bleached and fish went belly up. I lost power for a few hours the last day of the tank, and thought that was the cause of it all until I found pictures of dino on the web and realized why my tank had been getting weird on me.

 

hey doog
I can offer my opinion on certain aspects

1 like bje I prefer to mix my salt water and then add to tank
I like to half fill tank with salt water then add my base rock and sand bed and then fill up to finish

adding fish 1st is my preference also as fish typically add larger bioload with each introduction whereas corals add very little - thus the tank becomes mature and able to then cope with the additional small bioload additions of corals

skimmer - Id not bother with one until you have livestock in there, but when you introduce the 1st fish thats a great time to install and let it break in

GFO - if your doing base rock, dry sand, then adding this at same time as skimmer will be fine IMO - if on the other hand you went with live rock, then I would want GFO in at day 1 to help combat the possibility of algae menaces

running for a few weeks with lights off is triple important if you start a tank with live rock IME for the same reasons as introducing GFO

Steve

 

steve - thanks! these are helpful points.

how long do people leave lights off when starting a new tank with base rock and some LR? do you need actinics going to get the coralline growing (i would assume) - do you wait out the diatom bloom and then turn on the lights?

 

I think the list looks OK. If you want to mix the salt in your tank just do it after you put your rock in and before you put your sand in. That's how I did it and it worked fine. The reasoning for after rock and before sand for me was that it's much easier to prepare all the rocks in the tank when it's dry, it's a lot less messy and is easier to drill/epoxy/glue everything where it needs to go. I put the water in before the sand because I didn't want a bunch of freshwater in the bottom of the sandbed to take a long time to get up to salinity because the mixing rate at the lower levels of a sandbed, especially a deep one will take much longer.

Regardless, they'll all work eventually.

+1 to fish first. They will add to the bioload and give your tank a chance to really start maturing and producing populations of the small little critters and bacteria which really start leading to the stable system that corals need moreso than most fish.

 

forgot this step - when to put in CUC?
also, want to put chaeto and mangrove in fuge - again when?

my last tank i started with a couple of fire shrimp that i loved - plan on putting them in again too!

 

imo, cuc is the 1st to add once your cycle is done. let them get after the algae that will be starting to build . id wait a week after cuc's added, then add your 1st fish.

 

doog techniques vary between people - its all good IMO

When using live rock, It was felt a period between 4 and 12 weeks without lighting was considered ideal cured rock meaning lights could be introduced sooner than uncured rock
which as you know has the most potential for unwanted algaes

+ 1 with Divott on CUC going in before fish even , unless you cycle with a damsel in which case after the Ammonia and Nitrites have both zero'd then thats a good time for snails
always a good idea to try a few snails and hermits to see how they adapt to your set up
before adding the full CUC (best to add in stages with a new tank IMO)

Fuge - cheato and Mangroves - as soon as you have detectable nitrates - that the time to add those macro algaes IMO , if not before

Steve