Tank Plans

Hi Doctor Tim!

I'm writing to see what good stuff you may have our there to help me get my tank get established in a healthy way. The build is still in process, but I will have a 90 gallon cube. I have all dry rock that I acquired from a previous aquarist. He had this rock in his systems, but it has since dried out.

I am assuming that i will need to cycle the rock before I do anything else, and I plan to run your biopellets during the cycles of the rock/tank. Is that advisable? In my thinking it can only help to set-up the biofilter capability right off the bat. Is this something you would recommend for a new tank? If so, are there any other additives that you recommend for this initial rock curing stage?

Once that is complete, I plan to use you fish-less cycling product to prepare the aquarium for it first in habitants.

I should have 100 to 150 lbs of rock in there as well as a carib sea special seaflor mix as a substrate.

Anyway, I am curious to hear what products you have available to help with these various processes, or an other recommendations you may have.

Thanks for the help!

Thor

 

awesome Thor, get a build thread going, you def are doing it right

 

sounds awesome.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/thors-custom-80-kind-cube-build-120867.html

 

lol thks sean, should've looked!

 

Hello Thor:

This dried out previously used rock will probably have a fair amount of dead organic material on it. Watch for it turning your water cloudy. Since you plan to do a fishless cycle you might consider adding some Waste-Away to the tank once you have the rock set-up so the bacteria in Waste-Away can get rid of the dead organic material.

I would advise against this. This would be set-up competitors to the nitrifying bacteria for certain trace nutrient that both groups need. Wait 2-3 weeks before setting-up the Pearls (biopellets is my advice). Bio-pellets are to get rid of nitrate and phosphate. Typically a biofilter is to get rid of the ammonia the fish excrete. They are both bacterial but do different things, as I said I would wait.

A few drops of First Defense - use only 1/4 dose

Once you have gone through the fishless cycle, added fish and everything is set I would add the Pearls about week 3. At that time start using Waste-Away to help seed the Pearls. Once a month add some Eco-Balance Probiotic bacteria to the tank and that's about it (do not add the Eco-Balance on the same day as the Waste-Away - wait 48 hours).

Have fun and keep us posted on the progress

Cheers

 

Thanks Dr. Tim! I love the advice, and I will be sticking to it. I will keep you posted once the cycling of the rock starts, and will report back up until I've got livestock in there. They should be in great shape after all that.