water conditioner

I just filled my 120 gallons tank. I am a little overwelm with the water chemistry and how to get it right. I keep reading everybody 's thread and trying to learn from them.
I have nothing live in the tank yet and im waiting for the chlorine to go away before i add the salt and live rock.
right now i have 40 lbs of not live rock and 40 lbs of dry sand.
Do you use any of the water conditioner or any type of those bottles?

Also when my salt is mix and in the tank and when i add live rock or live sand is it at this moment that my cycle will begin?

 

If you used tap water to fill the tank, you will need to add a de-chlorinator to remove it & any other harmful chemicals in the water. Do you have stress coat or something along that lines you can put into the tank? Back when I used tap water I used Marine Stress Coat but if you're not running a skimmer then you shouldn't have issues using regular stress coat.

Since you are using dry/base rock, your cycle will take a little while. The rock will need to cure in the tank while it cycles before you can add anything in. The cycle will begin once anything live goes in, like your live sand. You will just need to monitor the water params with a basic test kit, watch for the Nitrite and Ammonia spike and then they will drop to zero. Once both of those read zero you are done cycling your tank.

good luck!

 

hey, its always a little overwhelming at first so no worries. i can say your already on the right track and ahead of the curve by reading b4 doing.

you will get many different opinions on how to cycle a tank on this thread. some say to hold off on adding the sand until cycle is complete then add sand and wait for 2nd cycle to finish. some say to leave lights off to prevent algae form overrunning tank and to allow for the good bacterial to get a hold.

if you have already added you tap water to the tank i would say dont add any conditioner as i think some of those kill ammonia which you want during the first half of cycle then you want to see the ammonia at 0.

For starters: add you salt now and let it dissolve (put power heads in your tank to keep salt mixing. take 1-2 days). then add you rock (cycle has begun). keep water temp at ~80. its up to you now if you want to add sand now or wait but read the new to SW threads to learn more about the different types of cycling.

I just added the sand and rock at same time and ran the lights also.
GL!

 

has your water cleared any? Pumps running yet?

Like mentioned above you will need to add something to remove the chlorine. I personally would recommend using Seachem Prime. In the future you will want to consider RO/DI water that you can purchase from your LFS. (though I do know many that use tap water conditioned with Prime)

You will want to add the salt as mentioned in the other thread soon. The chlorine etc will not affect the salt levels at all. Just remember in the future, you NEVER EVER want to add salt directly into the tank when it is up and running.

You probably already know this...but just FYI...when you top off a saltwater tank you top off with FRESH water, and not saltwater. Water evaporates and not the salt! I am sorry if you already know this but just in case.....

Once the salt is added you will need to add some type of bacteria into the system to get it to cycle properly. There are chemicals on the market that is supposed to do this but I honestly do not trust them.

The "Best" thing in my opinion is to get a handful or two of sand from an establish tank and place it in your sand. I would also get a couple pieces of "live" rock and put in the tank. This will help seed the tank. Since a your rock is not live, the cycle is going to take many weeks, maybe 6+ weeks, so you will have to be patient (though it sounds like you already are)

Some people have used raw shrimp and placed in the tank but I think it is easier to do the things I have mentioned....plus you dont have to smell the decaying shrimp. I doubt that your LFS will be hesitant to give you a handful of their sand. When I worked there I gave many handfuls out to new tanks.

Good luck

 

My water is still a little cloudy but not sure if it will clear on its own or its because i don't have any filtration going yet.

I love it when you guys give me tips i am all taking it in and yes i am taking my time want to do it right plus it's a little lighter on my wallet when i go slow versus all at once.

I need to go buy salt any brand you like. I have been reading and a lot of people seem to like tropic marine salt what do you think?

 

Ho forget, my pump is running.

 

what type of tank are you running (or going to run). For my fish only system I always just used Instant Ocean. For my reef tank I use Reef Crystals.

None of the stores around me have the Tropic Marine salt so I have no experience with that type. This is where you are going to get EVEN MORE discussion on what type of salt to use! I would recommend whatever kind you pick you stick with!

 

I would like to have fish and reef.
I am gonna be starting with fish and then later get coral so should i get salt for reef so i can stick to it or start with instant ocean and then when im ready for coral switch to crystal reef?

 

Honestly, I dont think it matters that much in reality depending on what kind of corals you have and IF you will be dosing things such as Mg, Calcium, etc. The difference between the two from my understanding (and I only know what I have read or been told) is the amount of essential elements in the Reef Crystals.

Instant Ocean is a whole lot cheaper and is the kind of salt that majority (all in my area) of stores use in their tanks. I stick with reef crystals now the majority of the time since I have more SPS corals, but I have honestly used IO at times (I even used Corallife salt) in my reef tank. So it is really up to you and your pocket book. I dont see any reason that you could not start with IO!

 

If you intend to have a reef tank one day I would recommend using only RO/DI from now on. Its too late for your initial fill but RO/DI gives you consistency you will not find with tap water. Your tank and its inhabitants will thank you.