Just Set Up 75 gallon!

[g_morin]

Ok just setup my 75 gallon soon to be FOWLR and so far I have the salt in there the live sand and the hydrometer and the filter all set up and running good...now my questions are as follow:
1. With live sand can I just use base rock for now?
2. Buying bottled bacteria and so on is that a good idea?
3. Is putting a piece of raw shrimp in the tank that benneficial?

I still have to get a powerhead and the rock but just asking thus far...

 

[xEchOx]

If you are planning to do a FOWLR, then the Canister? filter isn't as necessary. The live rock will function as the biological filter, so the canister can be used for mechanical filtration.

If you bought the "live sand" in a bag, you are no further along than if you had used silica sand or play sand. I'd be willing to bet there are very little benefits to the cycle when using "live sand". I personally feel the same way about bottled bacteria.

You can put base rock in now, and use a piece of raw shrimp to get the cycle going.

 

[g_morin]

Ok so live sand is a joke... figures lol! What i would like to do is about 50 lbs of base key largo rock from marcorocks.com then maybe 10-20lbs or so of live rock unless I wouldnt need it with the shrimp decay?
Glenn

 

[xEchOx]

It depends on when you add the shrimp, and how long it's had to break down vs when you add the live rock. If you get the base rock and start cycling with the shrimp, 4-5 weeks and the base rock will probably be cycled (you'll have to test to confirm this). At that point, adding cured live rock would be pointless as the cycle is already complete.

The point of adding a small amount of live rock is to speed up the cycle. So an ideal situation would be to get the base rock and shrimp in together and say a week later add the live rock, or heck, even at the same time add the live rock, this will help the cycle move along faster.

 

[g_morin]

ok so live rock, raw shrimp and base rock add all together and still 4-6 weeks before even think about adding life to the tank...

 

[xEchOx]

I would say that would be a safe assumption. You can test the water to see if adding the live rock speeds up the cycle any... but yes, being patient is definitely the key.

 

[g_morin]

sunday I am going to lfs and getting some rock, power head and a test kit so hopefully I can get this cycled properly and start off on the right foot... but the guy says he is going to hook me up on the live rock so we shall see when I get there lol

 

[xEchOx]

I do want to mention that live rock can introduce hitch hikers. Those might be welcomed, or unwanted. I've got some nice polyps (zoanthids) on live rock, and some cool mushrooms as well. Conversly I also have aiptasia from the live rock I bought... not something you want in your tank. So keep that in mind as well.

 

[ala02]

I'm actually in the process of creating my first 75 gallon saltwater tank as well so this information is very useful!!!

 

[g_morin]

I know about hitchhikers so thanks for the warning...I just can't wait to start building this tank up...

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