Setting up a predator salt tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
tanks4thememories;4216523; said:

Well the 72 bow front i just set up, and went 80lbs on live sand. The fish are in there and have been fed and the test results have not swayed since the first test. That was taken in 7 hours. The fish are still in there, and i can do a water test tomorrow. They have been fed as of last night and today, and still water is fine and the BB was enough to keep params perfect with no "mini cycles"



I had a mini cycle in the 360 when cycling that because i used bio spira that had gone bad. I was pissed!!! Thats why i had a mini cycle.

I also had a 90 gallon that i cycled in 24 hours with my live sand only and put a 2 week old shark in the next day with my purple tang and they were fine, and still are. I had a thread on that one a little while ago probably still in here. Like i said though, this is just my personal results with this sand, and my lfs uses it all their tanks, and state all there sand is live because they move it so fast. Whether its true or not, my results have been ****ing awesome.
 
TheCanuck;4216531; said:
Well the 72 bow front i just set up, and went 80lbs on live sand. The fish are in there and have been fed and the test results have not swayed since the first test. That was taken in 7 hours. The fish are still in there, and i can do a water test tomorrow. They have been fed as of last night and today, and still water is fine and the BB was enough to keep params perfect with no "mini cycles"



I had a mini cycle in the 360 when cycling that because i used bio spira that had gone bad. I was pissed!!! Thats why i had a mini cycle.

I also had a 90 gallon that i cycled in 24 hours with my live sand only and put a 2 week old shark in the next day with my purple tang and they were fine, and still are. I had a thread on that one a little while ago probably still in here. Like i said though, this is just my personal results with this sand, and my lfs uses it all their tanks, and state all there sand is live because they move it so fast. Whether its true or not, my results have been ****ing awesome.

Well I am glad to see some real results with the stuff. Thanx again for your input. Very nice tank BTW!!!

Hey post some links to your tanks so I can check them out.
 
tanks4thememories;4216534; said:
Well I am glad to see some real results with the stuff. Thanx again for your input. Very nice tank BTW!!!

Hey post some links to your tanks so I can check them out.

AH HAH!

I just grasped your concept of the non spores, mini cycles, etc thing.

While i (now) understand this maybe this leads to the fact that bags have different die off rates and maybe some still can carry spores such as the 72 gallon bowfront.

I am actually going to buy two different bags of sand next time and test water in 10 gallons. I wonder if they would yield different results with the same amount of food input.


heres pics of the amonia and trite with fish in there.. still no spike and i have fed two brine shrimp cubes today and algae, as well as last night. Your name is on the paper with the time :D

June 13, 2010 402.jpg

June 13, 2010 403.jpg

June 13, 2010 404.jpg
 
TheCanuck;4216461; said:
While i have no actual evidence of living organisms in the tank, broke my microscope :( , i do believe they are in there. Bio spira always needed to be refrigerated, like you stated. I used this stuff for all my salt tanks and instantly cycled and produced nothing more than nitrates with my live sand and power heads. Now it doesn't need to be refrigerated, funny i know but it still works, and i have results with it. Many fresh water sands boast live as well, and i think they have found a way to harness these micro organisms( and smaller worms etc) in a bag that can last a long time. This brings me to another point of how i use to buy live sand with water in the bag, and now there is no water. I think the science and understanding of these bacteria are more and more advanced. While people think bacteria and micros die off easy, thats so very far from the truth. I don't actually have the facts, nor the links. I can't go into deep depths of it because i really don't know other than my personal experience with the stuff, and the results this great product has always granted me. Also the time i used cheap sand and was pissed when i killed a V tail grouper. While even if the bacteria and micros where all dead, Live sand is cheaper than LR, and can cure rocks fast. Also i read your comment of reefers dosing addtional worms etc, i think this is mostly for refugiums, and such to have a heavy concentrated area of decomposition of amon trite and trate.

Blah, i must sit and wait for kevin now. He will clear up anything that was wrong and enlighten everyone ;)

as for your tank cycled in 5 days thats decent.

Check this out... tank cycled in 7 hours... Yes thats lace rock.

well after seeing these pictures i must call your opinion on all things into question....the reason you ask? well because you're holding a natty light meaning you're accustomed to low quality ;)
 
snyder810;4217146; said:
well after seeing these pictures i must call your opinion on all things into question....the reason you ask? well because you're holding a natty light meaning you're accustomed to low quality ;)


Haha it was left over from beer pong. I don't use expensive beer for pong, just cheap. 30 cases go cheap and natty light is very low quality but o well. :D

:ROFL:
 
The orginal poster said he was trying to keep costs down. My point was he didn't need to spend 20 bucks for a 5lb bag of "live sand" at the lfs and then buy 25 bags of it.
I agree with all the other points. If he's not using real live rock, he'll have a heck of time establishing the beneficial bacteria. At that point, maybe a bag of LS from the lfs would be beneficial.
I had no major problems with algae or anything else using play sand. I never added anything (other than new saltwater on water changes). No trace elements, nothing. I was not keeping a full blown reef, however, and I never had any problems with any of my parameters going out of whack. The only problem I had was being lazy with w/c :)
There are several ways to sent up a marine tank. The way I did it worked fine for me.
 
EastBay;4218209; said:
The orginal poster said he was trying to keep costs down. My point was he didn't need to spend 20 bucks for a 5lb bag of "live sand" at the lfs and then buy 25 bags of it.
I agree with all the other points. If he's not using real live rock, he'll have a heck of time establishing the beneficial bacteria. At that point, maybe a bag of LS from the lfs would be beneficial.
I had no major problems with algae or anything else using play sand. I never added anything (other than new saltwater on water changes). No trace elements, nothing. I was not keeping a full blown reef, however, and I never had any problems with any of my parameters going out of whack. The only problem I had was being lazy with w/c :)
There are several ways to sent up a marine tank. The way I did it worked fine for me.


Agreed. You can't start an salt water aquarium any cheaper than I did for mines. If the OP reads my link and follows what I did he will be successful and spend the least amount of money possible (Except for the fish...lol)

PS the FX5 was purchased for less than half price new on e-bay!!
 
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