Turning my 55 into a sw tank. Goin dark side.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
All of this infois amazing guys. I appreciate it greatly. To get my tank going with live rock. Do I need live sand or can I use the black blasting sand I currently have in there? Its no problem if I need to switch it out.
 
long as the black sand is "aragonite" you can use it no problem.

Live sand speeds up the cycle process. That is it's benefit when starting a salt tank.

so if your in no hurry you can save money and use dead aragonite. throw a few raw shrimp from the grocery store in and let it cycle for a few weeks with the rock. during that time the dead sand will turn into live sand :D

remember, salt tanks take longer to cycle than fresh so just be patient. i tend to be impatient and it has cost me money here and there that was not needed :(
 
long as the black sand is "aragonite" you can use it no problem.

Live sand speeds up the cycle process. That is it's benefit when starting a salt tank.

so if your in no hurry you can save money and use dead aragonite. throw a few raw shrimp from the grocery store in and let it cycle for a few weeks with the rock. during that time the dead sand will turn into live sand :D

remember, salt tanks take longer to cycle than fresh so just be patient. i tend to be impatient and it has cost me money here and there that was not needed :(

x2.

If I were you, I would skip the live sand, and just get plain aragonite sand and seed it with a little bit of sand from another established saltwater aquarium; the store-bought live sand is dead considering that those bags don't contain enough oxygen for the bacteria to survive for very long.
 
Well I cleaned out my 55g of all old sand, scrubbed it clean of algae with a scrubbie, added, 40 lbs of dead aragonite and a 50g bag of the seachem salt. I went to a lfs an hour or so away and sat and talked to the dude for a good hour. e was kind of a dick but I killed him with kindness. I am in no hurry. I will let this cycle the old school way. I just need to save up for the live rock and get my sg to stabilize. I borrowed a hydromoter from a buddy so that saved me 15$. Looking forward to getting this thing going proper. I will keep you guys updated :).
 
Got a couple of mollys today and threw them in the tank to get it cycling slowly. Acclimated them to salt slowly before putting them in the 55 of course.
 
I have a couple pieces in there. Gonna pick up the rest on wednesday.
 
Well I have 20 lbs of live rock in there, 2 lbs of rubble despersed within my 2 marineland 350 buckets. I added in 2 green/blue chromis.

Kinda fun just watchin these 2 super small fish scoot around their big old tank. Very pretty fish for how cheap they are. Kinda under estimated imo.
 
Just a couple pics. Needs some work to do.

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looking good im thinking about turning a 100 into a salt but idk yet how much did it cost you to get it going if you dont mind me asking and wiggles why cant you use canister filters in just curious because thats what i was planning on using but if i cant ill find something else haha
 
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