Tank top question

S

shanet1975

Reefing newb
Morning....After many discussions and reading n these forums I have made my purchases. Everything will be arriving tomorrow. I have a 55 gallon tank and bought a super skimmer, a emperor 400 filter, various test kits, hydrometer, a koralia 3, live sand, and salt. I will be making a trip out to Boston on Saturday yo pick up some live rock. My questions is, I currently have a repitle cage lid on top with a flourescent strip light. I haven't saved enough for the Nova Extremes yet, so this will have to do for now. I'm not sure what to do with the top. I see pictures of tanks with no tops. Do the fish attempt to jump out? I know the t5's have brackets to suspend the fixture which will be great, but is it ok to leave it open like that???
Thanks for your help again!!!
 
One other live sand question. The gentleman I am buying the liverock from also has livesand as well for a buck a lb. But...he mixed some of the dark sand in with the lighter sand. Not too fond of that. Is there any difference between live sand that has been in a tank for a while and the live sand I would find at the lfs?
Thanks for your help again!!!
 
Regarding your open top Q: It all depends what you have in the tank... some fish will jump others don't. I have had my tank open in the summer then with glass covers during the winter (to help moderate temps) and never had a problem with anything jumping out... I'm pretty sure that those who move to MH lighting benefit from open topped tanks as MH bulbs give off quite a lot of heat...

Live Sand: When you say "LS from your LFS" I guess you mean the stuff in bags (ie. 'Arag Live'). This sand have all the relevant bacterial cultures present, which will expand more rapidly to start the Nitrogen Cycle. Any sand that has been in a tank for a while should come with a host of little critters (that you want)... it is therefore a good idea to add at least some of the LS from a tank to 'seed' the bagged stuff...
 
Thank you for your input. Is there a 'good' amount of sand from the Guys tank I should use to mix with the bagged stuff? Is it 50 50, or could I go less? Would it be okay to put the LS on the bottom and then cover it with the bagged stuff?
Thanks again...
 
Well you don't have to use any - it's just good to get some of those critters in... so you can use as much as you like - at least that's what I believe... As you don't like the colour of it, I'd be tempted to try what you suggest and put the LS on the bottom - I don't think the critters will mind. Is the bagged stuff dry or wet ('live')?
 
The lfs has either. I would think the live (wet) would be better...no?
The guy I am buying the liverock from says he has between 40 and 50 lb's. Is that enough to start and slowly add more as $ allows? Will that be sufficient to get started?
Thanks
 
Well I like the wet as you don't get the dust that you get with the dry stuff... but you pay for it!

sounds fine on the live-rock... I actually started my tanks off with a very small amount of live rock, as these first pieces need to survive through pretty rough conditions => some of the more delicate hitch-hikers will not survive. It will take longer if you do this, and you need to add any new live rock a few pieces at a time as each will create another mini-cycle... so if you are in no hurry I would suggest this - otherwise you'll be fine to start up with the 40-50lbs you can get then add more in the future. Most people seem to start by putting all their intended live rock in at the start, so there may be benefits to doing it this way anyway...

Good luck!!
 
Thanks again....I'll do some more reading on the startup process and see what I come up with. My original plan was to mix the salt water in the tank, add the 40 or 50 lb's of live rock, then the sand and then start the filters and equipment. I'll look around.
 
On how much to buy it all depends on how deep you want the sand bed. I found it was easier to add all the sand I wanted first. Because when you go to add more it flies all over and gets all over everything. I went with two bags of live and the rest was the dry stuff. My tank is opened on the top. Be sure to post pics when you get it all set up. Are you going with a sump?
 
Thanks Piggy....I also read somewhere that you should put the liverock in first so it is on the bottom of the tank so critters don't go digging and knocking things over? I guess I could just move the sand and put the rock in. I'm going to have about an inch of bedding. I think that with 2 20 lb bags and whatever I buy from the liverock guy, I should be fine.
Thanks
 
Here's the order I did it in: Sand, live rock, water. It's up to you. I would definitely use as much sand from an established tank as possible. As long as the tank is healthy and disease free, and the guy has never used copper in it before.
 
He sent pictures and all looks well, but I really don't know what to look for. It is currently a 75 gallon setup and he is moving and downsizing. The only thing about the sand is he mixed a darker sand with it and it doesn't look as good as the lighter stuff. Would it be OK to use his sand underneath the newer live sand I just bought?
Also, what would copper do, and what would be copper that the guy could have used?
Thanks Bifferwine....You seem very knowledgeable :)
(Still saving for the NOva Extremes you were telling me about)
 
It would be fine to use that underneath your new sand.

Copper is used to treat diseases of fish. But it kills all inverts and live rock. So if he had a sick fish and treated his tank with copper, and you used his sand, any invert that you put in your tank would die, as the copper stays in the rocks and sand. If the guy had any inverts or corals, he would not have used copper, but I would ask him just to be sure. You don't want to kill anything in your tank, and once you introduce copper it's nearly impossible to get rid of it.
 
That's really good to know. Thanks for the lesson....He has a lot of coral in his tank now which he is selling as well. I'll check with him just to make sure.
Thanks again!!!
 
Man plans change quickly....I just drove out to Boston last night to pick up a complete 55 gallon setup. Got a flat tire on the pike right around 11:30 pm...Long night....Quick question...We drained the tank to about an inch above the sand which got stirred up pretty good. Should I do anything to the sand before filling it back up? I vaccumed out most of the stuff on top while draining.
Thanks again everyone!!!
 
snake a piece of airline tubing through the u-tube and suck the air out with your mouth. make sure there is plenty of water in the overflow box or you will keep sucking air. as soon as most of the air is out it should start flowing.
 

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