Need advice with new tank and live rock

[coryaquarium101]

Hi,

I just started a 37 gallon saltwater tank on Friday. Put 40lbs of ocean direct caribbean live sand in, didn't rinse it, just layed it in, said didn't need to rinse, but probably should have. I mixed the salt and water with a power head 5 gallons at a time. Put in a emperor 280, put in some stress zyme and stress coat. I don't have a skimmer. Water is 78 degress. Saturaday I drove a long ways to a fish store and bought a little over 7lbs of fiji live rock. Got home and just plopped it in the tank. Today I noticed some little worms on it and there is, well I belive it is aiptasia coming from the bottom of my live rock by the sand, first I thought it was some great thing growing, then after researching found its a bad thing to have. I took the rock out and broke off the piece where it was and through that away and put the rock back in. Saturday I put some seachem stability in and will keep adding for a week to help cycle. I am stuck on what to do now, should I get rid of the rock and start over? I don't want a bunch of aiptasia. I want to do the right thing and have a nice tank. I also have a good light with 10,000K light and actinic light. it's only been 3 days and I have a headache.

cory

[xenon]

You need way more LR. Aim for 1-2lb per gallon to be safe.

You can use kalkwasser paste to kill aptasia or use joe's juice.

Good luck!

[orbit]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

if its aptasia, you will definitely want to kill it because they grow fast

yea like xenon mention, you will want more rocks, since you dont have a skimmer, also i dont think adding seachem stability will help your cycle, you might want to let the tank cycle by itself,

patients is the key in this hobby, best thing i learned here on rc lol :D

hope this helps and GL

[AquamanE]

Definatley a lot more LR. Its ok to just place in there. Make sure you get cured LR if you want quick cycling.

More info, sump, refuge, etc.. are you testing yet. Its good to follow cycling with testing to make sure all steps have occurred.

[demonsp]

Mixing the water in a new setup that way is fine but in the future you would want to mix the total amount thats going to by changes upfront and let it circulate a few hours or overnight with a powerhead.Adding to fast can burn fish gills and stress coral.
Stop adding additives. Get atleast 1 lb per gallon of rock and a 50/50 of base and live is perfect.
You need a test kit to monitor water quality and let it cycle. While it cycles you can research your setup and fine tune.
With proper water source and flow and equipment and LR and LS then you will cycle just fine without aditives .My tank almost 2 yrs and only a PH buffer was added for a month and then stopped.

If your adding without know if you even need then you may do more harm then good.

[seanb1]

cory
are you doing a reef tank or a fowler? fowler is Fish Only With Live Rock.
what type of light are you using? power compact or t-5, halides?

skip the stress zyme and stress coat, it no use to you.

the emporor filter isnt needed either, you could use it for circulation but remove the bio wheels you could i suppose keep the filter pads in there while cycling the tank, but definately get rid of them later, they build up microorganisms that contribute to nitrate.

if your doing a reef tank, the rock is your filter, all you need to add is water circulation, heat, proper lighting for the animals you want to keep. your gonna need quite a bit more rock, if you are having trouble locating affordable live rock, check on this sites club forums for your area, if there is one you will get better help and an added bonus of good people to trade with.

list what your tank and all its hardware are.
what animals you want to keep in it and youll be better helped by the people here.

[coryaquarium101]

I just have compaq lights. 10,000K with actinic light. I don't have any fish in yet, I just want some fish and live rock. So take the bio wheel out of the filter, and put in a power head? should I aim it up to the surface or where?

[seanb1]

ok compacts are good for a fowlr.

if your not going to keep corals you can keep the emporer filter, your gonna need it unless you get alot more rock, just remember water changes after the cycle.

depending on what fish you get will tell whether you will need a powerhead or not.

some fish, like lionfish dont like alot of waterflow, but most fish love alot of water flow.
i always aim my power heads at the front glass at an angle bouncing it to the opposite corner.
just list what you want to do with your tank and youll get all kinds of responses.
when you do decide to add fish, just read up on how many fish to stock a tank your size with.

every question you could ever ask has been asked here a million times, just read , read , read .

[Aquarist007]

You should have a skimmer and should run carbon and phosban in phosban reactors. I also would suggest a good flow in the tank.Because it is fish only and depending on the type of food you need a capable organics filtering system and that will deliver it.
As for aptasia --just take a piece of the live rock out at a time and cook it--then put it back in--the other rock will seed it quickly.

[coryaquarium101]

I think I will just keep the live rock in and wait a few more days and see what happens, There is a small odor in the room, is that the rock curing?

[killagoby]

Three Things:

1. Patience
2. Reading
3. Trial and Error

If 1 and 2 are done properly, 3 should not be that painful.

Happy Reefing!!!

[coryaquarium101]

How long should i leave the light on for? is 10 hours too long? Also can i add live rock slowly like 5 lbs every coulple weeks?

[decent37]

i have read that peppermint shrimp will eat those pests aptasias ( i cant spell) or just use joes juice but dont hit anyting else with it my friend almost killed a great ricordia with it.

[afish70]

like the others said get rid of the Emperor, i did and now i found an Aqua C Remora Skimmer on here for next to nothing and love it. I just have a Koralia 1 and the skimmer in my tank and have been told that is enough flow for a FOWLR and some LPS corals as well. just leave the rock and sand in there for like a week and then see how it is.