New 20 Gallon Reef. Am I Doing this right?

[ducktales]

I'm planning on starting a 20 gallon reef. I got most of the materials, just waiting on my RO/DI filter and then I'm good to go. This is what I plan on doing:

Going to add 40lbs of dry sand, 15lbs of dry macro key largo rocks, and then i'm going to seed it with 15lbs of live rocks and a cup of dry sand from an established tank., all while using RO/DI water.

will this be enough to start the cycle? if not, please throw in some suggestions. thanks guys.

[MrRyanT]

The 15lbs of live rock will definitely start the cycle. I think you must mean a cup of wet sand from established tank, not dry. Right? It is a good idea to get cups of sand from several established tanks if possible. It gives you diversity.

[ducktales]

Yea, I mean wet sand from an established tank, my mistake. anything else I should do besides the things I've mentioned? This site is great. Been lurking for a year now.

[JStraz4991]

that should be fine just make sure to clean the sand to get rid of some of the dust

[tat2shawn]

Sound like you are on the right track. Good luck with your tank.

[MrRyanT]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15660743#post15660743 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JStraz4991
that should be fine just make sure to clean the sand to get rid of some of the dust
Yes, rinsing the dry sand is a good idea, but not the cup of sand from the established tank. I'm sure you knew that, but just wanted to clarify just in case.

[sedor]

To get your cycle going your going to want to go to the grocery store and buy a RAW table shrimp. You can either bury it under the surface of your sand or put it in a nylon sock and just let it dissolve in your tank. What this is doing is releasing ammonia into the water which will kick start your bacteria growth and its a world of biology from there :D

If you were using live rock you would get some die off in your tank which would do the same thing, but since your using dry you won't have that. I would still go to the LFS and just get a small piece of live rock so you can see your other stuff.

Other than that, welcome to the hobby!

[ducktales]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15660854#post15660854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ryandlf
To get your cycle going your going to want to go to the grocery store and buy a RAW table shrimp. You can either bury it under the surface of your sand or put it in a nylon sock and just let it dissolve in your tank. What this is doing is releasing ammonia into the water which will kick start your bacteria growth and its a world of biology from there :D

If you were using live rock you would get some die off in your tank which would do the same thing, but since your using dry you won't have that. I would still go to the LFS and just get a small piece of live rock so you can see your other stuff.

Other than that, welcome to the hobby!

yea, I will throw in 1 raw shrimp in there as well. I am using both dry rocks and live rocks, like a 50/50 mix. 15lbs dry, 15lbs live. Can I thaw out a frozen packaged shrim and throw it in there? And also, do I let it dissolve all the way or take it back out after a day or two?

[ducktales]

also for a 20 gallon, would a HOB filter be required? I've read that some HOB will disrupt the levels in the tank with the filter trapping bacteria and all.

[Hop]

Actually if you are getting a few pounds of live rock to seed the base rock, you don't need to start a cycle at all. So no need for the shrimp.

[JStraz4991]

No you dont need a HOB filter.you have the live rock and sand for biological fitration.but you will need a protein skimmer(you can have a HOB filter in the beggining to clear up the tank when you put the sand in if you want)

[jason2459]

Could use the HOB filter for carbon and gfo. Take out any foam inserts.

[ducktales]

thanks guys. i'll hold off on the hob for now.