Dry Rock Live rock mix?

[hobbby3]

Hi all,

Over the last couple months I've been collecting a reef tank system setup on craigs list and using reef central posts and stickies as my guide along the way. This will be my first salt water setup and I'm really looking forward to seeing it come together.

So far I've collected (all for under $300)


90 Gallon tank with a single over flow leak tested and ready to go.
Stand w/o canopy (building my own to house the light system below)
30 gallon sump
1 unmarked skimmer which i tested at the LFS it made nice small bubbles almost instantly.
1 return pump from the sump
1 power head
2 175w halide with electric ballasts
2 VHO florescents with ballast


On to my question...

I'm thinking about purchasing 75lbs or so of dry rock and 25lbs of argonite #1 and another 25 lbs of argonite #0 for the sand bed. Next I'd allow the tank to cycle (i know this will take longer with no live rock). Once the tank has cycled I was going to head to the LFS around town and buy another 20lbs of actual live rock to seed the tank getting the exact coraline colors and cleanup crew creatures I desire. Doing it this way also seems a little less stressfull to creating an aquascape because I could do dry runs witout worrying about keeping it wet like I would live rock. Is this a sound plan if not what are the pitfalls?

Is my system missing any major components necessary to keep fish and coral alive? Still need to purchase an RO/DI filter, heater and test equipment but other than that?

Be easy with the new guy :)

[troyman]

some more power heads good flow is need in reef tank and also i would start everything at one time your tank wont cycle with dead rock live rock would have to be added to seed the dead rock it takes time test kit also help on checking amonia level ph and such also a hydrometer to check salenity i like using the glass one that floats make your aquascape with the dry rock and just leave room where you can fit in the live rock when aded have fun be patient

[daplatapus]

I also don't see a heater and thermometer in your list, but you may not need one depending on where you live I guess.

****EDIT*** haha, I missed that in your last line. Never mind....

[ken55]

All that for less than 300? Excellent! don't tell my wife.....:crazy1:

[hobbby3]

All that for less than 300? Excellent! don't tell my wife.....:crazy1:

hehe your secret is safe with me :)

Thanks for the replies guys. Do you think two powerheads are enough to start and see how it goes for a 90 gallon?

I live in the NW so a heater during the winter will be a must, and I'll be buying the test kits mentioned for sure.

So with your suggestions my start up will look something like this...

Fill 2 garbage cans with RO/DI
Mix both with salt to 1.025
Use a heater in one can
Heat and let mix to ~76-82 degrees and let salt mix for 1-2 days
Put 25 lbs live rock in can for a few days to cure following another cure post i read.
Rinse sand thoroughly w/ clean saltwater
Aquascape live rock and secure it in the tank
Add the argonite#1 first then #0 on top
Fill display tank with the second clean can of salt water
Place the cured Live rock
Continue to make and fill tank with salt water
Keep tank water 76-82 degrees and install power heads


sound like a plan that will succeed? :beer:

[shaginwagon13]

hehe your secret is safe with me :)

Thanks for the replies guys. Do you think two powerheads are enough to start and see how it goes for a 90 gallon?

I live in the NW so a heater during the winter will be a must, and I'll be buying the test kits mentioned for sure.

So with your suggestions my start up will look something like this...

Fill 2 garbage cans with RO/DI
Mix both with salt to 1.025
Use a heater in one can
Heat and let mix to ~76-82 degrees and let salt mix for 1-2 days
Put 25 lbs live rock in can for a few days to cure following another cure post i read.
Rinse sand thoroughly w/ clean saltwater
Aquascape live rock and secure it in the tank
Add the argonite#1 first then #0 on top
Fill display tank with the second clean can of salt water
Place the cured Live rock
Continue to make and fill tank with salt water
Keep tank water 76-82 degrees and install power heads


sound like a plan that will succeed? :beer:

Wow and this is your first tank? That's a pretty impressive list... someone has been doing a lot of reading.

If I could make one suggestion. 1.025-1.026 is IDEAL for coral growth but the higher the salinity the longer your tank will take to cycle. I would recommend lowering the salinity to 1.022-1.023. This will do a few things:

1) Save you money on salt (You don't use as much)
2) Shorten your cycle time
3) With evaporation you will have a slightly higher salinity anyways


When you have your tank all nice and set-up then instead of topping your tank off with RO/DI water, you top it off with salt water to slowly increase the salinity to 1.025-1.026 and your good to go.

Also, I know you plan to fill two containers with salt water to begin. After your tank is set-up you should always have one container just RO/DI and one container just salt water. In this case, if you need to make an emergency water change you have the salt water, and if for whatever reason you need RO/DI water (lets say you get a bad batch of salt) you can quickly whip up a batch of water for peace of mind.

[Gangrene]

Here's my 2 cents... I'll mark my modifications with *

So with your suggestions my start up will look something like this...

1. Fill 2 garbage cans with RO/DI
1.* Put the RO/DI in the tank
2. Mix both with salt to 1.025
2.* Start mixing the tank water with salt to the level you want could be 1.025. Install the power heads now to help with the mixing.
3. Use a heater in one can
3.* Put the heater in the tank... You may want to do that while filling the tank before adding the salt making this into step 2
4. Heat and let mix to ~76-82 degrees and let salt mix for 1-2 days
4.* Sure.
5. Put 25 lbs live rock in can for a few days to cure following another cure post i read.
5.* I say put all of the rock in now(live and dry) and get it setup the way you want. If possible procure the live rock from the LFS and transport it in salt water in 1-2 5 gallon buckets(should work for 25 pounds) all in one trip. I like to put in the rock before the sand that way I prevent the sand under the rock from being undermined or shifted causing a rock collapse, in the future, and the possibility of rocks crashing into a side panel or something like that.

If you have 5 gallons with lids that will help splashing on the drive home.

*Remember to tumble the live rock when placing it into the tank to release any air bubbles. The typical stuff. I'm a big fan of being careful with the live rock so you get no die off. If you get all live rock and sand you can start a tank without it having any sort of noticeable cycle. The bio filter in the rock and sand can be ready to go from day 1. I did this... after a few days tossed in a hundredish animals to go with the hundreds of visible animals that came on the rock. I never saw a spike in ammonia, or nitrites that I could measure.

6. Rinse sand thoroughly w/ clean saltwater
6.* If using dry sand(not live sand)I would rinse the sand with RO/DI water, why waste the salt making salt water for cleaning the sand? If you want, recheck the salinity after you add the sand... I doubt you'll see a change. You're adding the sand, not the dirty RO/DI water.
7. Aquascape live rock and secure it in the tank
7.* Already done in my steps.
8. Add the argonite#1 first then #0 on top
8.* Sure

Done* All of the remaining steps are already completed with this method.

9. Fill display tank with the second clean can of salt water
10. Place the cured Live rock
11. Continue to make and fill tank with salt water
12. Keep tank water 76-82 degrees and install power heads

[hobbby3]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I hope to have a tank full of water and rock by April and I'll post some pictures.

[cjk76]

You can always do dry runs on a piece of cardboard cut to the same size of the tank. Also, you can buy your live rock (1 rock) and put it in a bucket with a powerhead and saltwater. It will stay alive and you can take it out for dry runs whenever you need to. Die off should be minimal. These rocks are shipped for 8-12 hours without issues.

If you want to only use dead rock, look into dr. tims bacteria. It will seed your tank and be a much shorter cycle.