New Tank Set Up

[Bearkat1234]

New to the hobby and about to set up my tank.

I have a 56 gallon column tank with 20g sump.

sump will have a protein skimmer and return pump. sand and live rock for refuge.

I have 2 trash cans full of RO/DI water. Once I buy the salt I mix the water in the trash cans to get it ready for the tank.

Then I would put the live sand in and make the sand bed, then place the live rock into the tank, then add the saltwater correct?

how long do i need to mix my saltwater before i put the sand and rock in the tank?

do i break my protein skimmer in at this time? how do you break in the protein skimmer properly?

do I keep the light on during the starting process of cycling the tank once the sand and rock is in the tank or keep the light off during the cycling process?

sorry for all the questions. Just have a lot of equipment trying to start up, never done this before.

any help will be great along the way.

thanks

[gone fishin]

New to the hobby and about to set up my tank.

I have a 56 gallon column tank with 20g sump.

sump will have a protein skimmer and return pump. sand and live rock for refuge.

I have 2 trash cans full of RO/DI water. Once I buy the salt I mix the water in the trash cans to get it ready for the tank.

Then I would put the live sand in and make the sand bed, then place the live rock into the tank, then add the saltwater correct? I like to fill the tank about half full, put the rock in then the sand, fill the rest of the way up.

how long do i need to mix my saltwater before i put the sand and rock in the tank? I like to let mine mix for 24hrs.

do i break my protein skimmer in at this time? how do you break in the protein skimmer properly? You can break it in now if you want. just turn it on and adjust your water flow. Either way the tank will cycle.

do I keep the light on during the starting process of cycling the tank once the sand and rock is in the tank or keep the light off during the cycling process? I usually leave them off, either way will work

sorry for all the questions. Just have a lot of equipment trying to start up, never done this before.

any help will be great along the way.

thanks

[Bearkat1234]

great thank you.

im pretty nervous, never done this before and i do not want to fail!

[gone fishin]

Just take it slow and easy. Try not to stress to much and instead enjoy the journey, after all it is a hobby and not a job.:beer:

[gone fishin]

While your tank is cycling take the time to read the stickies in the fish disease and the reef chemistry forum. They will give you a pretty solid foundation.

[Bearkat1234]

cool, true

thanks

[Sand.man]

+1 to adding rock before sand.

This way, you can make sure that the rock is nice and stable on the bare bottom tank.

If you add the sand first, then there is a danger of the rock shifting/moving if any sand from under the rock is disturbed by a goby or clean up crew. Less chance of crashing rocks that way.

As far as I know, light is not necessary, although I liked to turn it on for a bit and inspect my rock for all the cool hitch hikers that might have made it into your tank.

Tony is right, just take it slow and enjoy it. There's very few things that you can mess up, just make sure that your salt is the correct salinity and keep an eye on your temperature, those are the only two things I can think of that might affect anything...

Other than that, right now is the time to research research and research, while you patiently wait for the cycle. Luckily the stickies here are very informative, and if you're confused about anything, then someone will pipe up and answer your questions.

Good luck!

[Bearkat1234]

great! thank you for all your input. I am sure i will have more questions soon