Cycling Question

[grouper25]

I am about to fill my 220 with live sand, base rock and live rock.I have a few questions for you experts. It will be FOWLR and inverts.

1) Should I order the live rock now(which will come overnight in water) and place it in at the same time I fill the tank or wait a week for things to settle with the live sand before I order the live rock?
2) I have a Proclear 300 sump, MRC 3 Protien Skimmer and Fluval X5 Cannister filter and Aqua UV. Which should I turn on at inception when I add the salt water? The Fluval will eventually only be filled with carbon and small quanities of particulate fiber to obtain water clarity.

Thanks much gents/ladies.
Grouper 25

[Radioheed]

1) I'm not so sure what you're asking but; Yes, it's ideal to put all the rock in at once, that way if there's die off you can get the "cycle" out of the way without inducing mini cycles by adding more rock (this is if the rock is uncured).

2) I would have everything but the canister on. I would only use that every once in a long while to run carbon, but if you have a sump you can just throw some in there...really no need for the canister.

IMO (see above)

[grouper25]

[QUOTE]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8216449#post8216449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radioheed
[B]1) I'm not so sure what you're asking but; Yes, it's ideal to put all the rock in at once, that way if there's die off you can get the "cycle" out of the way without inducing mini cycles by adding more rock (this is if the rock is uncured).

2) I would have everything but the canister on. I would only use that every once in a long while to run carbon, but if you have a sump you can just throw some in there...really no need for the canister.

Thanks. The canister will provide flow(until the Tunzes arrive) but also to remove floating particulate matter in the center of the tank as I have two corner overflows. I just saw someone with the same setup(where the cannister idea came from) and his water is absolutely crystal clear beyond anything I have ever seen in saltwater.

[Shagsbeard]

Live sand is only useful for tanks without live rock in them. Your rock will have plenty of the bacteria that comes with live sand. If you into paying for what you already have, go ahead, but you really don't need live sand. Stick your rock in first, stabilize it, and then put in your sand. Some pour the sand through a piece of PVC to keep clouding to a minimum, but you don't really need to. If you put the sand in first, make sure you set the rock in all the way to the bottom of the tank. Critters will undermine rocks set on the sand causing shifting and rockslides. Some people put a layer of eggcrate down before the rock to minimize scratching the bottom.

[meco65]

Put the LS and the LR in all at the same time. It will let every thing stabilize together. And the egg crate under the rock is a good idea I wish I would have put it under mine as I have a starfish that likes to dig under every thing.

[grouper25]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8216889#post8216889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shagsbeard
Live sand is only useful for tanks without live rock in them. Your rock will have plenty of the bacteria that comes with live sand. If you into paying for what you already have, go ahead, but you really don't need live sand. Stick your rock in first, stabilize it, and then put in your sand. Some pour the sand through a piece of PVC to keep clouding to a minimum, but you don't really need to. If you put the sand in first, make sure you set the rock in all the way to the bottom of the tank. Critters will undermine rocks set on the sand causing shifting and rockslides. Some people put a layer of eggcrate down before the rock to minimize scratching the bottom.

Thanks, the egg crate idea is superb as a cusion for the base rock to sit on.
Grouper 25

[conefree]

Good call, I wish I would have thought about the eggcrate under the rocks. Ahh well, live and learn.

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8217694#post8217694 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by conefree
Good call, I wish I would have thought about the eggcrate under the rocks. Ahh well, live and learn. It is mostly to make YOU feel better, I know of no tank bottoms blowing out from rock other than when dropped.

Where are you getting your live rock from? Some sources send rock that needs only minimal curing where others require a full curing process (TBS for example but what great rock)

Everything in at the same time is pretty typical, besides who wants to wait.

[grouper25]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8217754#post8217754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randall_James
It is mostly to make YOU feel better, I know of no tank bottoms blowing out from rock other than when dropped.

Where are you getting your live rock from? Some sources send rock that needs only minimal curing where others require a full curing process (TBS for example but what great rock)

Everything in at the same time is pretty typical, besides who wants to wait.

I plan to aquire it from www.floridalive rock.com

They seem to offer a very nice deco product and it is packed in water so requires very little curing. Suer, there will be some die off but I will let the microbes deal with that in due course.

Thanks,John

[Shagsbeard]

Notice that I mentioned that the eggcrate would prevent scratching. There is no worry that the weight of the rocks would break the bottom even if their weight were concentraited at the worst spot. Scratches do weaken the bottom though and over time could cause problems.

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8216889#post8216889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shagsbeard
Live sand is only useful for tanks without live rock in them. . ? Sand beds can provide a number of benefits I thought. Detrivores, anoxic regions, limited buffering ability