Seeding 75 gallon tank

[Triggerfish31]

My 75 is up and running with four power heads, T-5 lighting, protein skimmer as well as my 15 QT and 30 rubbermaid container. The skimmer is not running yet and I still have to add the rest of the salt. I have two questions is should you seed the tank before or after adding live rock? Should the rubbermaid container store RO/DI water or saltwater?

 

Aaron

[trble81]

Getting good live rock should seed your tank on its own. The bacteria and "little critters" should be on the rock (and still alive when you get it home) and placing them in your tank should do the same thing as adding a cup of live sand to your sand bed. You could do both if you want.

[Rascal]

Getting good live rock should seed your tank on its own. The bacteria and "little critters" should be on the rock (and still alive when you get it home) and placing them in your tank should do the same thing as adding a cup of live sand to your sand bed. You could do both if you want.

 

If you have a sand bed, I like to add some live sand as well as the live rock. My theory is that different critters will make their homes in sand vs rock. Don't know whether that's true or not, it just makes sense to me.

[trble81]

Plus if you buy your LR off of someone from the club, you could always ask for a cup of live sand too.

[davelin315]

By the wording of your post, I'm not sure of what point your tank is at at the moment. I'll take it one step at a time and see if it helps.

 

My 75 is up and running with four power heads

Leave the powerheads running to keep the water flowing (see the salt comment below).

 

T-5 lighting

Turn the lights off until you have something in there that needs it, otherwise you're just using up electricity and the life of the bulbs.

 

protein skimmer

You said it's off for the time being, I'd leave it off until you have something in the tank. If you leave it on when you add the rest of the salt (see the salt comment below) then it will most likely overflow as the denser the water, the more easily it forms smaller bubbles and skims more. Turn it back on once you have the salt added and the water has had a chance to settle out for 24 hours. Definitely have it on when you add rock and sand as it will help to remove detritus right away.

 

15 QT

Is your QT hooked up to your tank? If it's a true QT tank, it should be running on a separate system. Also, a QT does not necessarily have to be running until you have something to actually put into it. A lot of people simply keep the tank ready to go without water and then use a sponge filter that has been in their main system for biological filtration when the QT is needed. They then toss this filter or clean it out (only if you didn't use any medications).

 

30 rubbermaid container - Should the rubbermaid container store RO/DI water or saltwater?

What is the purpose of the container for you? If you bought it to use as a sump, it will need to be filled with the same water that the tank has so that it circulates. If you bought it purely for storage, it's up to you what you fill it with. Having a supply of freshwater is necessary for top off and having a supply of saltwater is handy for water changes. It's up to you to determine which you want to use it for. I would say that having freshwater is more important than saltwater because you can always turn freshwater into saltwater (you should always allow about 24 hours of circulation and aeration of the saltwater before using it to allow the pH to settle).

 

I still have to add the rest of the salt.

This is important, you should have the specific gravity to where you will keep it before adding anything to the tank. In a new tank without anything in it, including sand, I usually mix in the tank as it's a lot easier than mixing then adding. That said, you have to be careful of how much you add to the water as it's harder to dilute the water after the fact unless you have a good supply of freshwater ready to go. Even then, you've wasted some saltwater if you don't have storage for it. Make sure that you test the SG before adding anything to the tank and also let the water run for 24 hours. If your powerheads allow, I would use the venturi function when you are mixing the initial batch of water. This will allow the water to be properly mixed, aerated, and be ready to go. I would turn the venturis off for at least 12 hours before adding the rock and sand, though (you could add the sand while they are running if it's dead sand). Not really any specific reason for this, just to make it easier to avoid salt creep.

 

I have two questions is should you seed the tank before or after adding live rock?

As was said in an earlier reply, the live rock should seed your tank for you, but it never hurts to get rock from more than one source and get some scoops of sand from different people in order to get your sand started off on the right foot. The more diversity the better!

[Triggerfish31]

Thanks for the help. I am going to use the Rubbermaid tub to store RO/DI water. Also my QT is separate from the main tank and I should have the correct salinity in my 75tank by Sunday. I hope to get live rock in two weeks. I am guessing that I can get my cleaning crew (snails and hermit crabs) by late August or early September. I am doing the best I can not to rush things but it is hard to wait sometimes.

 

Aaron

[jnguyen4007]

Thanks for the help. I am going to use the Rubbermaid tub to store RO/DI water. Also my QT is separate from the main tank and I should have the correct salinity in my 75tank by Sunday. I hope to get live rock in two weeks. I am guessing that I can get my cleaning crew (snails and hermit crabs) by late August or early September. I am doing the best I can not to rush things but it is hard to wait sometimes.

 

Aaron

 

 

I know what you mean....I'm in the same boat just that my tank is half your size.

 

James

[davelin315]

Thanks for the help. I am going to use the Rubbermaid tub to store RO/DI water. Also my QT is separate from the main tank and I should have the correct salinity in my 75tank by Sunday. I hope to get live rock in two weeks. I am guessing that I can get my cleaning crew (snails and hermit crabs) by late August or early September. I am doing the best I can not to rush things but it is hard to wait sometimes.

 

Aaron

 

Actually, once you add the water and have the specific gravity ready to go, you'll already have some bacteria in the water. Apparently there are some bacteria that even float in the air and these will settle in your system and begin the process. If you are close enough to someone in the club, see if you can get a scoop of sand from them and get your rock in there right away, too. If it's already established rock, your cycle may take a lot less time than you think it will. Once your ammonia and nitrite reading spike and then go down to zero, you're ready to go (also check to see that nitrates are on the way up, you can also wait for them to go down, too, but by that time you may be running into a problem with the first two stages of the nitrogen cycle running out of stuff to eat and going dormant).