Now what?..

[pulpojd]

hey there, well i'm only now gettin' into this saltwater/octo tank stuff and after visiting tonmo about 100 times i thought i'd be ready to set up my 50 gal tank for a bimac but realized i'm a bit lost.
alright so i picked up an ro unit, hydrometer, sugar-sized aragamax, some special grade reef sand, and a bucket of instant ocean salt. so now that i'm 250 bucks into this i'd like to know what goes into the tank first. i have broken in the ro unit by running 10 gal. down the drain so it should be good to go. i do have a fluval canister MSF set up for the tank so i do have filtration. now, do i toss in one sand first then the other? or salt first then water? any info would be greatly appreciated.

-jd

 

[Mizu]

i put everything in the tank that i want AKA sand and rocks
some of this should be LIVE sand and rocks
then i place a plate down on the sand (so as to make sure the sand does not go all over the place while im adding water
i then add all teh water
i then get teh filtration systems running so there is a nice current.
then i add the salt ( i add some then let it dissolve and do that until gravity is 1.025-1.026
i then let it run for 24 to 48 hours and i do my chemical check
if that is a green light i wait for the algea to start once the algea starts i check the chemicals again. (this ussually takes 2-3 weeks for me anyway)
then once thats a go i go down to the LFS and pick up 2 damsel fish
plop them in and see if they live. if they die recheck everything and take a water sample to the LFS for more extensive testing
if they live
check chemicals once a week and wait 3 months
if everything is still a go after 3 months (waiting is the hardest part) order your Octo and wait

 

[pulpojd]

thank you very much, the reply was most informative and i appreciate the help. i'll keep y'all posted on the setup.

 

[flash02161]

dont forget your protein skimmer.......

 

[pulpojd]

oh yeah, im saving a few bucks before i begin cycling and get somethin that can poop it up in there. hey so i've got another question. my tank hood was designed to just lay atop my tank and im wondering how to seal it up with something a bit more attractive than duct tape. it's a plastic hood with a lid opening. right now im thinkin tight bungee cords, kinda hideous though.

 

[silverarm]

hey so i've got another question. my tank hood was designed to just lay atop my tank and im wondering how to seal it up with something a bit more attractive than duct tape. it's a plastic hood with a lid opening. right now im thinkin tight bungee cords, kinda hideous though.

Hey, what could be more sexy than black duct tape?

The only other solution that I've found for a generic plastic hood was putting some kind of weight on it (rock, statue, large cat...), but that can warp the hood after a while. I suppose that if you're crafty, you could install some kind of latching system, but you'd have to be careful not to stick a bunch of metal screws into the tank to corrode.

Once I get some more saved up, I'm just going to buy some sheet acrylic and custom build my own hood/filtration system.

-Jared