Yes I have, plus I've talked to numerous people about setting up this aquarium.
I can't see first how it can be so super complicated, or nobody would set up these things in the first place.
Secondly, what I've read, and what other people have said have conflicted, and even widely sometimes. To make this clear, what I am saying is, some people have suggested one particular procedure on how to do a certain task, and then when I'm talking to someone else they say something, that make's the previous suggestion seem completely wrong?
Again too new to know who is right here, but since this is a hobby that only a few seem to be doing, I can see that is one reason why there are similar and sometimes not similar procedures on how to handle issues.
I am going slow with it. There isn't a fish in the tank yet. I recently just had my new RO/DI water tested by Manhattan aquarium staff, who use better tests than I. They said it wasn't ready yet, but that it was close.
Right now I am leaving the tank alone, (except for adding new RO/DI water) when I see that evaporation has eliminated a good chunk of my present water in the tank.
What else? I already have invertebrates in the tank. A Manhattan aquarium employee suggested I try out a cleaner crew before I place a fish in. Then another manhattan aquarium employee days later I was speaking with, suggested I should have gone with fish first, since invertebrates are more sensitive.
Yet anyway it's done, and though 2 snails out of my pack are dead, these guys basically died almost instantly after being submerged in my water?
The others seem fine, and it has been more than a week going on two weeks.
I read up that ninja star's can't right themselves up if they fall over? Perhaps it did, at some point I wasn't looking, and I didn't right it up fast enough?
In any case, I was told that I should remove the carbon filters during the cycling process.
I did remove one out of my HOB filter.
With this said, I didn't remove the old carbon filter from my canister one, for two reason.
First reason, I was told that though the cartridge my be exhausted at this point, it wouldn't do any harm, just keeping it in there?
Second reason, it's a pain to remove and add stuff out of my canister filter, so until I feel such actions are absolutely necessary, I try to leave this canister filter by itself?
Other details about my aquarium right now.
Temp 82-81 degrees
Salinity: 1.023
Cured live rock for a 20 L gallon tank, 16lbs.
Substrate live argonite sand
Filters:
HOB filter for a 30 gallon tank
Fluval 106 canister filter
Voyager Nano 530 US gph