29 gallon Nano build...First saltwater setup

[BryGuy25]

Hello All!

My brother talked me into trying a SW tank and since I have always wanted to do one it didn't take much persuasion anyway.

I just setup my first SW tank today! I got RO/DI water from my LFS, 35 pounds of live rock, and 30 pounds of aragonite sand.

550 Koralia Powerhead
Aquaclear 70 GPH HOB filter

So I was very excited when I filled the tank half with water and finally found how I wanted my LR placed after 2 hours of playing with it. After I finished filling the tank with water I added the aragonite. Unfortunately I can't see anything in the tank now! I am worried that I am going to "Kill" my LR. My salinity is off the charts, but I think this is due to the large amount of debris floating in the water as I put 1/2 cup of salt per gallon as the bag instructed.

My question is if everything is going to be ok. I didn't pay for LR only to kill it. I have plenty of patience to wait for everything to settle. This is just as long as everything will be alright in the end!

Please help!

Bryan

 

[stazitto25]

I hope we setup that tank right!

Logically I would think that everything should be fine...But what do I know I am as new as you! Hopefully a few days will help clear the tank for you. I would think you should keep the filter running in order to pull out anything that is floating around in the water.

Hopefully someone has a more informative answer than I do!

 

[Reef Fixations]

Hello All!

My brother talked me into trying a SW tank and since I have always wanted to do one it didn't take much persuasion anyway.

I just setup my first SW tank today! I got RO/DI water from my LFS, 35 pounds of live rock, and 30 pounds of aragonite sand.

550 Koralia Powerhead
Aquaclear 70 GPH HOB filter

So I was very excited when I filled the tank half with water and finally found how I wanted my LR placed after 2 hours of playing with it. After I finished filling the tank with water I added the aragonite. Unfortunately I can't see anything in the tank now! I am worried that I am going to "Kill" my LR. My salinity is off the charts, but I think this is due to the large amount of debris floating in the water as I put 1/2 cup of salt per gallon as the bag instructed.

My question is if everything is going to be ok. I didn't pay for LR only to kill it. I have plenty of patience to wait for everything to settle. This is just as long as everything will be alright in the end!

Please help!

Bryan

Don't sweat it. The LR will be fine if you did 1/2c/g.

On a side note, you may want to google up how people turn their A.C. HOB filters into refugiums if you're planning to get into a reef setup. You may even find a video on YouTube.

When you get a chance you may want to pick up either a Refractometer or a floating glass hydrometer (looks like a thermometer) to accurately take readings of your level of salinity. IMO the plastic ones with floating needle indicators can be way off but those work too.

Best of luck!

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

It looks as if you are mixing water in the tank itself, if so reframe from it in the future. Salt water must be made outside of the tank.

If you want to be accurate about the cycling, you can get a test kit and search about.com for cycling info. However, I hardly do that anymore, I just use my observation over the life in the tank to tell and wait for about 10-14 days with circulation on. Sometimes you can even see life from the live rock thriving already after a week. Since you have patience wait for at least 2 weeks.

Do not add hard to keep items when the cycle is over. Wait for it to mature further.