Steps in the Startup of the reef aquarium

[georgeortiz]

Hi guys,
I will be starting up my reef setup soon and a have been researching on what steps I need to take when beginning.
How long should I run my lighting? Metal Halides and Actinics.

Should I start my skimmer from the inception?
Should I run the lighting to my refugium as soon as I get things kicked off?
What type of supplements must I add to the system or when should they be added.
I plan on using about 40 lbs of live rock to cycle my tank. Is this a good plan?
The rock will be added to 90 lbs of base rock. The tank is a 110 gallon.

Let me know what you guys think.

Is there a general consensus on the steps to successfully starting a reef tank?

[R.Allard]

george ill try and make this short.
yes start the skimmer from the get go.
yes start the lighting in the refuge be sure and put some LR,and the macro in also.
on the supplements "none" untill you test for them and see that they are not where you want them to be. Regular water changes will take care of trace elements and most of your needs at the begining.

On the LR. 40 LBS is a good start but a general rule of thumb is 1-1.5 lbs per gallon. put as much in at the begining as your wallet can stand and as little baserock as possible. and any new pieces should be cured in a trashcan or other container then added to the tank.

and as far as steps go whew... you could ask 10 people and get 10 different answers.Mike paletta puts out a good book i think the name is New Marine Aquarium.

This Board is a great place to get any questions answered or help with your tank.
Hope i answerd your questions
Robert

[georgeortiz]

Thanks,
That was a good start. So do you think cycling my tank with the live rock is a bad idea? Also, How long should I run my lights?

[JimD]

Cycling the tank with live rock is the only way,. You want to run your lights to mimic nature as close as possible.
Usually, actinics on to demonstrate morning, Halides on for about 8 hours, then off, actinics on to demonstrate evening for about an hour, then all off. Hope this helps.

[Ross]

Cycling with live rock is a good idea, if it isn't already cured. If it isn't then it should have plenty of die off to start the cycle. If it is cured you should go to the grocery store and buy a raw shrimp and throw it in there. Theres really no point to cycle with fish. The only thing that will survive is damsels, and you don't want them in your tank when you start adding other fish. (with the exception of chromis, they are nice)

[Tim Marvin]

If the rock is already cured throw in a bunch of corals and a few fish after a couple days. That is what I do.....LOL.... I have a little bit of cure base rock left at a very low price if you are interested. $2.50lbs. about 30 lbs left. This isn't rock that you want on the top though unless you are patient and dose kalk. It is mostly white.

[matt]

Don't throw in any raw shrimp or otherwise deliberately pollute your tank! You can cure rock in your tank, but ideally you're better off buying rock that is already cured, or curing it in another aquarium, with lights. Since you're only using 40 lbs in a big tank, it doesn't make that much difference. The ideal scenario would be cured rock, then you're still going to have a little cycle, but not a huge one. That's better; you won't be loading up your new tank with nitrate and phosphate from the cycle, and thus you can avoid a big algae bloom. Don't worry about "jumpstarting" the bacteria population, that's really kind of silly. There is bacteria present in every tank, on every piece of liverock, etc. already and it will colonize and die off depending on the bioload. Once your rock/sand is in and any residual ammonia is gone, you can start stocking the sand bed with microcritters; do this by buying livesand from Tim, inland aquatics, IPSF, or getting some good innoculated sand from someone with a very established sand bed.

Don't add any additives; there's plenty of stuff in salt mix. Good luck!

Two good books to read are "The coral reef aquarium" and "sand bed secrets" both by Ron Shimek.

[R.Allard]

Thanks,
That was a good start. So do you think cycling my tank with the live rock is a bad idea? Also, How long should I run my lights?

No cycling your tank with live rock is a very good idea but after your
tank has cycled and you have life in your tank dont throw more uncured live rock in the tank.
here is how i run my lights
T-5 actinics 7 30 am-9am
2) 250w 20k XMs 8 45am - 5 45pm (2) 250w 10k ushios come on from 11 30am to 3 30 pm)
5 45 pm the T-5 actinics come back on till 8pm

moon lights come on at 10 30pm till 4am

Robert