New tank setup, advice

[alexwolf]

Guys I want to make sure I am not missing anything here. This is my plan, please tell me if I am missing anything:

Get tank on Thurs, paint back blue
Sunday move tank into house, put on stand, make sure it is lined up on the wall
Put in new sump, my past fuge, plumb it up, plumb up closed loop, put in sand, fill tank and arrange rock. I need to makeshift a canopy for now until mine gets built. I am retaining about 40% of my past water, and remaking the rest with the new oceanic. Is there anything else I need to do? I am using the same rock, and sand from the 135. I noticed there is a lot of detritus mixed in the sand, can I get something to eat this? Thanks is advance.

[kaiser]

You should have fired the RODI up about a week ago so You will have enough water to fill the tank :-D

[matt]

Alex;

Want some sand advice? If your old sand smells like sulphur or rotten eggs, don't use it. That's where pockets of anaerobic bacteria have built up. If you use it, you could kill a lot of the life in your new sandbed by exposing the micro-life to the anaerobic stuff. Instead, use the top layer of your old sand and mix in alot of new southdown or equivilent. If your old sand smells okay, it's probably fine. Regardless of what you do, I'd try to get as many worms in your sand as possible right away. They'll take care of much of the detritus. Have fun!

[Henry]

Also be sure to do a water test before you put anything in the tank that includes sand and rock. Make sure it is level and no leaks. I learned the hard way.

[dan]

your R/O makes 100gals a day. it's not to late to start making lots of water. have it ready by the time the tank get here.

[mathias]

also make sure you don't put the tank to close to the wall..... you might want to hang something on it later down the road..

[alexwolf]

Hey Matt, what happens if i already mixed the sand together? I have all of it in a big trash can. I do have an unopened bag of southdown, and the sand from my 50. I dont think i can buy all new sand, does that bacteria die off?

[MikeP]

Leak/water test everything with regular freshwater for at least 7 or 8 hours once plumbing is done - trust me. I thought I had everything perfect on my 220 and turns out here 8 months down the road one of the 3/4" bulkheads on my return has a small leak that so far I've let salt creep fill it but eventually I'll have to replace it which is a PITA at this point.

Also take the time to buy some wire / cord clips and get power strips mounted in the cabinet so you can have everything neat and tidy and easier to work on - might be a good time to put a small flourescent light in the cabinet for when you have to work on things.

[scuba_steveo]

You are only missing one thing that I can see, you need to set the tank up at my house so that I can watch it for you while you are on vacation!

[alexwolf]

LOL :-D

[matt]

Alex;

here's a quote from Ron Shimek's forum on the topic of reusing sand that smells like rotten eggs:

someone posted:

Hi,

I am taking down my fuge to replace it with a bigger one. The sand in the fuge smells bad (rotten Eggs). Do I need to replace it, let it cycle or what? Please advise

Shimek replied:

I woujld replace it. The rotten egg smell is due to a small amount of hydrogen sulfide and this occurs when there is an excess of non-utilized organic material in the sediments. While it is normal, it indicates that the sand bed has not been maintained with an adequate number and variety of sediment organisms, and probably has accumulated a lot of organics in it.

It probably would be best to start anew, and inoculate it well with detritivores and other beneficial sand-dwelling animals.

[alexwolf]

i have 2 bags of new southdown and 2 bags of caribsea araganite, sugar sized. Thats what im going to use.