Log of my 45 gallon breeder reef

[junkstang]

right, but still give it time to balance

[kendsley]

yeah, i figure a good 2 weeks by itself with minimal lighting should do the trick. i put about 2 pounds of cured purple live rock in the tank last night to start seeding my sandbed. the rock was *covered* in little bugs scurrying around, a few starfish came out later at night and even a few micro snails came out of the rock. real interestng to watch, cant wait till i fill the tank up with rock come this thursday!

[matt]

Don't put a shrimp in your tank, just using cured live rock is perfect. Actually, the smaller the cycle you have, the better, as each cycle ends with excess nitrate in your water. I'd get the lights going a few hours/day if you're adding live rock that has coralline algae (the purple stuff) because you don't want that to die as well.

You should definitely add a sump if you can. It will give you much more flexibility in choosing a skimmer, simplify top-off and Ca/Alk supplementation, and increase your water volume and gas exchange. A canister filter that contains mechanical filter media is not good for a reef tank; it will take micro-fauna out of the water column that is very beneficial to keeping corals.

To me, watching all the new life emerge from live rock is one of the best parts of setting up a new tank. Have fun, but watch out for flatworms!

[mhaynes01]

yeah i agree with matt, live rock will do the trick better....

when I used the shrimp all I had was sand in my tank, and couldn't get live rock for a couple of weeks if i remeber correct its been a 3-4 years since then.

Best of luck, and get some pictures up of this tank

[SoLiD]

I agree with adding a sump. Or even better, make it a Refugium. The addition of a high sand bed (in the refugium), macro algaes, and mangrove trees will aid in the removal or Nitrates, Phosphates, and other harmful substances.

You might want to get with Hobogato (aka Ace) about getting him to build you one. That dude is awesome. And his contributions have helped this site and it's members immensely. He is what you would call a PLETHORA or knowledge and ideas.

-SoLiD