Hi new tank Advice Please?

Stephen.h · Jan 11, 2015

Hi Looks like a very good forum to post for some advice.
Just started my first saltwater tank from my previous freshwater.
It is a juwel trigon 190 and have it all setup with

190 litres r/o water,
2 bags off Caribsea live arag oolite sand,
Heater
Aeration
Fluval Sea Hydometer
Fluval Sea CP4 Powerhead (5200gph)
Fluval sea Marine salt

Wondering if the live sand is enough to start the cycle along with a some pieces of frozen mysis shrimp (purchased tonight) that will feed every couple of days?

Also since only having dry rock do i need to run my canister filter used for my freshwater tank, and if so can i use the carbon,ammonia remover and bio rings?
many thanks:bigsmile:

Stephen.h · Jan 11, 2015

Also have a Protein Skimmer Running a Fluval Sea sp1

tyler1503 · Jan 11, 2015

That should be enough to kick start the cycle. I'd use raw table shrimp as opposed to mysis though, it's a bit easier to clean up. If possible, float the shrimp inside an aquarium net to make it even easier to clean up.
Do you have any live rock or is it all dry? And how much of each?
We don't often use canister filters in marine tanks as they need to be thoroughly cleaned every couple of days otherwise nitrate can go through the roof. In saying that, you could use the carbon and a phosphate removal media in there. I wouldn't use the ammonia remover (you need ammonia so the cycle can progress) or the bio balls.
The rock, sand and skimmer (I'm not familiar with that model so don't know it's specs though) will be enough filtration

That's how my first fowlr was set up.
Flow is also very important. Do you have power heads?
Good luck!

Stephen.h · Jan 11, 2015

hi its frozen blocks of mysis shrimp will this just dissolve since there is no fish/ filter in the tank.
Only have 20kg of dry rock.
Sounds good, have a 5200 lph fluva sea cp4 powerhead and thinking of adding another

tyler1503 · Jan 11, 2015

Stephen.h said:
hi its frozen blocks of mysis shrimp will this just dissolve since there is no fish/ filter in the tank.
Only have 20kg of dry rock.
Sounds good, have a 5200 lph fluva sea cp4 powerhead and thinking of adding another

You could use the mysis as it will still produce plenty of ammonia. I've used both methods before and found the table shrimp to be easier, but I guess it comes down to personal opinion

20kg is a nice amount. You could make some nice structures with that much rock.
That works out to be roughly 27x your total water volume being pushed through your powerhead every hour. That's an ideal starting point for now

Another powerhead would be a good idea to create a more random flow, but I'd get a smaller one.
Sounds like your off to a good start!

Stephen.h · Jan 11, 2015

thanks for your help. Also is the cloudiness at the start from the bacteria bloom or the sand settling. It has been 24 hours and is still milky white so just put the powerhead and aeration off to see what happens in 24 hours incase this was disturbing the sand settling.