Initial Saltwater Setup

[icedearth15324]

So I have a couple quick questions about my tank setup.

I'm about a week away from finally setting up my new 75g reef. I have 80 lbs of live sand, and I'm going to be buying live rock saturday.

I have 2 20g brute trash cans for mixing saltwater/storing RO water from the RO/DI unit.

My main question is what would be the best way to go about this? Will the live rock/sand be ok with freshly made saltwater?

Or should I make 2 batches of saltwater, let them wait 12-24 hours, then put the rock/sand in the tank, fill it as much as possible, and then make two more batches of water and dump them in once they settle?

This is my first time filling a tank this large so I've never used my own mixed saltwater before.

And I know I can fill the tank first, and then put the rock/sand in, but I'd rather work with the rocks outside of a tank full of water. As well as I don't want to deal with dumping sand in with water.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jlobes]

freshly mixed water will be just fine, as this is also what you will be using to do water changes. no worries there. get that tank scaped and fill 'er up!! you definitely want to mix the saltwater in a trash can or mixing container and not in the tank. mixes better and easier that way.

 

[icedearth15324]

freshly mixed water will be just fine, as this is also what you will be using to do water changes. no worries there. get that tank scaped and fill 'er up!! you definitely want to mix the saltwater in a trash can or mixing container and not in the tank. mixes better and easier that way.

So for the initial setup, I don't really need to worry about letting the saltwater sit for 12-24 hours after mixing? Just mix it together, then dump it in?

 

[mike007]

You can get a powerhead and put it in the container and let it circulate untill salt disolves.

 

[glb]

You can put live sand in the tank after the tank is half full. Just put the whole bag sideways into the water and pour it close to the bottom. It won't be as cloudy that way. If you put the sand in a dry tank it will fly everywhere when you start adding water.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[icedearth15324]

I've been mixing my own salt, I just always let it stand in a bucket with a powerhead for 24 hours. I know freshly mixed saltwater can cause salt-burn on fish and corals, and I just wasn't sure if it would have any kind of impact on the live rock.

 

[ReeferBob]

I'm sure I will get disagreements, but I would fill the tank with RO water, add your sand, add your salt, let the tank mix it for a day or 2, then add the rock.

Why type of sand do you have? If it is fine (oolite), you could be waiting a long time for the sand to settle. I use the special grade aragonite it settles almost instantly. Rinse your sand extremely well before adding it. This could take 1/2 hour or more for each bag.

 

[justgotwet]

I would only fill the tank half full until i got all the rock and sand in it . the rock and sand will raise the water level.

 

[saskbowser]

I started mine about 4 months ago, I added water and salt in the tank to let it mix, worked out pretty well. I had a sump so I filled mine pretty much to the top, added rock after so enough water went through the sump.

The only thing I would do differently is cleaning the sand, adding sand after water and rock made my tank dirty for about a few days, rinsing the sand should give you less of a head ache.