New To Marine Hobby Aquarium Cycle

[Oroborous]

Hi all, I went on and found tons of posts on questions and answers, methods and etc and i am still unclear how to get it all going. I have a 38 gallon tank and i just received my dry rock from Marco Rocks. I have around 40 pounds of CaribSea Aragalive in Fiji Pink sand on the way and once i do my aquascaping i will be ready to start the cycle. It's worth to mention that the tank i bought was part of the kit that came with the marineland bio-wheel penguin filter and i think this is very primitive piece of equipment, I do have a sump that i plan to use however i am not sure if it's necessary for me to use it right from the beginning. Can i just cycle with the dry rock and arg-alive sand? or do i still need some kind of method such as like a piece of shrimp thrown in for 3 days to start it up? Am i walking into disaster without the sump and protein skimmer? or the penguin bio-wheel is alright for now? I am sure i got something totally wrong and probably have no idea what i am talking about hence why i turn to you guys.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R
I'd give this thread a good read through in regards to cycling your tank. Lots of great info in there for you on how to do it. And as far as the sump and skimmer, you don't have to use the skimmer, but i'd use the sump right away. Easier to integrate when everything is empty and easily moved instead of when the tank is full of water.

#WelcometoR2R

 

[Ari_Ball]

Just turn on all your devices, including skimmer, heater, wave, light, pumps, chiller, etc. cycle a tank is not only for the water, it's also for these devices, it helps them to work better in this new tank. And about the shrimp, it depends how the tank doing after you cycle it for few day, if the water still looks very dirty or not clean, put a shrimp in to give bacteria some food.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Welcome to R2R! The thread Crabs gave you has allot of good info. Worth your time reading!

 

[Flippers4pups]

You may have already seen this, but here's a link that covers, from start to finish:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[Oroborous]

Wow, Thank you all! I am reading more and more and soaking that stuff in.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Wow, Thank you all! I am reading more and more and soaking that stuff in.

Good! Just remember, you are not alone in this hobby. There are tons of people here that are willing to help answer questions, give advise or share experiances. Don't be afraid to tap this resource.

 

[Dystinction]

All good advise above, and it's great that you are taking time to educate yourself. There will still be questions along the way, but you've found this place as well.

I agree with @Crabs Mcjones , I think that if you are planning to do a sump (and I also think this is a great idea), that it's in your best interest to do it from the start. I think you will benefit more from setting your system up in its' entirety from the start, rather than going back in short time and working in a fairly large re-work.
It's easy to get excited and anxious....it happens to us all, but you'll be happier in the end if you take a little more time to 'do it right'.
.....save the large re-do for when you want to upgrade to a larger tank.....yeah, that never happens...