Starting my tank

pelagichunter954 · Jun 21, 2013

Ok so I literally just started my tank and have all the water and 50#'s base rock 11#'s live rock and 40#'s live sand. I have plenty of time to cycle it and am in no rush at all but I had a few questions. First I have a product to cycle my tank but was wondering if I should wait a week or so to add it to my tank to make sure everything is going well and there are no problems. Also I bought a sump with a refugium and was wondering when I should add my miracle mud along with my cheato algae. And my last question is when should I add a cleanup crew. Thanks!

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CoralReeforrest · Jun 21, 2013

Would add the mud now as it will need to cycle, the chaeto when cycles done as well as the CUC when cycle is done, also the bottled bacteria can some times have excess junk in it that can cause issues down the road, this coming from others reviews that I have read of it. Would recommend the shrimp or ghost feeding 2 times a day approx the amount you would feed 3 fish. Pics of the aquascape??? We all low pics! Good luck!

CoralReeforrest · Jun 21, 2013

*love! Not low lol

pelagichunter954 · Jun 21, 2013

ImageUploadedByReef2Reef Aquarium Forum1371856063.488299.jpg

Here ya go I'm most likely gonna change the rocks around I'm not sure how I want it yet

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CoralReeforrest · Jun 21, 2013

pelagichunter954 said:
Here ya go I'm most likely gonna change the rocks around I'm not sure how I want it yet

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Looks great as is! Love the stand color too! Gonna be nice.

mike007 · Jun 21, 2013

Good luck and keep us posted.

Beach Bum · Jun 21, 2013

Nice job on the rocks looks good

swimmatte · Jun 22, 2013

You'll probably lose most of the CUC if you add it before the cycle. Inverts tend to be a lot more sensitive.

Reefing Madness · Jun 22, 2013

Easy way to do this would be, add sump, mud and cheato now. No need for bacteria. Throw a jumbo dead shrimp from the grocery store into a fish net, let that sit in your tank water. This will start your cycle. The cheato will help draw down the Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates once it starts up. Better to do it all naturally, than to add stuff to the tank already.