Substrate Question...

[Jbell246]

So I am about to set up my 75 gallon tank that I purchased used. The guy I bought it from gave me enough of the crushed coral that he used previously that he had washed, as well as about 80 pounds of rock.
I was wanting to see some input as I have been leaning towards using sand. Wanted some help to know of the best brands and how the live sand works as well. Can I do 50/50 of live sand and then just regular sand?
Any tips, tricks, or advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[stanleo]

I would do all live sand. Or the crushed coral would work well. Your biggest deciding factor would be what kind of animals are you planning to keep. If you want a goby for instance, than go with live sand. Same for a lot of interesting inverts you might enjoy, starfish, conch snails, nassarius, and corals. These animals will also dictate how deep your bed should be. If none of those matter to you, you could go bare bottom. It would help with cleaning the bottom of detritus and getting the right flow that you want for the corals you want. I would research the type of tank you ultimately want and what you want to keep and then make up your mind.

 

[Bnutz]

I would do all live sand. Or the crushed coral would work well. Your biggest deciding factor would be what kind of animals are you planning to keep. If you want a goby for instance, than go with live sand. Same for a lot of interesting inverts you might enjoy, starfish, conch snails, nassarius, and corals. These animals will also dictate how deep your bed should be. If none of those matter to you, you could go bare bottom. It would help with cleaning the bottom of detritus and getting the right flow that you want for the corals you want. I would research the type of tank you ultimately want and what you want to keep and then make up your mind.

Exactly. Research what you want to keep and choose then. I was going bare bottom, but I found wrasse. They need sand so I decided on a fiji pink and special grade mix.

 

[Jbell246]

I would do all live sand. Or the crushed coral would work well. Your biggest deciding factor would be what kind of animals are you planning to keep. If you want a goby for instance, than go with live sand. Same for a lot of interesting inverts you might enjoy, starfish, conch snails, nassarius, and corals. These animals will also dictate how deep your bed should be. If none of those matter to you, you could go bare bottom. It would help with cleaning the bottom of detritus and getting the right flow that you want for the corals you want. I would research the type of tank you ultimately want and what you want to keep and then make up your mind.

Thank you! Yeah I am interested in the gobies and some inverts like you were saying and would just need to figure out the flow. The guy I got this whole set up from didn’t use any wave makers or anything saying that the pumps and filters create enough flow in the tank. So will have to see how that all works once I get water in the tank

Also with live rock... could I just add a couple pieces in with the rock I have?

 

[stanleo]

Thank you! Yeah I am interested in the gobies and some inverts like you were saying and would just need to figure out the flow. The guy I got this whole set up from didn’t use any wave makers or anything saying that the pumps and filters create enough flow in the tank. So will have to see how that all works once I get water in the tank

Also with live rock... could I just add a couple pieces in with the rock I have?

That will depend on where the live rock comes from. If its wet and comes out of an established system that you trust, than yes. If its dry, soak it in tank water with a heater and flow for a few weeks, one week at the least and test the water to be sure there are no contaminates. I did this when I added dry rock to my tank and soaked it for a month.

 

[Jbell246]

That will depend on where the live rock comes from. If its wet and comes out of an established system that you trust, than yes. If its dry, soak it in tank water with a heater and flow for a few weeks, one week at the least and test the water to be sure there are no contaminates. I did this when I added dry rock to my tank and soaked it for a month.

So this rock that he gave me he said he took out and cleaned so no longer “live”. Was hoping I could just go to a local fish store or somewhere I can get a couple pieces of wet live rock to add to the tank to jumpstart the process.
I am still new to this all and know it has to cycle through for about 30 days before I add any fish is what I think he said

 

[stanleo]

So this rock that he gave me he said he took out and cleaned so no longer “live”. Was hoping I could just go to a local fish store or somewhere I can get a couple pieces of wet live rock to add to the tank to jumpstart the process.
I am still new to this all and know it has to cycle through for about 30 days before I add any fish is what I think he said

How did he clean it? Did he use any chemicals at all or did he just scrub it? If he just scrubbed it with tap water it will be fine to use but if he used any chemicals, you should soak it in salt water for about a month in a separate container (not your tank) and test that water for ammonia and nitrates and phosphates. Make sure you also use something to detoxify heavy metals.

Yes you can go to the LFS and get live rock to start your cycle. You will want to test for ammonia with this as well so you can be sure it is ready for your first fish. I followed my LFS advice and added fish too quickly and they died. I finally had to do a fishless cycle. You might want to look into that.

 

[Jbell246]

How did he clean it? Did he use any chemicals at all or did he just scrub it? If he just scrubbed it with tap water it will be fine to use but if he used any chemicals, you should soak it in salt water for about a month in a separate container (not your tank) and test that water for ammonia and nitrates and phosphates. Make sure you also use something to detoxify heavy metals.

Yes you can go to the LFS and get live rock to start your cycle. You will want to test for ammonia with this as well so you can be sure it is ready for your first fish. I followed my LFS advice and added fish too quickly and they died. I finally had to do a fishless cycle. You might want to look into that.

Yeah the guy I got it from had been doing it for 20 years and said he didn’t use any chemicals on the cleaning process and soaked everything to clean so I should be safe.
Thanks for all the information! I’ll need to figure out the best option for getting water as well. Might just need to purchase from LFS as well to get things started on this soon!

 

[stanleo]

Yeah the guy I got it from had been doing it for 20 years and said he didn’t use any chemicals on the cleaning process and soaked everything to clean so I should be safe.
Thanks for all the information! I’ll need to figure out the best option for getting water as well. Might just need to purchase from LFS as well to get things started on this soon!

Invest in an RODI filter. Unless this is a nano tank, going to LFS every time you need water is an absolute pain. This is the one I have. I change 20 gallons every two weeks on my 120 gallon tank and the filters lasted a year. Of all the money I have spent on this hobby, this is by far one of the least expensive pieces of equipment.

AQUATIC LIFE RO Buddie Four Stage Osmosis System, 50-gal - Chewy.com

Buy Aquatic Life RO Buddie Four Stage Osmosis System, 50-gal at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

 

[Hugh Mann]

I run crushed Coral in my 55. I quite like it. Can't have sand sleepers/sifters like gobies, but it's nice and heavy and doesn't get blown around in high flow, vacuums real nice, and is still small enough my nassarius can move through it without issue.

 

[Jbell246]

Invest in an RODI filter. Unless this is a nano tank, going to LFS every time you need water is an absolute pain. This is the one I have. I change 20 gallons every two weeks on my 120 gallon tank and the filters lasted a year. Of all the money I have spent on this hobby, this is by far one of the least expensive pieces of equipment.

AQUATIC LIFE RO Buddie Four Stage Osmosis System, 50-gal - Chewy.com

Buy Aquatic Life RO Buddie Four Stage Osmosis System, 50-gal at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

Oh wow that is a good priced one! Yeah that would be a good investment. The set up I have is 75 gallon so I was thinking about doing a 10 gallon change every week or 2 is what the last guy recommended. Everything I’ve been seeing online is much higher priced than that one you sent in the link!

 

[Jbell246]

I run crushed Coral in my 55. I quite like it. Can't have sand sleepers/sifters like gobies, but it's nice and heavy and doesn't get blown around in high flow, vacuums real nice, and is still small enough my nassarius can move through it without issue.

Yeah that is my dilemma. I kind of do want to have some of the sifting gobies. Such a tough choice lol

 

[stanleo]

Oh wow that is a good priced one! Yeah that would be a good investment. The set up I have is 75 gallon so I was thinking about doing a 10 gallon change every week or 2 is what the last guy recommended. Everything I’ve been seeing online is much higher priced than that one you sent in the link!

Yeah for 75 gallons that would be perfect. And I don't know how much the LFS charges for water so in the long run, you should pull that trigger.