Live Sand install

[cccharliecc]

So I am putting live sand and dry rock in the tank as I write this and will be filling the tank about half way and then the rest of the way over the week.
Then I will heat and salt the water and get things moving.

I am using Dr.Tims one and only with pure ammonia to cycle the tank.

My question is with the live sand currently. Do I add those packs of "bio magnet clarifier" that comes with the sand in the tank now, later or never?

Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

you should rinse it powerfully in buckets before use, leaving zero silt no matter how you handle it, rendering them not needed. this does not harm bacteria, there were no worms or pods in the sand to mind. to pre rinse out silt is to curb nine headaches, and to leave it in and follow the directions is to become part of the tanks (possibly) that make up our nine page sand rinse thread. its entire thesis is starting with a pre rinse... :)

yes you can leave it, and add the floc aggregator to get silt out of suspension, that's per directions.

But it can be kicked up later

and silt is diatom fuel #1

nine pages of power, all from pre-rinsing for sure, official sand rinse thread I just kicked it up last nite its probably on page two by now of the general discussion forum.




the number of tanks we saved by sand rinsing is growing and growing. best trick of the year most guaranteed.

 

[brandon429]

if you have already filled the tank up w water and must add the packs its ok to do that, wasn't sure if we caught your setup before fill. the flocculant addition works, this way was just a tuner's trick. if you add the supplied gel/liquid, it simply encourages biofilm development within the tank and this sticks the silty fraction together as aggregates of bacteria + substrate, early marine snow compounding. its heavier so it tends to settle or get filtered out in socks/pads etc.

 

[cccharliecc]

So i have the sand and rock added and half full now.....
Are you saying I can wait a couple days to add the packets once the tank is completely filled, run everything, then start with Dr. Tim's stuff?