Setting up a new big tank questions

[mrpontiac80]

Hi everyone, I have a 2+yr old waterbox 65.4 aio. But I just got my new 180 gallon planet aquariums tank. So it’s not my first build but it is my first big build.

it’s going to take some time to make water. I have Caribsea Fiji pink live sand that I plan to rinse ( doing this because I want the fines out to prevent clouding and etc. was cheaper than dry sand at the time) So if I rinse the sand and put it in the tank along with dry Caribsea life rock, is going to harm anything in anyway to add mixed salt water over a week?
I can produce 50 gallons of saltwater a day. So I was hoping once I get the sand rinsed and in the tank, along with a rock scape I’m happy with, that I can add saltwater say 40-60 gallons per day or two. Is this going to be ok with no heater or flow?
I have two 55 gallon drums I’ve been using. One for rodi and the other to mix my salt in. Once the tank is up and running I can always have 50-100 balloon water at least ready to mix if needed.

 

[Reeflix]

i should think so... never had tank that big so i dont know but i think its fine just as long as you rinse the sand in rodi and it doesnt dry out

 

[Fish Styx]

Hi everyone, I have a 2+yr old waterbox 65.4 aio. But I just got my new 180 gallon planet aquariums tank. So it’s not my first build but it is my first big build.

it’s going to take some time to make water. I have Caribsea Fiji pink live sand that I plan to rinse ( doing this because I want the fines out to prevent clouding and etc. was cheaper than dry sand at the time) So if I rinse the sand and put it in the tank along with dry Caribsea life rock, is going to harm anything in anyway to add mixed salt water over a week?
I can produce 50 gallons of saltwater a day. So I was hoping once I get the sand rinsed and in the tank, along with a rock scape I’m happy with, that I can add saltwater say 40-60 gallons per day or two. Is this going to be ok with no heater or flow?
I have two 55 gallon drums I’ve been using. One for rodi and the other to mix my salt in. Once the tank is up and running I can always have 50-100 balloon water at least ready to mix if needed.

Yup. You'll be just fine. Congrats on the tank. My 180 is from Planet too. Solid build.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Awesome. This thing is kinda overwhelming. I’ve been planning for months and now that the glass box is here it’s a lot! My biggest decision is quick transfer with additional dry rock or a slower cycle. But I don’t really want two tanks going. Not to mention the lfs gave me a fair offer on the waterbox and that would help too.

 

[vpierce3]

Personally I’d make sure the live rock is kept submerged. Dry rock no problem to proceed slowly.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Personally I’d make sure the live rock is kept submerged. Dry rock no problem to proceed slowly.

All the new stuff is dry. My 65 gallon is currently running. The only way any of that rock comes out for the 180 is once the tank is ready. Then I’ll shut down the 65

 

[hunterallen40]

When I did my upgrade (75 gallon to a 320 gallon), I did what I wanted with the dry rock I was adding and used aqua forest sand. This sand comes with bacteria + food for the bacteria, so it needs to be kept around 78. I just put all the bags in a cooler with a 300 watt heater. Did the trick. Then I filled the tank over several days with new water, dumped in the sand (once I got the new water up to temp), and moved all my old rock over + fish. Cleared up overnight, and was good to go from there.

 

[mrpontiac80]

When I did my upgrade (75 gallon to a 320 gallon), I did what I wanted with the dry rock I was adding and used aqua forest sand. This sand comes with bacteria + food for the bacteria, so it needs to be kept around 78. I just put all the bags in a cooler with a 300 watt heater. Did the trick. Then I filled the tank over several days with new water, dumped in the sand (once I got the new water up to temp), and moved all my old rock over + fish. Cleared up overnight, and was good to go from there.

I just have ironic timing. My current tank is 2 yrs now and I am finally starting to see my acros encrust and grow. I feel like no mater what I do I’m probably gonna loose some. On the plus side none are very big so it’s not like I’d loose a colony but still even the cheap ones aren’t cheap to replace

 

[Subsea]

Because you are only dealing with bacteria, it doesn’t much matter what you do. They will survive.

Before going any further with your setup, consider an undergravel filter with reverse flow up thru substrate.

Once your display is full of salt water, then get diver collected live sand & live rock to bring in diversity of micro fauna & fana. Bacteria on packaged sand is nitrification only, no different than bottled bacteria.

What type of system will your reef tank be?

Gulf Live Rock

gulfliverock.com

This is real “live sand”

Gulf Live Rock.com

gulfliverock.com

This is real live rock

 

[itgoeson]

For me it was easier to fill with RODI water over time and mix the salt in the tank - then add sand and rock. That way I didn’t have to measure salinity a million times in smaller containers.