new saltwater aquarium questions

frothyspoon

I am about to add water to my new saltwater aquarium which i converted from freshwater. I am completely new to salt so I have a few questions about everything.

My first questions is about the substrate. I have about 60 pounds of crushed coral and aragonite sand and before i placed it in my aquarium i washed it well but the water was still a little cloudy. Will this cause problems when i add water soon?

My next question is how long do i have to let the water cycle before I can add live rock to the system? And then how long do i have to let the live rock filter the water before I can add my first fish?

Lastly, is it wise to buy live rock that someone is selling from an established system? Or is it recommended that i buy it from a LFS.

Thanks for all your help

badxgillen

when starting i like to buy live rock from as many sources as i can to get a bigger bio diversity going...just be sure not to accidently import aptasia or majano anemones..they are hard to eradicate later on.....most people start off with base rock and top it off with more exoensive live rock...you can put live rock in as soon as salinity check out and temp is correct..cycling a yank can take from 4 weeks to 4 months...there are a lot of variabls...live sand,live rock,established filteration media,and photo periods....not to mention bio load...once again a little research goes a long way....get your test kit handy .....oh and just get the substrate as clean as you can...then once the water is properly mixed and in the tank turn on the pumps and let it settle out the fine particals then add the live rock...

Pasfur

The cloudiness will not cause problems. It will just take a couple of days to go away. I would suggest adding your water, mixing the salt, and as soon as the salinity and temperature are stable begin to add rock.

You can and should add the rock as soon as the salinity and temperature are stable. The live rock is the heart of your filtration system. With established live rock, don't be surprised if your system does not have a traditional freshwater style cycle.

This is not so much a question of the cycle as you are familiar of from freshwater, but more about letting the system mature. Generally speaking, the ammonia and nitrite will disappear within a few short days. You should be watching for signs of maturity, such as the presence of copepods and amphipods in the substrate and on the glass, the passing of the diatom algae bloom, and the beginning of coraline algae growth.

I think there is a huge advantage in buying from an established SUCCESSFUL system. As a means of cost reduction, you should visit Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock and consider using their Fiji Dry Rock for your base, which can consist of about 80% of the entire rock structure.