Continued from page 1As a result of these findings (Thiel and others), the plenum approach is no longer used and the sand is placed directly on the bottom of the tank. This is the method described in this article.
I indicated that there is a formula that allows you to calculate how much sand you actually need. Indeed there is. Take the length of the aquarium in inches, multiply that number by the width of the aquarium in inches and then multiply that number by the thickness of the sand layer that you wish to obtain. This number then needs to be divided by 20, and you will have the weight in pounds of sand that you need for your aquarium.
When using this formula take the inside dimensions and note that the result is approximate but close enough so that you can reliably use it.
An example: you have an aquarium that is 48 inches long and 12 inches wide and you wish to obtain 3 inches of sand. 48 times 12 times 3 equals 1728. Divided by 20 this yields 86.4 which is the approximate number of pounds of live sand you will need.
I mentioned cleaning the rock several times. The best manner in which to do so is to have two buckets with saltwater and a toothbrush or similar implement available to you.
Take each piece of rock and start cleaning off what needs to come off by rubbing the brush over the rock. Some sponges may not come off that easily and to remove them you may need a knife. Remove the material you want off the rock and then move the rock around in the first bucket with a swishing motion. This takes most of the larger unwanted material off the rock. Now rinse it in the second bucket. Take a good look at it and if you are satisfied that the rock is clean put it to the side.
If you are not satisfied, clean some more and rinse the rock again. When the rock is clean, and that does not mean that you remove everything from the rock, just the unwanted algae, sponge and other life forms that may be dying, rinse it again in the second bucket. Now put it on the tarp or piece of water resistant material again, or add it to the aquarium.
As you continue to do so you will eventually have cleaned all the rock which will then be ready to be added to the aquarium.
Before adding the rock though, you will need to add the sand. Normally, if you just pour the live sand out of the bags it came in, it will cloud the tank a great deal. Sand contains very small particles besides the grains. When these small particles mix with the water, the latter will cloud. Avoid this by being really careful in how you add the live sand to the tank.
To avoid this, proceed as follows: put the sand in a plastic bag (if it is not already). Close the top of the bag, or hold it closed with you hands, so no water can get into the bag and no sand can get out.
Lower the bag into the aquarium all the way to the bottom. When the bag is at the bottom, tilt it sideways and open the top. Slowly, very slowly, pour the sand out on the bottom of the aquarium. The slower you do this, the less cloudiness will result. This may seem trivial at this point. It is not. If the tank is cloudy after you add the live sand, it will be very difficult for you to add the live rock, as you will not really be able to see what you are doing.
You probably have several bags with sand. Lower each one in the same manner and pour out the sand. When all the sand you have is in the tank, gently even the layer out with your hands so the thickness is about the same everywhere.
Be careful when doing this. The gentler you are, the less the water will be affected by the small particles in the sand, and the less cloudy it will be. If you do this properly, there will actually be no cloudiness at all.
Note that even if the tank becomes cloudy there is really no harm done. The problem though it will be more difficult for you to go to the next step, which is adding the live rock. If the water is too cloudy, you cannot see what you are doing and you will not be able to shape the look of the rock formation inside the tank easily.
Since you cannot leave the live rock out of the water until the tank clears up, it is important to make sure that you add the sand carefully. This will allow you to go on to the final step: adding the live rock.
Take each of the pieces of live rock and, after looking at it and at the aquarium, decide where you are going to place each piece. Then do so. Slowly your reef will start to take shape. Note that if you are not satisfied with the look you have achieved, you can always rearrange the rock somewhat. Large changes will be difficult to make without removing a good portion of the rock but small changes will be relatively easy to achieve.
At some point all the live rock will have been placed in the tank, on top of the live sand, and your aquarium is now ready. Well sort of. It is not yet ready for animals but it is ready for you to start the skimmer and other filtration implements that you have installed.
Mind you, you cannot put animals in the tank yet because the live rock that you placed in the tank will cycle. This is normal and can take from 14 to 30 or more days, depending on each individual situation. There is no way to generalize and know in advance how long your tank will need, to go through a complete cycle. You will need to test the ammonia and nitrite levels to determine what is actually going on.
Since ammonia does not appear immediately, do not be misled by the fact that the tank is in good condition and can now receive animals. Wait at least 12 or more days before you decide to add any life forms. When you are sure that no ammonia and no nitrite are present, you can start adding animals.
Whether you start with fish or whether you start with corals and invertebrates is entirely up to you. I personally prefer to add the corals first and the fish later but that is a personal preference of mine. Do not add too many animals at the same time as this would result in a sudden and large increase in the bioload. Such an increase can lead to another ammonia spike (which leads to nitrite spiking as well).
You probably wonder why the tank still cycles even though you cleaned all the live rock according to the method described earlier. Even if you have cleaned all your live rock real thoroughly, there will still be living matter on the rock that will die, and that will result in the tank cycling.
All you need now is patience and a few tests to allow you to determine when the aquarium is ready and when animals can be added. As I stated, this will be different for every aquarium and cannot be guessed at. Only testing will let you decide whether your tank is ready for life forms, or not.
Once it is, go ahead and add animals. Make sure you know what the requirements of the animals you add to the aquarium are. This is where you need to read books and magazine articles, to familiarize yourself with the tank conditions these animals require and then adjust the tank water quality parameters to reflect this.
Introduce your animals slowly and acclimatize them to the tank. Take your time doing so. Indeed the differences in water quality between the conditions in the tanks at the store where you obtained the animal, and the conditions in your own tank may require that you acclimate the animal for longer.
Now that the live sand and live rock is in the aquarium, and given that the tank has gone through its cycle, the addition of animals is the next step.
Enjoy reefkeeping, you are now part of an elite group of marine hobbyists.
To contact Albert J. Thiel About Albert J. Thiel
Photos courtesy of Tampa Bay Saltwater, liverock@tbsaltwater.com
| Top | Back |
 NetPets® Main Page |  The Fish Center |
