Hello!

[daveydoodle]

Got all the sand and rock in, and the water temp seems to be stable at 79 degrees. Now I'm in search of live rock. I didn't see anything great on CL, Longmont is a little too far, anyone have opinions on the best place to get live rock from a LFS? I like to support our local fish stores when it's not too very costly. I'm looking for about 30-40 pounds. I'll probably try Todd's Tropical, unless anyone has any better ideas.

 

[daveydoodle]

Forgot to ask in the above post, with the addition of live rock and stable temp...can I add Chaeto now? I was hoping to add some into my refugium along with some LR rubble.

 

[BPreefer]

Might be worth the drive, I think Todds cheapest live rock is $7 lbs.
Good luck with your search.

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[Cake_Boss]

You just need to seed it, or wait for the cycle. You can buy a small rock and introduce it to kick start your bacteria.

As far as cheato, does it have anything to consume at this point? Have you been "ghost feeding" your tank? Macros will convert the nitrates and phosphates into food. If you don't have any yet, your macros will struggle until you do.

 

[JNG]

Check catfish charlies, I think they have boxes of around 50lb for $130. Don't know how often he makes the order but it might be worth your wait.

 

[MartinsReef]

Welcome! +1 catfish charlies. Also some on here had about 25lbs for sale.

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[cdrewferd]

Besides live rock you could always do dry, then seed with a few pieces of live. Might make your cycle longer but it'll also be a lot easier on the wallet.

 

[daveydoodle]

How far apart can put live rock in without restarting a cycle, or will that even happen? I really want to get some in today as it's the last thing I'm waiting on. However I might pick up some more from some of the guys on this site that are breaking down tanks. Can I put 20 pounds of live rock in today from a LFS and then if I can connect up with someone from here and put 10-20 more pounds in this weekend? It's a brand new tank, first cycle.

 

[BPreefer]

How far apart can put live rock in without restarting a cycle, or will that even happen? I really want to get some in today as it's the last thing I'm waiting on. However I might pick up some more from some of the guys on this site that are breaking down tanks. Can I put 20 pounds of live rock in today from a LFS and then if I can connect up with someone from here and put 10-20 more pounds in this weekend? It's a brand new tank, first cycle.

Yeah, that should be fine. I have always transported any live rock I bought locally in a bucket with saltwater,never noticed a cycle even when added to a cycled tank. Just minimize time out of water to lessen possible dieoff .

 

[daveydoodle]

HUGE day at the house this afternoon! My wife and kids were eagerly awaiting me to get home with our first "live" addition to our tank. I bought 30+ pounds of Live Rock from Todd's today and transported it home in a rubbermade tub covered with water. Got home, got it in the tank and within minutes we were all glued to the glass looking for life.
I'm at work now so I can't post pictures but thus far we've found a white starfish the size of a pencil head, and what I think is a 1"-1.5" nudibranch. I'll post pictures when I get home so I can get help ID'ing them.
Finally....it's a real tank! I'll have to start a new thread with the build and other photo's, but I'm finally official!

 

[BPreefer]

amazing how entertained we can be with just rock. lol I remember doing the same, cool to finally see something alive. Let me know when you are cycled and I can hook you up with some stuff. Looks like I'm very close to you and maybe keep the same hours.

 

[Cake_Boss]

My favorite part is looking for random life in the rock, trying to id is a good way to kill time while waiting for the cycle to complete, imo

 

[daveydoodle]

How do I know if the skimmer is working correctly, or more importantly if I have it adjusted properly? I have the SWC Xtreme 150 which did not come with any manuals or anything. I've read people posting about keeping it at a specific depth so it seems that there is one way to run it correctly. How would I know if it's too deep or shallow? It is producing very, very fine bubbles, and seems to have good water movement in the chamber it is sitting in. I just turned it on to run it (break it in) after adding live rock yesterday for the initial cycle.