I Screwed Up Big Time

[Reefer769]

wow i really screwed up... i went out and bought a cpr protein skimmer, and had an empty tank at home. right? well my stupid a$$ baught live rock and sand at the same time expecting to get the 30 gal filled and set tonight at around 8 o'clock, well then i heard that tap water is bad, so i went to the store with my dad again to get some and they didnt have it, so now i think my dad is about to kill me, we get home and the skimmer doesnt work...and now im stuck with 18 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs of live sand, and no water to put it in... WOW, this hobby is really for people who have a LOT of time on there hands, unlike me or my parents who have school and work EVEryDay. so if anyone would be kind enough to give me some help, suggestions, pointers, anything would be appreciated. thanks

[madman19710]

just to keep die off to a minimum mix enough DECHLORINATED tap water in a bucket at the right salinity ,temp,ph your salt should adjust the ph for you but it doesnt hurt to check it add a powerhead and a heater and that should hold you over until you figure your water problems saltwater made from tap water is better than letting your rock dry out just my opinion when i switched tanks my rock was in a rubbermade tub for 3 days no problems

[tvan]

Put the rock, sand and salt water in the aquarium. Let it cycle.
HTH
Tom

[Reefer769]

yea its kind of hard to put it in water when im leaving for school in 20 mins, and i have NO water to put it in, so maybe my dad can take it back to the store right now, or when it opens, and they can hold it until i get the right kind of WATER.

[Poseidon]

remember PAtIENCE is Key.... Sounds like you bit off more then you could chew.

[Reefer769]

wow this is crazy haha, well all i can do is learn from my mistakes, and the sand is in a bucket of saltwater for now, and the rock is still in its styrofoam container(still moist), and im going to get my power head checked for the skimmer, becuase it doesnt seem to be operating the right way, and when i go do that i need to pick up the right kind of water. but i also ran into another crisis, the drawer i had the tank on looks like it WONT support it, so now i need to build a stand for it or buy one.. i DUNNO, any plans for a DIY stand, i mean its pretty simple but any suggestions would help. thanks

[Wind]

hahah.. its part of the fun in this hobby, that urge, that sense of rush to get things in place.. enjoy it .. one day u'll be sitting and seeing ur fish swim and think how hectic it was to setup that tank and what not.. ur just in the history of construction a tank haha.. good luck..

[suasponte2/75]

I had my LR's a few weeks before I got my whole set-up running also. I had all the pieces for my set-up but unfortunately didn't have time to set it up correctly. I just placed it in a rubbermaid container, connected a heater, and place a powerhead in it for a few weeks to cure it. I also used tap water temporarily in the rubbermaid container. When I did find the time in my hectic schedule I took my time and did it right. Although, when I set up the tank I used RODI only. It worked out fine and everything was still alive. Like others have said.... have patience. You will be rewarded with a beautiful tank in the end with less long term stress because you didn't cut corners (it will end up biting you in the end).

Think about it this way... that LR came a long way overseas in probably just damp newspaper over a period of a few days. An extra day or so won't completely kill it either. I would probably place in warmed up saltwater (made from temp. tap water) if I were you though to limit the die off.

HTHs

Minh