Here is my 90 gal setup.

[ChemGuy]

90 gal all glass tank
Aqua C Remora Pro Skimmer(not running atm)
Nova Extreme Pro T5 (off)
5" Deep Sand bed (Aragonite)
Current test : SG 1.022-1.023, Ph 8.3, Ca 400-450, Temp 79.5
What other test do I need to do?

Tank has been running for 1 week with just sand and 2 K4's moving the water.
Live Rock shipment is due today. 2/11/10
Live Rock has been cured 100 pounds. I assume that another cycle will still happen.
Ok weird live rock question. If live rock is alive do I need to feed it during the cycle?
Sorry if this is a dumb question.

After the live rock is in my plans are :
Run the skimmer
Turn lights on for 4 hours a day and slowly build up to 12 hours a day.
Question should I turn on all 6 bulbs in the beginning?
Test NH3, NO2, NO3 daily until the tank cycles.

After the cycle add a clean-up-crew.
I admit to being a bit confused about the clean-up-crew. Crabs or no crabs ?.... there seems to be a few diff opinions about them. Also how many critters to add. The clean-up-crew packages I see online have a huge number of critters and are very crab heavy. Like this one.
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Basic & Deluxe Caribbean Reef Packages
Lots of similar packages on other sites.
What to do??

Thanks Folks

[Parrothead]

90 gal all glass tank
Aqua C Remora Pro Skimmer(not running atm)
Nova Extreme Pro T5 (off)
5" Deep Sand bed (Aragonite)
Current test : SG 1.022-1.023, Ph 8.3, Ca 400-450, Temp 79.5
What other test do I need to do?

Tank has been running for 1 week with just sand and 2 K4's moving the water.
Live Rock shipment is due today. 2/11/10
Live Rock has been cured 100 pounds. I assume that another cycle will still happen.
Ok weird live rock question. If live rock is alive do I need to feed it during the cycle?
Sorry if this is a dumb question.

After the live rock is in my plans are :
Run the skimmer
Turn lights on for 4 hours a day and slowly build up to 12 hours a day.
Question should I turn on all 6 bulbs in the beginning?
Test NH3, NO2, NO3 daily until the tank cycles.

After the cycle add a clean-up-crew.
I admit to being a bit confused about the clean-up-crew. Crabs or no crabs ?.... there seems to be a few diff opinions about them. Also how many critters to add. The clean-up-crew packages I see online have a huge number of critters and are very crab heavy. Like this one.
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Basic & Deluxe Caribbean Reef Packages
Lots of similar packages on other sites.
What to do??

Thanks Folks

when you add the rock you will actually begin the cycle, not another cycle, you do not have to feed the rock, live refers to the bacteria(good)thats on and in the rock, you really don't need to add anything at this point, set your lights so that the actinics come on an hour or so before the daylight bulbs do and the daylights go off and hour or so before the actinics go off. You do not need to test everyday, every other day to start with.

[Parrothead]

Also, go ahead and fire the skimmer up, it won't hurt anything to be running right now, and if there is anything in the sand that shouldn't be it will pull it out, also it helps to aerate the water, and it will also begin the skimmer break in period. Lets get the cycle going and then we can look into the cuc, what kind of rock did you get.

[ChemGuy]

Live rock is 50 pounds Fiji Premium and 50 pounds of Fiji Totoka.

[Parrothead]

Live rock is 50 pounds Fiji Premium and 50 pounds of Fiji Totoka.

Good Choice, get the skimmer fired up

[twisted]

hey chemguy! looks like you started out in the right hands... very nice choice on the rock! good luck!..cant wait to see some pics!

[ChemGuy]

Thanks I will post pics when I figure out how
And have something to post.
Question will running the skimmer with cloudy water hurt it??

Thanks

[Parrothead]

Absolutely not, actually it will help clear the water up and as mentioned it will help break it in for when the rock arrives

[ChemGuy]

Ok The beast is running. Now if only the live rock would get here .

[Parrothead]

Patience Grasshopper, Patience, Remember what Charlie's tag line says "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a Reef". Slow and easy will come out much, much nicer;););)

[ChemGuy]

Anyone have an idea how cold effects Live Rock.
My Live Rock was supposed to be here by Tues. Wed latest. It's now Fri and I'm in Mass.
Very cold here for the last few days . Shipment is most likely hung up in the snow mess
in the DC area.
So will I get Live Rock of frozen Dead Rock ??

[Parrothead]

If you haven't already, contact the vendor, get an airbill number, or tracking number, find out who and how they shipped it and get on the phone, let us know what you find out

[ChemGuy]

Supposed to be coming by Fedex.
Several emails to them have produced no answers.
Their website promises a tracking number but I did not get one.
Last email i got from them said I would have it by Wed latest.
Think a call to Fedex would get me anywhere??

[Parrothead]

I'd been on the phone already, don't be nice, and get a tracking number, that's gonna be the first thing fed-x is gonna ask for

[Bloodydecks]

Anyone have an idea how cold effects Live Rock.
My Live Rock was supposed to be here by Tues. Wed latest. It's now Fri and I'm in Mass.
Very cold here for the last few days . Shipment is most likely hung up in the snow mess
in the DC area.
So will I get Live Rock of frozen Dead Rock ??

bummer on the rock...it will be dead. thats the risk of winter shipments. Imagine a thousand dollars worth of fish....happened to me once. You can still use it for base rock. If you have live sand, you should be ok, just watch your ammonia levels.


Blizzards suck, but there is nothing anyone can do about it....the people in the cargo department want to get your stuff to you just as bad you want to get it.

Yelling at the people on the phone won't help your cause. When people get yelled over the phone, they are less likely to help you. Do you really want to piss off the only people that can help you? If you can't get the answer you are looking for, simply ask for a supervisor..., give them the needed tracking info, and explain that is "live animals". Hopefully you will find a sympathetic person who will feel sorry for the"animals", and put in a little more effort.

Most likely it is sitting in some cargo department, either at the origin of departure because the airline refused the shipment due to the fact that it was parsishable, and poor weather was predicted, or it is now at the airport of destination, waiting to be picked up by the delivery company (Fed-X). But is being held up due to weather.

good luck. Also contact the people you bought it from and see if they will refund your money or send you another shipment......I bet they have "there shipping disclaimer" somewhere on the web site... If they do replace the rock, don;t be shocked if you have to pay the shipping on both orders.

[ChemGuy]

Well I finally got a reply from the company. They shipped it all on Monday and gave me the tracking numbers. It looks like it got hung up in Ohio for a day or two. Tracking says it will be here today
2/23 . How can I tell if it's just dead rock ?? Add it to my empty aquarium any way ???
What to do .... What to do....

[twisted]

im not totallly sure how to tell dead rock, but i believe it will stink and when it goes in the water it will "shed". ill let the other guys finish this one

[Parrothead]

im not totallly sure how to tell dead rock, but i believe it will stink and when it goes in the water it will "shed". ill let the other guys finish this one

Pretty much what is stated above, first thing to do is mix up a bin or bucket of fresh saltwater get the wifes toothbrush

Rinse each piece in the fresh saltwater and scrub as much of the dead stuff off as you can, like sponges plant life if any, etc. then put it in the tank and let your cycle begin, there is gonna be good cycle here do to the condition of the rock, but it might not be a total loss, some of the rock floats to the U.S. instead of being flown in and gets sold in lfs all over, after you cycle this in you may want to add a couple choice pieces picked up locally to help seed what you have. I'd cycle with what you got and see how it comes out.

Bloodydecks, I was not saying he should bitch at Fed-X, read his post, you will see where the vendor never provided him with the tracking numbers till yesterday. It's the vendor I'd be pissed at, I won't order on-line unless I receive a tracking number immed. or by the close of the shipping day.

[ChemGuy]

My wife objects strongly to my using her toothbrush.
But thanks for the advice.

[Parrothead]

My wife objects strongly to my using her toothbrush.
But thanks for the advice.

Don't tell her

You got what I meant, just trying to put a smile on your face