What do you do when you first receive your tank ?

[spyglass]

Hi Bros,

What do you do when you first receive your tank set ?

i. Rinse whole set up with water ?

ii. Fill up, run with pumps and test for leakage ? Then drain everything away (seems quite wasteful) and top up with either salt mix or NSW ?

iii. Others ?

Please enlighten. THanks

[tench1]

Hi there, congrats to your first step in your new hobby.

First and foremost, u need to learn to be patience. There's reason for certain steps and procedure.

As you must had done some research from other threads, checking for leakage is very important.

The most important step which one must conduct.

What i would suggest, after filling up the tanks with water, and its leak free, you may start cycling the tank.

This way, u are not wasting the water.

Once again, welcome to the world of reefing hobby!

[straydum]

Hi Bros,

What do you do when you first receive your tank set ?

i. Rinse whole set up with water ?

ii. Fill up, run with pumps and test for leakage ? Then drain everything away (seems quite wasteful) and top up with either salt mix or NSW ?

iii. Others ?

Please enlighten. THanks

looking at the brand new tank, i'll first go :wub:

then fill the system with plain tap water, run it and make sure everything is in place. whether you fill it with tap water or ro/di + salt mix or nsw is all up to you. for me tap water would make things easier to mend any problems, no sticky seawater to work with. the water could still later on be used to flush your toilets or water the plants etc.

for large systems i can see why this would be a waste of water but a leak test + a full system run is definitely important. i suppose you could fill it straight away with salt water if you calculate its worth the risk

[cjh]

i will rinse it and soak it for a day or so then use a soft cloth and wipe all glass panel (all using the same water) then drain it away. and start cycling if its not leaking..

[digibee]

Hi, usually I do these:-

1. clean the tank and sump area for any debris; clean the cabinet too

2. for convenience, arrange NSW to arrive 1 hr after the tank is setup; you may arrange later if your silicon not completely dried

3. after NSW in, check for any leakage; especially the joints of the pipes

4. test run all the pumps

5. put in sands and live rocks after switching off all pumps

6. setup the equipments; e.g. chiller, lights, skimmer, etc

I have done these a few times; and so far so good.

Cheers!

[wilsontantw]

1) check for scratches or any other defects and ensure the tank is levelled by tank maker.

2) use a wet cloth to clean all glass surface to remove dirt, grease..

3) run fresh water leak test.. I did it for 24hrs. If u trust ur tank maker - u may skip this step.

3a) instead of eye power, u may use tissue paper around plumbing joints. If it's damp, u know something is wrong. Fix this before you go any further.

4) you can choose to use nsw or salt mix.

4a) nsw - just give our sponsor iwarna a call..

4b) saltmix - try to use di water, and dose the necessary beneficial bacteria.

5) get ur rocks preferably from reliable sources, pests-free.

Get ready to do proper cycling. Give it time, and you'll be rewarded handsomely...

Hth.

[davechee]

I don't mean to be facetious.

I would leave the tank as it is for 2 weeks and resist the urge to do anything.

See if you have the patience or discipline needed for this hobby.

[spyglass]

Thanks for all the input ! Will follow the steps of checking levelling, wipe the tank, check for scratches or other damage, cleaning the tank, run it 24hrs with tap water first (avoid any messiness with saltwater, well said ! ) and then the cycling. As for leaving it for two weeks, dont think i can tahan cos CNY coming up and my tank delivery is expected around 2 weeks before that. Will use some of the rocks and sand from my current small tank and hope it speed up the process a bit. Eager to put up a good show but will not stock up quickly and risk killing my livestock though.

I am setting up a 2 x 1.5 x 1.5ft tank with sump. Anyone has experience with a Tunze DOC 9002 skimmer ? Good enough for this size ? Like the small footprint compared to the much bigger ones like Skimz monster .

[PROX]

I would go with Skimz SM121 if you have sump area. Bigger skimmer cup and more powerful pump.

Tunze 9002 is a better choice for in-tank usage since it has much smaller footprint.