New setting up

[Louis88]

Hi, I would like to ask a few questions ,please advice me what should I do? 

1) What water should I use for new setup tank? Direct tap water mix with salt?  Or some other things? 

2)How long do I need to cycle a tank with dead dry rocks? 

3)I want to keep SPS ,for a newbie is it advisable?  

Thanks again for everyone help ,havent kept marine since the past 10 years

[jonanaz]

Hello! I'm a newbie too I think more senior reefers can advice, but my opinion is:

1. Use RODI water and salt mix cos tap water has impurities that will cause a lot of algae later. I think proper water is the most essential investment.

2. For my nano tank it took about 4 weeks if I'm not wrong, but I think everyone's tank is different. I just checked using nitrate test cos I wanted to save money and because nitrite and ammonia test will be seldom used after cycle (in my humble opinion) but the most accurate way is to test nitrite and ammonia too.
If you're testing nitrates only, there should be quite low nitrates at the start, then you will see a large increase in nitrates (this is your NITRITE spike) then you will see nitrates drop and slowly increase or stabilise to indicate your cycle is close to completion. Adding beneficial bacteria and a source of ammonia will help to speed up the process.

3. I think sps is ok depending on which kind? For me some reefers passed me some sps to try and so far they are not dead but I'm not very sure if they are thriving too I think most importantly they need high light and highly flow generally! I think the easiest sps is probably pavona and monti cap

These are just my experience from my 1 month of reefing and a few months of research I think senior reefers can give better advice than me!

Hope this helps!

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[Pobbi]

1) Rodi preferably

2) 1month? Can consider adding a fish to allow it to cycle faster

3) yes. Definitely. Most importantly is to have strong lighting and also check ur water para. Sps takes up more nutrients.


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[Alypapa]

On 7/30/2020 at 4:44 PM, Louis88 said:

Hi, I would like to ask a few questions ,please advice me what should I do? 

1) What water should I use for new setup tank? Direct tap water mix with salt?  Or some other things? 

2)How long do I need to cycle a tank with dead dry rocks? 

3)I want to keep SPS ,for a newbie is it advisable?  

Thanks again for everyone help ,havent kept marine since the past 10 years

1. Advisable to use rodi for less issues in the future. If tank is not big, u can purchase distil water (Not mineral water) grom ntuc to mix. As for salt mix, I find red sea blue tub value for money.

2. Dead dry rock may take longer to fully cycle - 2 to 3 months. Pls dont cycle with live fish. Drop a pc of prawn or add bottled ammonia and dose bacteria. Check for ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and low nitrate to see if yr tank is cycled.

3. There are some easy SPS - monti, digitata, birdnest, pocci and stylo that a newbie can try. But best to do it when tank is at least 6 months old. U can start with corals that can go with SPS - zoas, cloves, torch, etc and if they grow well and healthy, then jump into the easy Sps. And subsequently acros.