Live Sand Question

Susan Edwards · Dec 15, 2016

Okay, after all the discussion, here it is. Filled. Sand is a bit deeper than I wanted. Between 2-3 inches. Was aiming for 2ish but didn't want to waste hte rest of the bag. Should I take some out or is it allright. I do want some gobies and other sand sifters but don't want poisonous gasses... Skimmer is off as I added instant ocean's bio spira and that was their instructions.

Susan Edwards · Dec 15, 2016

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Idoc · Dec 15, 2016

Susan Edwards said:
Rory, the majority, the whitish stuff is Marco's Rock, the one shelf is Tonga from BRS, and the piece in the back, and on top center on right is pukani. I have more shelves but in this final layout, they didn't fit so I'll hang on to them. Very happy with the selections sent

Susan...From most of what I have read thru research on the forums is that most dry rock can cure at the same time as the cycle like #redfishbluefish states above. But, that piece of Pukani may cause you some trouble. You may want to pull that one out...unless its at the bottom of the pile, lol...and cure it by itself and then add later after all the "dead stuff" is cleaned off...then your cycled rock can cycle the Pukani piece you add later. I just purchased a bunch of Pukani from BRS for my tank. It is dead, but it is so dirty internally! I've had mine curing for the past 2 weeks in freshwater (I know that is debatable...but I'm not trying to cycle it yet for saltwater friendly bacteria, just clean it up...I'll cycle later in my tank in saltwater). Even though the stuff is dead on the outside and INSIDE the Pukani pores, it is still a lot of organic matter in there that needs to come out and probably before your cycle! I had to do total freshwater changes every day for several days...the ammonia, etc... were through the roof in that small amount of time! Plus, my phosphates were also through the roof...that would have made a mess if I cured/cycled in my display tank with probably a crazy algae outbreak. I'm curing now with a bag of Phosguard in the bin and I've had to change it several times when I see the phosphate levels starting to rise again! I'm almost 3 weeks into curing the Pukani and I think its going to take quite a while longer...my plan is now for after Christmas before trying to cycle the tank!

But, good luck...I like the look of your tank and aquascaping idea!

Susan Edwards · Dec 16, 2016

Thanks Idoc! At this point its just too hard to remove so I'll just let it cure/cycle and it'll take whatever time it takes. If I'd known about those two pieces, and prob. the tonga shelf beforehand....

glb · Dec 17, 2016

The Marcos rocks come from quarries and then they are cleaned, so they're not supposed to have dead organic matter. I'm getting ready to set up my 40g with them. Good luck!