Hello everyone!
I am currently starting to cycle my 75 Gallon saltwater reef tank. My 10 year old, 29 gallon freshwater tank started to leak right before the Holidays, and I had been thinking about switching to a saltwater tank for a while now anyway, so I used that as an excuse to go to the salt side. I donated my remaining 3 freshwater fish to a local fish store, and I bought a 75 gallon tank on Facebook marketplace.
I sanded and painted the Wood grain trim a matte black, as well as the stand. I sprayed all the glass with vinegar a bunch of times and scraped it all down with a razor blade. I bought an RO filter, then used some cleaned 5 gallon kegs I had left over from home brewing beer to start making some pure saltwater. I rinsed the sand that came with the tank with RO salt water, then added 40 lbs of coral base rock and a few shells that came with the tank and some cleaned (sprayed with vinegar and scrubbed, then left in the sun to dry) ceramic skulls and a treasure chest from my freshwater tank. I also added 3 small pieces of imaginarium red lava rock I bought from Petco (Also sprayed and soaked with vinegar, then rinsed before adding to the tank).
I then filled the tank with 1.026 salinity RO water, and have a Rena Filstar xp 2 sump filter, as well as a Penguin 350 double bio wheel filter going. I also ordered a protein skimmer but I haven’t added that to the tank yet. I added 2 100 watt heaters to get the water temp up to 78°, and just added a purple live rock tonight to kick start the Nitrogen cycle.
As I wait for the tank to cycle, do you see anything wrong with what I’ve done so far? If I did do something wrong will it even matter since I haven’t added any fish/coral to the tank yet? How long should I wait before I starting adding things to the tank (I.e. clown fish and sea anemone)?
I haven’t chosen exactly what fish I am going to add to the tank yet, but I have been thing of starting out with a clown fish and sea anemone along with some corals after that. I’d like to eventually build up to adding a snowflake eel, puffer fish, tang, and wrasse along with a bunch of different corals.
The picture of the tank isn’t totally clear yet from the sand and rocks being moved around, but it is up to temperature and at 1.026 salinity. This is what it looks like now:
I am currently starting to cycle my 75 Gallon saltwater reef tank. My 10 year old, 29 gallon freshwater tank started to leak right before the Holidays, and I had been thinking about switching to a saltwater tank for a while now anyway, so I used that as an excuse to go to the salt side. I donated my remaining 3 freshwater fish to a local fish store, and I bought a 75 gallon tank on Facebook marketplace.
I sanded and painted the Wood grain trim a matte black, as well as the stand. I sprayed all the glass with vinegar a bunch of times and scraped it all down with a razor blade. I bought an RO filter, then used some cleaned 5 gallon kegs I had left over from home brewing beer to start making some pure saltwater. I rinsed the sand that came with the tank with RO salt water, then added 40 lbs of coral base rock and a few shells that came with the tank and some cleaned (sprayed with vinegar and scrubbed, then left in the sun to dry) ceramic skulls and a treasure chest from my freshwater tank. I also added 3 small pieces of imaginarium red lava rock I bought from Petco (Also sprayed and soaked with vinegar, then rinsed before adding to the tank).
I then filled the tank with 1.026 salinity RO water, and have a Rena Filstar xp 2 sump filter, as well as a Penguin 350 double bio wheel filter going. I also ordered a protein skimmer but I haven’t added that to the tank yet. I added 2 100 watt heaters to get the water temp up to 78°, and just added a purple live rock tonight to kick start the Nitrogen cycle.
As I wait for the tank to cycle, do you see anything wrong with what I’ve done so far? If I did do something wrong will it even matter since I haven’t added any fish/coral to the tank yet? How long should I wait before I starting adding things to the tank (I.e. clown fish and sea anemone)?
I haven’t chosen exactly what fish I am going to add to the tank yet, but I have been thing of starting out with a clown fish and sea anemone along with some corals after that. I’d like to eventually build up to adding a snowflake eel, puffer fish, tang, and wrasse along with a bunch of different corals.
The picture of the tank isn’t totally clear yet from the sand and rocks being moved around, but it is up to temperature and at 1.026 salinity. This is what it looks like now:
