Vis Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Well I'm finally at the stage of setting up my tank. Two Advils and a glass of wine later and my aquascaping is complete.I started filling the tank and put in 5 gallons of RO/DI water and then the sand started making lots of foam? What's up? I cleaned my sand thoroughly and let it dry in the sun for about 3 weeks. Not sure how to proceed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Just fill it with salt water and turn on your protein skimmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Just fill it with salt water and turn on your protein skimmer I don't have a skimmer yet.I was going to cycle the tank for a few weeks while I am away and then add the protein skimmer later.I was also going to add the salt into sump to mix it. Still not sure why the sand is foaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRENT Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Foam is ok it will settle down. As for salt I would mix it first then put it in the tank. Getting the sailinity right in the tank is going to be a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 A skimmer would pull whatever's making it foam out, so I'd suggest getting one... soon. Are you using live rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 A skimmer would pull whatever's making it foam out' date=' so I'd suggest getting one... soon. Are you using live rock?[/quote'] 1+ on the skimmer.... and if you are using live rock you can be killing off anything that is living by filling the tank with Ro/di and then adding the salt... Some of the living things wont survive just plain water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm not using live rock. The rock I got was covered with hair algae so I cleaned it and baked it in the sun. I was going to add some live sand to reseed my now dead sand as I baked that in the sun too. I didn't think I would need a skimmer until I addax livestock. Should I syphon off the foamy water and hold off till tomorrow when I can get a skimmer or mis the salt and add all the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I would mix salt water, fill the system, and get everything running. You'll probably want to skimmer for a week or two before you add anything, but the sooner the better. The benefit of having a skimmer when you first get the system running is that it gets broken in before things are depending on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arredondojason Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 if your rock was covered in hair algae before i would suggest running rowaphos or some sort of PO4 remover from the beging just to prevent anything from starting up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vis Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Thanks for all the advice. The foam disappeared as I added more water. Tank is clear and looking good. Now to find a protein skimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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