The Puffer Forum

Hi all.

I'm starting to upgrade my GSP tank. He's in a 22G long (84L), sand, rockwork and SG 1.012. I'm buying a 39.7G (150L) for himself. The issue is: the 22G will be the sump, so I will not have any room for him to wait a SW cycle and after that a drip acclimatization. I was thinking of using the cycled filter I have and setup the new tank with SG 1.012 then increase it up to SW (1.023/1.024).

When SG hits SW, can I change the scene and add the DIY LR that is already curing and some real LR and install the skimmer and after a month or two remove the HOB filter?
I expect to hit SW when my DIY LV is cured, I'm not in a hurry to raise the SG because my GSP is <3" but I pretend to have him in a SW setup to save some money and some marine salt.

Will this work out?


PS: the DIY LR is looking great and it is very porous. It's curing in FW and will be curing for about 2-3 months until the pH is the same as my tap water.

You really arent curing the DIY LR. Just add it to the tank at any Sg. When your full marine add the Real LR to cure/seed the DIY rock. I would do like you said too. Add the new tank and filters and begin piecing the sump together. the sooner the better. As long as you have the return pump and an overflow/stand pipe or just drilled IDK. It wont harm anything to add the sump before marine SG levels just more water volume= better water conditions. As long as you follow the .002 a week rule by the time your full marine and adding the real LR the tank will handle it much better cuz bacteria had been building up prior to full marine levels. By the way which method did you use for making the live rock? Cement mix in the sand to dry? just curious ....Ive never done it but seen some noice rocks come from a DIY vid I seen on youtube...

SammyDee wrote:You really arent curing the DIY LR.

What do you mean by not curing the DIY LR?

Every site and every recipe say they ought to be in FW for several weeks, because fake rock made of cement leechs limestone and other stuff while cement is curing what it gives me a pH ~12 and my tap water reads 6.8. This process of curing the cement rock under FW is mandatory. When you finish this curing in FW, you can safely add the rocks into the tank to be seed by the real live rock.

The recipe I used says to mix 1 part of cement + 2 parts of crushed coral or crushed oyster shells then add some water and then add the rock salt. Mold the rocks in a container with sand, cover the rock with sand, let it dry for 24h. Remove the rocks from sand and let it dry for 24-48h (I let my rocks to dry for 7 days). Then put the rocks in a container with FW and change the water once a day because the rock salt will dissolve. Let the rocks curing in FW with a pump, changing the water every day if you can. When the pH is the same as your tap water, the rocks is cured and safe to be added into the tank. If you want, you can cure the fake rocks with live rock in a container with SW and a good water circulation and good light.

OIC I had a feeling u meant that but, I misunderstood you thinking you thought it was "CURING" as in the bacteria. BC thats a common term, "Curing LR" before adding it to a system.

That's ok!

I want to thank you for the advice I need, and you said there's no trouble raise SG no more than .002/week. Actually I increase the salinity no more than 2g/L what gives us less then .002/week.

So that will be my plan, thanks SammyDee!

Do u have a hydrometer?? You'll need one if not. Its about 10-12$ and its used to measure the amount of salt in your system. Once your able to measure that then you gotta kinda learn for yourself how much salt will be needed to get to your desired specific gravity. For instance. I buy my RO/Di water at the store (20gals) then I take it home and I add 12 cups( only knowing how many cups from doing it soo many times b4) of salt to reach my needed specific gravity of 1.024. Then once its mixed I add it to my tank. Yes do make sure you NEVER raise the salinity/SG by NO more than .002 a week. This allows your bacteria to handle the salinity changes. If say you did .004 more on accident one week the tank could crash. Doing this is a slow agonizing process but its the only way to ensure the health of the tank thru this process. Your puffer wont really be affected if you add too much salt mainly the process of ONLY .002 a week it to protect the biological bacteria.

PS we want to see pics of your DIY rock.

Just make sure when you setup the new tank add the filter from the old tank and other stuff. DO NOT raise the SG any higher than it was before. If you raise more than .002 on the old filter it WILL kill the bacteria alive in there. Thats why u want to do the .002 a week thing till you reach 1.020. Then from there your full SW and can add your LR etc. And it wouldnt hurt to add the sump, return pump, overflow and have it running while going thru the SG changes. It'll infact make it safer so if you accidently raise the SG too much it wont affect the bio bacteria as much bc some will have began growing in your sump. Plus it'll just be one less thing to get hooked up when you hit 1.020. Cuz if your anything like me I was stoked to hit 1.020 after weeks of doing a lil salt at a time. I was just happy to know I wasnt gonna have to deal with all that anymore. Also you could go ahead and add an Aragonite substrate. It'll raise your PH to marine Levels 8.1-8.4. and it'll also be one less thing youll have to swap out in the long run. Basically run the tank like a marine tank( without LR) although itll be BW for a few more weeks.

Yeah, I was a bit confused about your method of "curing" your rock too:
http://www.aboutfishonline.com/articles/live-rock.html

This link should help understand the curing method for home made live rock. They explain everything:

http://www.airinheresreef.com/Aragocrete%20Rock.html