1. SG should be around 1.025-1.026. You do not need to add antyhing to make it "hard". You are using IO, wich is known to be low on calcium, which wont matter now, but when you start going to coral or inverts, you will need to up the calcium, and as well more than likely the alkalinity, as IO is low on that as well. I suggest getting b-ionic and learning how to keep alk and calc in check (which relates to pH). Use this article to learn more:http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
2. The more LR the better. You cant have too much. LR is a biological filter. It is where most of your "living" organisms will reside, all of which will help with keeping parameters in check, break down ammonia and nitrites to nitrates, and provide food for many inhabitants. You can add fish, once you have gone through a cycle-ammonia elevates, goes to zero, nitrites elevate go to zero, and nitrate elevate, and go down to very low levels. Time is nonsense here, chemistry is everything. SOme tanks take a week, some 3, some 2 months. The longer you wait for it to stabilize the better.
3. DO NOT add a starfish for a year. At least. They require a huge amount of LR, VERY stable water parameters, and a tank that has enough food on the LR to graze on, which will ONLY come with time. They DO NOT eat algae or detrius. They live on encrusting sponges, some forms of algae that take a while to grow, and other things that we still dont understand. A star will starve to death in a new tank. I am speaking of linkia (like the orange or blue)
The exception is a brittle star, or to a lesser degree some serpent stars. They eat almost anything. But I would still wait on those for about 6 months.
4. I use Crushed coral. Hereis what I just wrote in another thread:The CC bed is not a problem. CC is fine, and the fallacy people perpetuate about it being difficult to care for is nonsense. All I ever had has been cc, as many of the people I know.
Evry few years, people say some bottom is better...deep sand beds were the end all be all a few years back, now they have fallen out of favor. Then shallow sand beds. Lately bare bottom is the way to go, but now people are discovering that they are finding the tank becomes too "clinical" to support any pods or other needed substrate creatures.
I have yet heard of anyone having a problem with cc. I suggest that because of its composition, it allows 1. pods and other substrate creatures to thrive unbothered by fish and inverts. 2. Because it is "porous" it does not create "dead zones" that when leached (like a dsb) creates a poisonous slurry in the water column. 3. It is easy to clean if need be with a vacuum, but I have noticed since I stopped vacuuming a year ago or so, i have thriving life in the form of pods, small brittle starfish, bristle worms, feather dusters (though they have been getting picked off by something lately) and so many other forms of life, that it does not have that "dead zone" look of say a dsb.
I will stick with cc for now on. It seems to work the best for a captive life cube.
5. One more thing I will add, is mixing up change out water. This was my biggest problem when I started, and was helped by Guy here that I was doing it wrong. I now hear all of the time from my LFS friend of mine, that people are having troubles with tanks that can be traced to improperly mixing water. Here is a step by step how to mix water in general:
Easiest way to get your alk steady is by also doing proper water changes....You will need:
-1 cheap powerhead...like a rio 800 or a smaller maxi jet
-1 cheap heater around 100-150 watt
-1 cheap air pump and stone (somewhat optional)
-1
refractometer if you can...(hydrometers should be outlawed)
-5 gal or more bucket for the mixing), another bucket at 5 gal to make it easier to dump in the tank or you can use powerhead.
-salt mix
-good source water-no tap water unless its been tested
-a notepad to track all of your tests
1. fill bucket of any size about half with the water, then add appropriate salt for that amount ( i fill my 5 gal about 3gal worth, then with the instant ocean, I add 1.5 cups of salt) while stirring very well. (Salinity at the rate IO gives you will be around 1.022, thats too low, but more later about that)
Only add the salt to the water, never add water to the salt.
2. Finish adding your water to the bucket, then add appropriate salt again while mixing. At the rate IO gives you (1/2 cup per gallon) your salinity wil be around 1.022. This is when I add about 1/2 cup more to the water in addition to what I've added, and in a 5 gal scenario, it comes out to 1.025, which is about where you want to be.
3. Add powerhead to circulate and airstone to oxygenate (airstone is optional, i like it though)
4. cover and let circulate for around 24 hrs. A couple hours before you will use the replacement water, add the heater. Test salinity after water gets to targeted temperature, which for most is around 80. But acceptable range is around 77-82 give or take, varying opinions from many people.
5. Test salinity. If this is good, I suggest testing this water for ph and alkalinity and calcium and magnesium. This way you know the shortcomings of the mix. DO NOT ADD ANYHING TO THE REPLACEMENT WATER TO ADJUST except salt. It may cause a preciptaion event, which i learned the hard way one day If salinity is too high or too low, either add a little more salt or just unsalted water to adjust. If you must do this, let sit for a little while longer and circulate. Test salinity again.
6. Ready for the change? What I do, is I dump half of the 5gal into another 5 gal bucket, just to make it easier to handle the weight while pouring in. So that's why I have 2. And if you ave purchased a 10 gal mixing bucket or bigger, you could siphon out the water into the 5 gal bucket. You could also use the powerhead (thanks knowse) to pump the water into your tank instead of dumping it in.
7. Drain appropriate amount of water from your tank. Replace with new water.
8. Wait a few hours or so, then test your tank water. Given what you may know is lacking in your replacement water, plus the test on your tank water after replacement, this will give you a good idea what is needed.
Now you can add your b-ionic alk and calcium if needed and any other additives to the tank. Best to wait though to add anythig about 24 hrs and test then. But always test tank water before you add anything, and anything you add, do it slowly. Better to adjust over time than to try and quick fix things.
. my cycle took about 60 days to run through and stabalize.
