"As for the sand, forgot the name of it, but it's Aragonite Playbox sand. It says "Sterilized, screened, washed and kiln dried." I've got another 50# bag in the car but it's late and I'm tired.."
Sounds like the right kinda stuff. Congrats, we Southern folks are all envious of your ability to get the good stuff so easily =P
"So I don't have to wash this sand then? Just put it in, add the lacerock, then start to add water ??"
Nope, the varied particle size is a good thing. Now, it will take some time to settle, but you can't really do much for that. Patience grasshopper =)
"If the water is cloudy, how long does it take to go away..I assume I should use the charcoal fliter to help get any left over dust out of the system??"
Nope, let it settle on it's own. All that dust is a beneificial thing.
"I'll wait a day or two before I add the salt...wanna make sure everything is kosher.."
Yeap, cuz you don't wanna go dumping 40 gallons worth of salt in until you know everything is gonna work. That junk ain't cheap!
"As for the rocks, the lfs guys said to keep it in this special bag for up to a week...after all the salt has desolved, then you can add it to help speed up the cycling process..."
Err, a bag? Never heard of that before. Yes, the liverock can and will speed up the cycle, but anything bigger than bacteria that is on it right now is gonna be completely fried by the ammonia spike. Liverock, IMHO, should only be added after the cycle is complete OR placed into a new tank in sufficient quantities to instantly "cycle" the tank. Again though, that's not a cheap think to do..
