switching from crushed coral to live sand/live rock, please help ASAP...

[vegas mma]

ok so when i went to the store, they had the sand that niko pointed out to me, but it was in a 40lb bag and i really only needed 20lbs. so i got the same thing but in the "live" version. it was $20 cheaper and was the right amount. i bought 6 hermit crabs. also i was talking to the guy there and he told me they have fully cured live rock that i can put in my tank. he said since my tank is still cycling i can just throw it in, but to keep an eye on my water for the first week. he told me to test it every other day for the first week, just to be safe.

also there is a LFS across the street from me i had never seen. my friend told me they have ro water for free. so i went over there and the guy told me they keep 600 gallons of ro on stock and can make over 600 gallons a day. he told me if i ever need water to just go in and get it myself. really cool guy...
so right now i have my 3 damsels, 6 crabs, 4lbs of live rock and 20 lbs of live sand.
the damsels look pretty pissed, but they will get used to it.
i'm gonna be buying more live rock soon, but i'm thinking i'll just go with 10-15lbs. since i'm not using it for filtration, i'm using it as decoration. the filtration is an added bonus.


oh i'm gonna search for this, but what do i feed hermit crabs? i totally forgot to ask the guy at the store. right now they are picking all kinds of stuff off the live sand and rock, but do i need to feed them?

thanks again to everyone.
-michael

 

[Reefscape]

as its a fish only, there are no issues with your live rock ammount, it will be fine.

Wow, free RO water...aint that dang lucky...take advantage

You are best to have "fully cured" live rock as there is going to be the very least die-off from it and, hoefully, less ammonia for the fish to go through..Keep checking the water params as you were told and you will start to see the cycle get running..

Hermits will feed of the rock, sand, detrius and food waste...

Glad to see things starting to come together on this one Michael...

Niko

 

[vegas mma]

thanks a lot niko, today i might go back to the store and get some more ro water. i have a few gallon jugs laying around that would be perfect for top offs.

 

[jojo22]

You could always stick the LR in a rubbermade if you are not SURE that it is cured!!

 

[Catpicklesdog]

I'd also still check the LFS R/O water for things like nitrAtes, phosphates etc. An LFS i USED to use- their R/O had nitrAtes in it!