New Dutch Aquarium System Tank (D.A.S)

gbolton

gbolton

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Oct 29, 2003
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I just came into ownership of a 45 gallon DAS tank. I placed the sand and lace rock into the tank and then filed with salt water. I have started the cycle with the cocktail shrimp per another thread.

My question is though the skimmer that is built into the system does not appear to be working. The system appears to be just an air diffusion block at the bottom of a chamber with a cup at the top. There does not appear to be any Foam created at the top of the chamber. Will the foam being to create later? Any ideas welcome.

This is my first salt water tank so any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong at this point are welcome too. I do not plan to add the live sand and live rock until the cycle is complete let me know if this is ok.

Thanks
Greg
 
you won't get any foam until you have waste, or at least mine did not. There is no need to use a skimmer when cycling. I used mine during cycle to decide where I wanted it, and how to set it up to get the best results.

Is your live rock cured? Everything is going to die off if it is not your tank. I would put it in my tank now, the die off of the live rock will speed up the cycle.
 
I have not purchased any live rock yet. The only rock I have was once live from the previous owner. I figured it would be best to wat until after the cycle to purchase and add the live rock. Is this wrong?
 
addition of live rock

As stated the difference is whether or not the rock is cured. Our LFS sells fully cured live rock which we add to our established tanks. However, most on-line suppliers send "partially" cured or uncured live rock. Both must be fully cured before adding to a cycled tank. Uncured live rock is great for cycling a tank however.
 
Ok,

I checked with my local fish store, and they sell fully cured rock.

If I understand correctly at this point I should not add fully cured rock during my cycle as this would kill of any benefits of having the live rock. Do I have this right?

Also once the tank is cycled and I do add the live rock and live sand what also should be added at the same time. I am assuming some invertebrate or fish must be added to provide ammonia for the bacteria that the decaying shrimp are currently providing.

Thanks
Greg
 
Adding fully cured rock would be a bit of a waste as the ammonia kicking around will kill some of the attached life.
However rather than curing wit shrimp I'd have used uncured rock. Dieoff from attached stuff damaged in transit will provide ammonia, and the rock (obviously) comes with a full set of filter bacteria, so you don't have to wait around for them to turn up randomly.
If you are smart about it, and take a tank and put in a lot of cured rock right at the start that's it, you've got your cycle done - it came with the rock
 
Yes the tank did come with rock, but I thought it was pretty much dead rock at this point. The tank had been taken down while the owner moved and after the move she decided not to set it back up. While the rock never did dry out and was kept submerged in Salt Water it was just sitting in bucket of saltwater for the better part of 2 months. So was I wrong in assuming that the rock was dead at this point?

I figured if it was dead it would be best to cycle with the shrimp then add the live rock and sand to minimize killing any of the life.

hmmmm, I get more confused as I go through each of these threads
 
I would continue with what you have going right now. There may still be a bit of bacteria on the rock you have but there will not be a significant amount. If anything it will speed the process a bit. Continue to cycle with the shrimp then add your live rock. By the time your tank is cycled the sand you already have will have an established bacteria layer so I wouldn't bother buying any LS. Save your money for the LR. And since the LR you will buy is fully cured you can begin the addition of fish and possibly some hardy inverts like snails right away.

Don't forget to get some powerheads if you don't already have them. this helps create a benificial current in the tank.
 
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