First timer, so take it easy. I'm trying to go slow, but I'm always open for questions, comments, advice and encouragement!
Chose the AP12 since it comes stock with 4.5 watts per gallon and it was cheap. Got it home and set up.
Bought RO water (at the grocery store), salt, sand, rock, and other misc equipment. I put in 3 gallons of saltwater and roughly half of the 20 pound bag of sand. Then I placed all of the rock that I bought in (19.5 pounds) and then filled it the rest of the way with saltwater. Replaced the pump with MJ900. Turned on the pump.
Waited for it to settle and clear a bit. Once it settled enough that I could halfway see what was going on in there, I rearranged the rock to how it is now.
Now it's been about 2 days and it's cleared out.
That's where I'm at. I haven't tested water but I've got a hydrometer/thermometer inside the tank for now and it says I'm between 1.024 and 1.025 and somewhere between 79 and 82 degrees (I'll upgrade to digital before too long). I'll probably check the water in a week or two and then again a couple weeks after that. So now it's the waiting game... I'm hoping to start adding livestock before the kids go back to school in the middle of August?
Thoughts on anything so far? My only thought is that it might be slightly too much rock? There is still enough room for swimming ( i believe) and there is a ton of surface area to cover with various things. With all the displacement from the rock and sand I bet there is less than 9-10 gallons of water so I'm probably sitting on 2+ pounds per gallon of rock PLUS probably 1 pound per gallon of sand! If it's not aesthetically displeasing and there is still room for swimming, can you have TOO MUCH rock/sand??
I also cut the vinyl backing off of the second chamber and want to do a refugium back there after the cycle is through, so if I decide to take some rock out and re-rearrange the rock, I can bust up some of it for rubble in the back.
Another thing I'm wondering is about this Hydorflow thing I added. The waves are pretty nice but I'm not convinced that it's flowing well enough that I'm getting enough movement everywhere, especially on the far left side and in the corner directly beneath it. The rock is stacked pretty high on that left side so it's blocking alot of flow and the way the Hydor is shaped it doesn't really seem to move much water in that back corner by the filter inlets. ANd I have NO idea how to get any kind of flow in the corner directly beneath the outlet?
Just wanted to share and get a little feedback.
Joe