# New here...intro & live rock question



## 64509chvl (Nov 9, 2012)

Hey new guy here & new to salt! I'm buying a used 90 gal tomorrow (established tank) but gonna sell the fish (FOWLR) & start fresh when I get it home. It is a reef ready tank with a sump & a power head large enough for the setup (1050 gph I believe). I'm starting fresh cause I want med. grain sand instead of the coral he has. & just to make it my own. My question is...with the live rock (100 lbs), do I need to worry about keepin it submerged until I refill the tank so I don't kill it? Or does it matter if it dries out since I'm starting over anyways? No skimmer, he never had one...it's in my plans but not just yet!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Keep it covered with salt water and a powerhead to circulate the water. A lot of your benefical bacteria is there also live critters that hide in the rock.


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## 64509chvl (Nov 9, 2012)

That's cool thanks! I was more speaking of the drive back to my house though...So a power head won't be necessary . I wasn't sure if I should worry about the critters since I need to start fresh with a new cycle & all, but I suppose the whole live rock & critter thing will help the new cycle along! Am I on the right track, lol!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Sounds like it to me.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

yea, keep at least submerged. if its out longer than about an hour, you'll want the powerhead. You can have it out for a minute or 5 but not much longer. You should wait about 8 weeks before adding fish in there. If the person had an ich problem at all before you bought it, it'll still be in there when you put fish in. So give it about that long to let it run its life cycle through. Also, make sure you have a quarantine take to set up for the fish now, so you dont have to deal with diseases later. Be sure to give it a couple weeks after changing the sand to make sure it gets re-established also.


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## 64509chvl (Nov 9, 2012)

Right on...thanks for the info! Previous owner def had no issues, all was well...he had his ghost ribbon eel for 10 years & 3 other fish for about 8. Anyhow it's all set up now with new sand & the previous 100 pounds of live rock...I ditched the bio ball sump & bought a new bigger sump with a new pump...got a big enough sump that I can add a skimmer when the time comes. 

One more question...this is a reef ready corner with curved face tank (overflow design). How can I quiet it down, it's fairly noisy (waterfall sound)? Any tips on that?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Using a Durso Style pipe you can quiet down the overflow. 
Make Your Own Durso Standpipe


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## 64509chvl (Nov 9, 2012)

Cool thanks for the info! Last week I just rebuilt the system how I really wanted to...so glad I did & much quiter now!


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