This page shows photos from February 6th, 2004 we added the live sand (LS) and live rock (LR) to our tank and began the cycle.

Here's a freshly opened box containing 46 lbs. of Fiji LR.

Here's the Fiji soaking in fresh salt water in preparation for scubbing to get all the dead detritus off before placing it in the tank.

Here are some pieces of Kaleini (South Pacific rock) soaking in fresh salt water.

Here I am scrubbing the pieces before placing them into the tank. We used a soft bristle bush and gloves (of course!).

Well, after all the LR and LS were added we had quite a sand storm! No aquascaping today!

Now that the LR/LS were in the tank we fired up the pump and began the cycle! Here's a shot of the AquaC EV-180 protein skimmer doing its best to clean up the sand storm. Although not what the skimmer was designed to do, it did help a bit!

Here's shot showing the murcky water in the sump. This want on for the better part of two days before starting to clear up.