15 Steps to Starting a Saltwater Aquarium: The Lasse Method

Hemmdog · Feb 28, 2019

PerplexyHexy said:
For the most part... ive followed everything he has said to do for my 300 gallon frag system... im just now dosing kno3... I also already had 300 lbs of liverock thats been in water for over 6 months so thats where I relied heavily on my nitrifying bacteria production instead of additives... Have 6 fish total, 3 in each tank... and added snails last week for algae... everything is looking good... po4 lingering around .03-.07 but 0 no3... Added some corals this week and they look great and are already coloring up with the halides... thinking its gonna rake off here soon

Nice man!! Glad it’s working for you too!

PerplexyHexy · Feb 28, 2019

Hemmdog said:
Nice man!! Glad it’s working for you too!

Thanks bud... yeah... im pretty excited... just wish i had alot of cash to buy a bunch of corals to fill both tanks... hahahaha

Hemmdog · Feb 28, 2019

PerplexyHexy said:
Thanks bud... yeah... im pretty excited... just wish i had alot of cash to buy a bunch of corals to fill both tanks... hahahaha

Same here brother... same here.

Bouncingsoul39 · Feb 28, 2019

hotdrop said:
Since the article published has anyone replicated the suggested method? What where the results? Were you happy with the outcome? I would like to use this method to start up my soft coral waterbox 45.2 setup and wanted to incorporate any additional lessons learned.

I am currently trying out the Lasse method on my 60 gallon sumpless reef. Trying to follow the steps as closely as possible. Currently on week 3 and things are progressing well. As of a couple days ago, got a significant layer of green film on the glass and brown on the sand. Stirred the sand as instructed and scraped the glass. I had a large and diverse CUC there before the blooms but they have barely put a dent in it. The main differences between Lasse's method and my own SOP, are the dosing of nitrate and having the CUC in place before the algae cycle starts. I usually add them once it's in full swing. Also, the extremely limited feeding. I'm hoping to avoid a cyano outbreak. There are a couple of small patches of Cyano that have popped up but it hasn't seemed to have taken hold yet.

Lasse · Feb 28, 2019

Bouncingsoul39 said:
I am currently trying out the Lasse method on my 60 gallon sumpless reef. Trying to follow the steps as closely as possible. Currently on week 3 and things are progressing well. As of a couple days ago, got a significant layer of green film on the glass and brown on the sand. Stirred the sand as instructed and scraped the glass. I had a large and diverse CUC there before the blooms but they have barely put a dent in it. The main differences between Lasse's method and my own SOP, are the dosing of nitrate and having the CUC in place before the algae cycle starts. I usually add them once it's in full swing. Also, the extremely limited feeding. I'm hoping to avoid a cyano outbreak. There are a couple of small patches of Cyano that have popped up but it hasn't seemed to have taken hold yet.

Do not shut of your own brain - sometimes the method need a litle of adaption to the current tank - I´m sure it will work out well.

Sincerely Lasse

PerplexyHexy · Feb 28, 2019

Been dosing 15ml of kno3 2 times for a day now... morning and night, and finally got no3 reading... its at .2 YAY!!!!

Bouncingsoul39 · Mar 1, 2019

Lasse said:
Do not shut of your own brain - sometimes the method need a litle of adaption to the current tank - I´m sure it will work out well.

Sincerely Lasse

You’d be surprised at the amount of time, money and effort I put into shutting off my brain. It’s for the best really.

James Tucker · Mar 17, 2019

Great write up.

Looking back 20 years, I can say that doing something close to this startup method had the best results for me. All others were a bit of a struggle.

My problem lately is that getting decent live rock specimens from the LFS in Tampa Bay feels like a loosing battle, so I feel I have no choice but to use the BRS method.

Bouncingsoul39 · Mar 18, 2019

James Tucker said:
Great write up.

Looking back 20 years, I can say that doing something close to this startup method had the best results for me. All others were a bit of a struggle.

My problem lately is that getting decent live rock specimens from the LFS in Tampa Bay feels like a loosing battle, so I feel I have no choice but to use the BRS method.

If it isn’t cost prohibitive for you, a few pieces of real ocean love rock can be shipped from Tampa Live Rock. Probably can ship it ground since your close there. You can seed the tank with 10-15 lbs of real stuff and mix it with the dry dead rock. Besides Tampa, there’s also KP aquatics. Both good companies with legit live rock.

MnFish1 · Mar 18, 2019

hotdrop said:
Since the article published has anyone replicated the suggested method? What where the results? Were you happy with the outcome? I would like to use this method to start up my soft coral waterbox 45.2 setup and wanted to incorporate any additional lessons learned.

I have used a similar method. never have 'cycled' a tank with ammonia for weeks, etc etc - just slowly add fish - and feed them sparingly. I usually also add bacteria'

User1 · Mar 18, 2019

James Tucker said:
Great write up.

Looking back 20 years, I can say that doing something close to this startup method had the best results for me. All others were a bit of a struggle.

My problem lately is that getting decent live rock specimens from the LFS in Tampa Bay feels like a loosing battle, so I feel I have no choice but to use the BRS method.

You are looking in the wrong place. If you are in Tampa (assuming Florida) then you need to head over to Tampa Bay Saltwater and buy the real stuff. Local = cheaper, no air fair, and of course the real deal.

James Tucker · Mar 18, 2019

I didn’t know about Tampa Live Rock. I’m going to setup a small tank and buy some rock from them and see what happens. Thanks guys!

Gaspipe · Mar 19, 2019

I believe this quote answers my question but just want to clarify. If my intentions are to have a small amount of fish, softies and LPS coral for lets say the first 12-18 months and then later on introduce SPS, clams or other exotic marine life this process would still be effective. BTW great write up and thank you!

Lasse said:
This method is mostly for the first 2 - 5 months - after that you can start to change your setup the way it serves your intentions.

Lasse · Mar 19, 2019

Gaspipe said:
I believe this quote answers my question but just want to clarify. If my intentions are to have a small amount of fish, softies and LPS coral for lets say the first 12-18 months and then later on introduce SPS, clams or other exotic marine life this process would still be effective. BTW great write up and thank you!

Yes and thank you too

Sincerely Lasse

OllieNZ · Mar 25, 2019

@Lasse
A couple of questions regarding your method,
Can I run my ATS from day one? (it's an airdiven upflow type and will contribute to aeration)
You suggest 3 fish in a large tank, how large is large? For example would 2 juvenile clowns be acceptable for 150L?

Lasse · Mar 25, 2019

Because I want some N and PO4 in the water in the start - I normally do not use any export methods during the first 3 weeks more than the skimmer - but it is more or less a gas exchanger during the firsts months. I have start this way without a skimmer too.

Because of the very small amount of food the first weeks - it is IMO important that the fish you use should be weel feeded and in a good condition. If your small clowns fit into that description - you can probably use two but the feed should not be rised to much. in my 300 litre - I use one 5 - 6 cm clown - but it is not the amount of fish that is important - it is the amount of food you put in.

The most important with my article is the way of thinking - there can be variation in the steps because of differences in aquarium set up - but I have describe it as steps but forgott to mentioned the most important one - use your own brain

Sincerely Lasse

OllieNZ · Mar 26, 2019

Thanks for the clarifications @Lasse .

David Zencak · Apr 15, 2019

Great article! Would that work if I start the tank with easy, maybe soft photosynthetic corals instead of fish? Or any alternative for nano tank without fish?

Lasse · Apr 15, 2019

Nope - because you need an ammonia producer. Photosynthetic corals is normal ammonia consumers. Maybe if you start with hermits and/or other animals that's are producer of ammonia. In theory it can work with nonphotosynthetic corals but it is easier to feed hermits with a very low rate than NPS corals.

Sincerely Lasse

David Zencak · Apr 15, 2019

Lasse said:
Nope - because you need an ammonia producer. Photosynthetic corals is normal ammonia consumers. Maybe if you start with hermits and/or other animals that's are producer of ammonia. In theory it can work with nonphotosynthetic corals but it is easier to feed hermits with a very low rate than NPS corals.

Sincerely Lasse

I got it, thank you!