This is a testless cycling thread, we don't want ammonia testing here for any job if possible, because we are teaching reefers/readers that moving live rocks system to system does not restart the cycle: many in our community don't understand that rule and feel that any tank being setup simply must be cycled, regardless of the history of the substrates being used
that's not the case. Knowing when a cycle is simply completed allows an aquarist to move to the next level of reefing or tank care, it saves them costly testing regimens and dosers (bottle bac) redundancy that isn't needed in a certain type of reef tank cycle, which are the kinds I will post here as simple work threads where we identified people who didn't know the rule about moving live rocks tank to tank (this includes from a pet store to your home, that's a skip cycle/testless move that does not undo your cycle)
*when reading our examples, look for these repeating clues in the posts:
-peers referring the use of bottle bac when none is needed
-doubts about cycle completion for live rocks that clearly have corals attached, or algae, or various inclusions that by rule only show up after a cycle for basic ammonia control was already in place.
-use of ammonia testing with non-seneye kits causing much doubt and hesitation in the example threads.
-inability to discern cycle status without testing
-look for times we used simple pictures or stated history of the rocks in question to completely change the direction of a given thread included here (from a doubt status to a for-sure ready status, using no testing)
running examples that will make up the work we analyze here:

cycling with live rock and live sand
Hi everyone, Its been a while since i started a tank w/ live rock and live sand. I set up a waterbox cube 20, and added live rock and live sand to it. This stuff has been in the LFS tank for years. Do I still need to cycle this tank by adding bacteria and ammonia as one would do with dry rock...


Day 8 of 32 gallon cycle. New creatures!
Evening. Day 8 of cycling my 32 gal Fluval Flex. very excited about some emerging life. No fish/cleanup crew yet but STUFF IS HAPPENING Looks like 1) mushroom 2) bristleworm 3) no idea 4) no idea 5) (Setup) Any guesses on the last two? Thx

this thread is solely to log predictions and outcomes in soon to be several skip cycle reefs.
Macna conventions/all reef tank conventions use this method to align hundreds of reefs on time, for decades. Sellers at reef conventions know how to skip cycle without testing, the buyers mostly do not you can see in our working examples.
What skip cycle cured rock looks like at my pet store-
this is how my lfs sells skip cycle live rock, and you can tell by its uneven pigmentation and associated fanworms and snails and pods crawling over it and real ridged coralline that it’s cured live rock:
everyone’s rocks in this thread look just like these
here below is an example of common (and incorrect) cycle training common in internet forums

When to add fritz zyme 9
I just picked up a 14 gallon tank and got 15lbs of cured live rock. I got a bottle of fritz zyme 9 to get the tank going but I can’t find any information on when to add it. Do I let the live rock start the cycle then add the fritz? Or can I add the fritz immediately? thanks
www.nano-reef.com
old cycling science is designed to sell you bottle bac at every whim, twist and turn in reefing. Our thread is a study in the polar opposite. 100% of every example here is a no bottle bac skip cycle, no wait transfer.
The pattern we will see in the linked examples shows by and large the reefing public does not know about skip cycling, we aim to show them all about it.
Our friend Romadov was able to skip his cycle by bringing in cured liferocks that had the telltale attachments

My snail survived from 2 weeks cycle new tank. Can i add livestock?
Hey all, i just started reef tank 2 weeks ago and still cycling untill now, im using live sand from caribsea and liferock from LFS, and suddenly 1 snail appears in my tank in 1st day cycling, im pretry sure it came from the live rock, im worried it wouldnt survived but i have no choice to put it...

here’s a skip cycle

Did i mess up new tanks cycle?
So, my tanks been running for 3 weeks now. First week I had it set up with 40lbs of dry sand and 26lbs of live rock bought from local shop they have marinating in tubs. Now after maybe 10 days I thought I had read if you use live rock you can skip cycle and so for the last about 11 days I've...

A surprise popup skip cycle post where at week six cycle umps were in doubt of readiness:

Modified API Test Results
Hello, After seeing a post about Dan_P’s modified API ammonia test. I decided to give it a try since I’ve been getting the .25 Ammonia reading on API for a month now (my tank is six weeks old and has 0 nitrites and 10-20 Nitrates). I’ve tried the Seachem Ammonia test to compare and the results...

And another
The umpires were good here calling this one done but the initial assessments hadn’t caught the skip cycle clues until we did

Nitrite stuck on 1.0, help?
Hello, I have been cycling a 60 liters tank for about 5 weeks now, but my nitrite is stuck on 1.0 for about 1,5 weeks now. My ammonia is consistently 0 for about 2-3 weeks allready & my nitrite used to be higher (2.0 to 3.0) I used pre cycled wet rock from a running tank at the LFS. I allready...

***Any reader can help us here tremendously by scouring the web and looking for examples where a skip cycle attempt, using cured live rock from a tank, did not work and the animals died***
the reason we want to see those examples is to show failures of this method, if there are any. I have never seen one time it did not work in 23 years of online reefing, same name avatar across all reef sites.
I have never seen a failed skip cycle attempt, ever. Ive never even seen a failed bottle bac cycle, and those really can be risky.
Isn't it amazing that cycle training books/manuals/articles didn't tell us that cycles really don't fail? In fact it's the opposite: we've all been warned repeatedly that incorrect cycling has consequences, but I'm not seeing any. Post what you can find. I've asked the top chemists on this site to help me find an example, radio silence is what I've got so far. Skip to post #569 for the fun part.
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