Cleanup crew and a cycling tank

[Bigevill1]

I just stripped down my tank and pretty much steralized it for the first time in 9 years. I dont remember much about going thru a cycle other than how it makes you bite your finger nails and pull out your hair in boredom. My one questions is this: Will snails, crabs, pods, and macro algea live thru the cycle? I have a full blown bacteria and phyto bloom in the tank right now as the stuff devours the dead crap that was left on three of the rocks I kept from the old setup on purpose to start the cycle. I couldnt run my skimmer right now if I tried because it over flows like mad even on its lowest setting. My ammonia was at .5 ppm last night. I havent bothered testing nitrite yet as the pumps have only been running for a few days.

thanks for the input.

Mike

 

[Wy Renegade]

Hey Mike, not as likely if you do the full blown, major spike cycle, but here is an excellent write-up on soft-cycling written by a friend of mine.

Originally Posted by spanko

SOFT CYCLE
Now let’s talk a little about uncured rock. Rock taken right from the ocean, whether from an established reef or from an area that has had dry rock dropped into it with the goal of establishing it as live rock. This uncured rock comes to the retailer fresh from the ocean and is then shipped to local fish stores or in some cases direct to the aquarist with all of the life and the subsequent death on it. Some fish stores may turn it into cured rock hoping to get the higher price that cured rock demands. Or they may sell it as uncured rock. Some aquarists may put it directly into their aquarium to “cycle with” or they may cure it outside of the tank so that they can use it later. Some may cure or use it to cycle their tanks as noted above in a hard cycle where no consideration is given to how high the ammonia and nitrites get. This hard cycle kills off some if not most of the life on the rock they paid a premium to get. Remember it is less costly than cured live rock, however it is more expensive than dry rock that can be used in our tanks and just seeded with a pc. or two of live rock.
Soft cycling is a method by which the attempt is to retain as much life as possible on the nice live rock you paid a premium for. It starts the same as a hard cycle, get a glass box, add some substrate if desired, add the live rock and the saltwater. Here is where things change though. During a soft cycle the aquarist is advised to run the filters, skimmers, lights. He\she is also to monitor ammonia on a daily if not twice per day basis and if the ammonia is shown to rise to a reading of .5 they are to immediately perform a water change. And every time thereafter when they see a reading of ammonia at .5 boom, another water change. Keep the skimmer cup emptied, Keep the filter floss, pads etc clean. Do everything they can to keep ammonia below that magic .5 reading. Because you see. Live rock contains ….. er…..well…..life. And in a soft cycle we are trying are hardest to keep that life……um……live! You would be amazed at the life that will flourish under these conditions. Sponges, feather dusters, snails, plant, corals, worms, pods etc. etc. etc. all of the things that we are trying to replicate in our small glass boxes. All for a little more work and a little more expense, to get closer to a small system that more resembles the ocean that it originated in.
Soft cycling is not for everyone. Some of us require a more antiseptic looking reef tank. But for those of us that wish to observe life as it exists, both the good and the bad, soft cycling may be something that you want to look into on your next, or even first setup.
Thank you for reading, I hope I have given some a little information to think about.

 

[Bigevill1]

Well unfortunately there is nothing live to save on the rock I used. Most of the rock was dead rock from BRS and the 3 pieces I used from the previous setup sat outside in the landscaping for 3 weeks and just had dead sponges, worms, and corals on them. I have been throwing in plenty of bacteria addititve daily to help speed things up though. There are several people holding things for me that I didnt want to sell. I would like to be able to get that stuff back sooner rather than later, but I also dont want to kill them. the water is very cloudy with a greenish tint right now. LoL

 

[Wy Renegade]

Sounds as though you are going into the final stage or nitrate portion of the cycle to me. I would think that most of the invertebrates you listed will most likely not pull through as high concentrations of ammonia and nitrites are both toxic to them. Most likely the macro algaes should be fine.

 

[Bigevill1]

Ok, thats what I really wanted to know. If snails and crabs can make it thru a cycle ok.

 

[beaslbob]

macro algaes will not only survive a new cycle but actually thrive as they have all that ammonia to consume. and in the process make the ammonia and nitrIte spikes much lower to non existent.

my .02