So I am using 6 stage RO/DI system and water is at 0 TDS. I checked ammonia right out of the blue pipe of RODI unit and ammonia is at exact 0. I am restarting my tank and there is no fish in there. What will a complete cycle mean for me? I would like to wait and put fish after I finish a complete cycle. And how do you maintain PH without any additives. Feel free to suggest anything else in addition to my question here. Appreciate any help. Thanks
Complete Cycle?
- Thread starter Spooky_Whizz
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Alright, first off, if your RO/DI is 0 TDS, you don't need to check it for ammonia.
Here are some questions that might help us help you:
Don't worry about pH at this point, just worry about the initial nitrogen cycle. Most people watch for an Ammonia spike, then see a Nitrite spike, then see the Nitrates go up a bit... By the time you add livestock, your Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0.
Here are some questions that might help us help you:
What have you used to 'kickstart' the cycle on your tank? (live fish, fish food, shrimp from the supermarket, etc)
What is your salinity?
What type of salt mix are you using?
What is your salinity?
What type of salt mix are you using?
Don't worry about pH at this point, just worry about the initial nitrogen cycle. Most people watch for an Ammonia spike, then see a Nitrite spike, then see the Nitrates go up a bit... By the time you add livestock, your Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0.
I have not used anything as I am putting in RODI water as I write here. Does Seachem Stability work for that ? And if frozen fish food , how many cubes for a 30 gal tank should I put ? And it’s 1.020 but I have more bucket of 5 gal to go but yes that’s what I am aiming for. I am using Instant Ocean salt mix.
You probably will have better results with a natural sea water (NSW) salinity of 1.026.
You do not need any Seachem Stability, but you can. Some people question "bacteria in a bottle" and if it actually does anything. If you do use it, then you only use it in the beginning.
Is there a local reefer or club who can give you a bit of their sand or a small piece of rock to seed? If so, then this is all that you need along with maybe a super hardy fish a week, or so, later. I love yellow-tail blue damsels since they can stay in my tank forever, stay small, are not aggressive, are super colorful and also very hardy. If you feed them sparingly, then you will probably never even see any ammonia spike if you get some established sand or rock and let it multiply for a week.
If you use frozen food to cycle, then one cube is enough to start with.
Some people take a whizz in their tanks.
You do not need any Seachem Stability, but you can. Some people question "bacteria in a bottle" and if it actually does anything. If you do use it, then you only use it in the beginning.
Is there a local reefer or club who can give you a bit of their sand or a small piece of rock to seed? If so, then this is all that you need along with maybe a super hardy fish a week, or so, later. I love yellow-tail blue damsels since they can stay in my tank forever, stay small, are not aggressive, are super colorful and also very hardy. If you feed them sparingly, then you will probably never even see any ammonia spike if you get some established sand or rock and let it multiply for a week.
If you use frozen food to cycle, then one cube is enough to start with.
Some people take a whizz in their tanks.
If you kept the sand and rock wet and alive, then it will be able to act as a biofilter again quite quickly. There is no need for anything else. If you let either dry out, then they will not only be useless in the cycle, but contribute to it as the new bacteria will have to "clean out" the organics on the rock that were once alive, but now dead.
Get a hardy fish and feed sparingly at first and you will be all set.
Get a hardy fish and feed sparingly at first and you will be all set.
DesertReefT4r
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If you are filling with rodi and have live sand and rock in the tank and plan to mix salt in you live rock wont be very live anymore. The harshness of mixing salt will kill off a lot of organisms. So will the fresh rodi water. You want to cycle the tank as long as possible I like to go 2 months no fish, 3 months no lights, slowly adding fish and increasing light duration. 1 cube of frozen food will be enough to start the cycle, be sure to add another cube or a pinch of flake food once every 7-10 days to keep the cycle going and bacteria alive and increasing until fish are added. If you see food collecting in the tank add less or stop for a while. The goal here is to get a healthy bacteria population in the system ensuring a bacterial driven system and not an algae driven system, reducing aglae issue of a new tank. Take things slowly and be patient.
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