I am about to start a 240 gallon tank after having been out of the hobby for many years. Watched a lot of BRS videos about tank cycling but I'm not convinced. Lots of things I don't like about Ryan and Randy's philosophies, which are partly designed to move product, so I'll pose my situation and see if other reefers have advice.
DT is 72"x30"x25" lagoon w/last 6" for internal overflow, sump is 4' x 2' x 2'
~200 lbs. of live rock, may not use it all, but half of it came from another reefer's tank, has been sitting in a covered bin w/powerhead for 5 months
~350 lbs of sand, all dry. I want a DSB. Please don't flame me or try to talk me out of it.
Stocking plan: in no hurry to add corals, will be mixed reef. Want to have a large number of chromis viridis at first, will then add cardinals or anthias. Bigger fish will come later. In no hurry to ramp up to full stocking.
The live rock will definitely help populate the dry rock w/nitrifying bacteria if I can keep them wet during the aquascape, but do I need to do anything special to seed the sand? If I have another month to go, should I put some of the sand in a bucket with some of the live rock?
Basically, the idea of buying bottled bacteria sounds nutty to me, but I guess that's how the kids are cycling tanks these days. I always used some table shrimp or flake food, which I know is unscientific.
Thanks in advance!
DT is 72"x30"x25" lagoon w/last 6" for internal overflow, sump is 4' x 2' x 2'
~200 lbs. of live rock, may not use it all, but half of it came from another reefer's tank, has been sitting in a covered bin w/powerhead for 5 months
~350 lbs of sand, all dry. I want a DSB. Please don't flame me or try to talk me out of it.
Stocking plan: in no hurry to add corals, will be mixed reef. Want to have a large number of chromis viridis at first, will then add cardinals or anthias. Bigger fish will come later. In no hurry to ramp up to full stocking.
The live rock will definitely help populate the dry rock w/nitrifying bacteria if I can keep them wet during the aquascape, but do I need to do anything special to seed the sand? If I have another month to go, should I put some of the sand in a bucket with some of the live rock?
Basically, the idea of buying bottled bacteria sounds nutty to me, but I guess that's how the kids are cycling tanks these days. I always used some table shrimp or flake food, which I know is unscientific.
Thanks in advance!