Cycling Frag Tank?

mlove · Oct 10, 2010

Alright so I just setup a frag tank, and I'm wondering how long I should let it cycle and if it'll cycle at all (without a push). There's nothing with die-off in the tank (no rock, no sand, etc.) and I'm wondering if I should buy some shrimp and throw one in there for a day or two. I've got the penguin biowheel on the tank for filtration and most of the flow. Would letting a shrimp decay for 24-48 hrs. be enough to start a cycle and produce a decent amount of bacteria? Should I do that and then (when there isn't anymore ammonia or nitrites) add a CUC in order for them to keep the biological load up? Just a few things I've been thinking about, and I figured I'd ask the experts. Thanks in advance guys!

Troylee · Oct 10, 2010

shrimp would do the trick.... or some lr. from your display would work also.... i would boost it with mb7 "microbacter7" myself.... dose the mb7 with the shrimp or the rock to get it going...

mlove · Oct 10, 2010

troylee said:
shrimp would do the trick.... or some lr. from your display would work also.... i would boost it with mb7 "microbacter7" myself.... dose the mb7 with the shrimp or the rock to get it going...

Yeah well the display tank is about 3 hrs away from where I am right now so I'll probably go with the shrimp :D I do like the idea about the mb7 as well. Thanks.

iani · Oct 10, 2010

What are you using for biological or mechanical filtration? With out at least live rock or a skimmer you are going to have problems with the tank.

mlove · Oct 10, 2010

ianiwane said:
What are you using for biological or mechanical filtration? With out at least live rock or a skimmer you are going to have problems with the tank.

Penguin 350 BIOwheel filter. Mechanical, Chemical, and Biological filtration. I'm pretty sure it'll be able to handle the bio-load of some corals as I think it's designed to filter upto 75G tanks. Also the frag plugs that will fill the tank should give some decent place for bacteria to colonize.

blurry · Oct 30, 2010

Suggest considering adding some liverock. also did the white egg-crate get treated? I found white egg crate to be very conductive to growing Dinos.

see this guys thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ge...9873-anyone-offer-some-help-dirty-little.html

mlove · Nov 1, 2010

I did not treat the egg-crate and probably won't add any liverock unless something goes horribly wrong and I start looking for solutions (I know you're supposed to be proactive and not reactive but...). Like I said, I do have the biowheel that should have plenty of surface-area to provide bacteria to colonize, I'm running carbon with it, mechanical filter in the form of floss, and I'm going to be using Microbacter7 to help keep the bacteria diversified as well as successfully present throughout the life of the tank. Hopefully all that accompanied by regular water changes of 10%-20%/week should be enough to keep the tank nice and clean :) I'm not above adding a CUC or liverock... I just want to see how this works first. Thanks for the advice.