Cycling Help

[ajhudson15]

I am getting ready to start my IM 40L tank. I am using AF Bio Sand and plan on buying cycled live rock from my local reef store. Should i also be dosing bacteria when using live wet rock?

 

[ReeferTCG]

I am getting ready to start my IM 40L tank. I am using AF Bio Sand and plan on buying cycled live rock from my local reef store. Should i also be dosing bacteria when using live wet rock?

It would not hurt to add but you could test for ammonia and confirm if you need more.

 

[ajhudson15]

It would not hurt to add but you could test for ammonia and confirm if you need more.

That was kind of my thought. Ive been out of the hobby for 5 years so trying to pull some of this info back from memory. I was thinking wither Turbostart or Microbacter

 

[ReeferTCG]

That was kind of my thought. Ive been out of the hobby for 5 years so trying to pull some of this info back from memory. I was thinking wither Turbostart or Microbacter

Why not both

 

[ajhudson15]

Why not both

Heck idk haha. I have two nice reef stores somewhat close so i had thought about buying live rock from both their vats to get as much diversity as i can to start with.

 

[Silverback26]

When are you planning on adding fish? The sooner you’re planning to add fish the more beneficial it will be to go with bottled bacteria but if you’re planning on letting the tank cycle for with the sand and livestock for a few weeks you can skip the bottled bacteria and just add ammonia or food to the tank for the bacteria to eat and establish the cycle and save some money. You won’t hurt anything if you dose bacteria and can’t have too much of it just as long as you’re testing for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites to make sure the tank is cycled before adding fish

 

[ajhudson15]

When are you planning on adding fish? The sooner you’re planning to add fish the more beneficial it will be to go with bottled bacteria but if you’re planning on letting the tank cycle for with the sand and livestock for a few weeks you can skip the bottled bacteria and just add ammonia or food to the tank for the bacteria to eat and establish the cycle and save some money. You won’t hurt anything if you dose bacteria and can’t have too much of it just as long as you’re testing for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites to make sure the tank is cycled before adding fish

I plan on the patience/slow method haha. If my wife has a say there would be fish in the tank before water.

 

[Silverback26]

When are you planning on adding fish? The sooner you’re planning to add fish the more beneficial it will be to go with bottled bacteria but if you’re planning on letting the tank cycle for with the sand and livestock for a few weeks you can skip the bottled bacteria and just add ammonia or food to the tank for the bacteria to eat and establish the cycle and save some money. You won’t hurt anything if you dose bacteria and can’t have too much of it just as long as you’re testing for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites to make sure the tank is cycled before adding fish

I plan on the patience/slow method haha. If my wife has a say there would be fish in the tank before water.

Understandable I would say skip the bottled bacteria then, plenty of other things to spend money on in the hobby you can establish your bacteria cycle for free pretty easily when you’re going at it patiently, live rock and bottled bacteria and stuff just help speed it up, excited to see how it turns out!

 

[ajhudson15]

Understandable I would say skip the bottled bacteria then, plenty of other things to spend money on in the hobby you can establish your bacteria cycle for free pretty easily when you’re going at it patiently, live rock and bottled bacteria and stuff just help speed it up, excited to see how it turns out!

I remember rushing to many tanks when i was in this years ago. Having to many issues to fix afterwards wasnt worth the hassle. I was also in it to grow and sell coral which resulted in plenty of high end stuff (GHL, Ecotech, ETC). Now im just ready to sit back and enjoy it and try not to be to an*l

 

[Fish Fan]

If you're using real, wet live rock from a good local fish store, there is no reason to cycle the tank; it's already cycled. There's no reason to add any additional bacteria products; the rock has all you need. There's no reason to wait to add livestock. I'd give it a day or so to settle in and observe for bad hitchhikers, and then start with some hardy fish or corals and a clean up crew.

These are the major benefits of using live rock to start a tank, you also greatly minimize the "ugly phase" often seen in the first year of a dry rock start

I hope that helps and good luck with your build!

 

[KrisReef]

Heck idk haha. I have two nice reef stores somewhat close so i had thought about buying live rock from both their vats to get as much diversity as i can to start with.

This makes sense, as far as potentially getting a wider spectrum of biodiversity from different sources.

If it’s live rock spend money on rock and don’t waste money on bottled bacteria. A lot of the bottles are dead, or nearly so whereas rocks, if they have been kept wet bring everything that you need to keep fish alive in an aquarium.

No need to cycle liverock, and coral eat ammonia for breakfast, so a reef tank without fish doesn’t really need to be “cycled “ to prevent ammonia poisoning.