Cycling new tank

[Titan]

Just setup my new 220 gallon tank. What is the best way to cycle it?

 

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

That's my vote


Never allow it to have an ugly phase, early tank phase of invasion...keep the tank free of algae always. Never purposefully seed a new tank with extra algae or cyano by allowing early growths to take over, hoping they subside. These clean guiding methods run giant tank correction threads, searchable in the macros forum

wherever advice exists saying to allow cyano and algae to takeover in an early phase, that's the early advice that keeps us busy 18 mos later having purposefully farmed the invasion in the tank correction threads. Cycling is for bacteria we can't see.

work more on export in the early phases then in time maturation lessens your work. Do opposite of what the masses do, since the masses are usually posting algae troubles 18 mos in

 

[Salty1962]

Are you going to be using LR and Sand? MicroBacter 7 is what I use to get my tank going. It works very well with establishing your bacteria cultures, I used LR and L. Sand and had mine cycled in @ 2weeks. Your tank will be different but it helps cycling your tank. I also placed some fish food each day to feed the bacteria.

 

[Titan]

I think I am just going to use live rock.

 

[brandon429]

if you opt out of cycling, ten thousand people will be mad, but one w be clapping :)

 

[tankaholic]

hello,
Not to steal your post... but i too am cycling a 40b to move out of leaking 20gal on a particle board stand thats barely holdin on.
I used dry rock from bulk reef supply, live sand, and seed to start. tank started on jkune 16th.
had one setback.. used miracle mud and turned whole setup into the miss river mud...
but here's my tank today...I stirred the front sand up trying to adjust the flow in there...
I need to get past this stage fast....havent done water change on it yet. Did put a mushroom from a friend in there...it let loose in his tank and was gonna toss it.
And its doing fine been in there a few days...

 

[tankaholic]

front and back

 

[brandon429]

hey that's not too bad at all. id lift those bad boys out, scrub em off a few times and those diatoms w be goner. even if you left it, those aren't that bad and would prob subside


skip cycling w live rock is easier and doesn't have the same issues but that's a really low bioload setup above, a shroom wont harm or be harmed as the setups exists now

 

[FishLover01]

I would cycle the tank using regular household ammonia. Just make sure it is pure ammonia with no other chemicals. Keep ammonia level at 4ppm and just wait for those nitrites to show up. Shortly thereafter, you'll have nitrates, hopefully at a lower level. After the tank has cycled, do about a 20-25% water change. 220 gallons is gonna be a beauty!!!

 

[Salty1962]

I would cycle the tank using regular household ammonia. Just make sure it is pure ammonia with no other chemicals. Keep ammonia level at 4ppm and just wait for those nitrites to show up. Shortly thereafter, you'll have nitrates, hopefully at a lower level. After the tank has cycled, do about a 20-25% water change. 220 gallons is gonna be a beauty!!!

Dr. Tims makes it as well. That's what I used for my tank.

 

[john.m.cole3]

@brandon429 is like the Beetlejuice of tank cycling and bacteria. If you type either of those words, he just appears and answers all questions with no regards to punctuation or capitalization. Great member here! Skip cycle is awesome if your LR source is clean. I helped a local reefer out that started w/ tainted LR and we had to start over b/c his wife didn't like seeing the hundreds of bristle worms that came in on the rock. I started my first tank w/ dead rock and bac in a bottle, then transferred that clean and established LR to my new build to seed additional dead rock and put fish in the tank (8 of em) 12 hours after adding new water w/ new dead rock and my old live rock. If you do skip cycle or rinse your sand, be prepared to be ridiculed by others fighting battles w/ various forms of algae that makes them want to tear their old skool style cycled tank down and start over. @tankaholic do you have any update pics? @Titan which route did you go and do you have an update for us?

 

[tankaholic]

I will post some tomorrow
Starting to add corals little by little. Clean up crew kicked butt in tank. Rocks look clean like the day I aquascaped tank.

 

[brandon429]

all of that is true :) its the latest fun thing to be into. see which stage a cycling thread is at, see if its doing anything unpredictable...
is fun to test the claim that all cycles can be made to follow same time frames per type, then see which ones on the web don't seem to comply

 

[tankaholic]

 

[tankaholic]

 

[tankaholic]

That's the tank taken a few minutes ago. Not to shabby. Lol

 

[tankaholic]

What power heads is everyone using. I was using 2 Hyder 1150's but just seems to much blew sand side snow drifts in a few places. So smoothed it all back out and tried again only for the same results. Also which way do you have your lockline returns pointed? Hopefully this Saturday or Sunday I can add some more corals. Today is water change friday...some people have taco or Pizza night I have water change night with a side of vanilla coke and a bottle of Kenny rum. Hehehe

 

[brandon429]

hey that's very sharp, what sustained that 2.0 there

 

[john.m.cole3]

What power heads is everyone using. I was using 2 Hyder 1150's but just seems to much blew sand side snow drifts in a few places. So smoothed it all back out and tried again only for the same results. Also which way do you have your lockline returns pointed? Hopefully this Saturday or Sunday I can add some more corals. Today is water change friday...some people have taco or Pizza night I have water change night with a side of vanilla coke and a bottle of Kenny rum. Hehehe

I'm using 2 jebao DC powerheads and i like em . 2 x pp-4s should do the trick in a 40 gal. Point that locline anywhere but out of the tank. and Cheers!

 

[tankaholic]

I'm using 2 jebao DC powerheads and i like em . 2 x pp-4s should do the trick in a 40 gal. Point that locline anywhere but out of the tank. and Cheers!

are they apex compatible? hopefully santa brings me a apex...just dont want to buy more powerheads...would a single mp10 be enough? or would i still need a pair of mp 10's?