Cycling tank

[bkwonnn]

Hi guys,

Just finished my aqauscape. Placed the scape on bare bottom in rodi water. The water is flowing because of a return pump but for the rest nothing has been done to the water. So not heated, no salt water and no other filtration. Water temp is around 20C.

I have ocean direct live sand in bags. Should i wait with adding the live sand until I have mixed the salt and raised the temp? That will take another week, and would like to start cycling asap.
Also I have micro Bacter 7 here. Should I start with that or is that a bad idea with adding live sand later on?!
Thanks

 

[Spare time]

The water should have the right salinity and ideally temperature before adding live sand. You can add the microbacter 7 once the water is salty and heated. However, I recommend biospira or fritz (though the ocean direct sand should handle ammonia from cycling).