Cycling

[minijf]

I’m about a week into my cycle I’m using (.dr Tim’s ammonia and microbacter 7) my lfs said microbactor 7 will cycle a tank but I’ve read other things. Wondering if anyone else has done this and if so how long did it take you to fully cycle. Thanks

 

[Airedale Reef]

Fishless cycling is a simple process of: dosing, waiting, and testing. The number of days that it takes isn't important; simply wait until your rocks are ready for the next step before proceeding:

1. Dose ammonium chloride or another clean source of ammonia, so that total ammonia is between 1 and 2 ppm (don't overdose). If you accidentally dose too much, you can perform a water change to bring down the level of ammonia.
2. Wait for total ammonia to drop to 0.25 ppm (if the level of total ammonia goes up, your rocks weren't fully cured, which will add time to this step).
3. Repeat until your rocks can process the dosed ammonia down to 0.25 ppm within 24 hours.

When finished, your tank will have a working biofilter capable of handling a typical initial bio-load

 

[Airedale Reef]

Also - welcome to Reef2Reef! you'll love it here!

 

[EliteReefing1023]

I would add a fish if you already added bacteria, it will create ammonia which will help with your cycle. I would only feed it small amount every other day, you don’t want to overfeed and spike your params while you are cycling

 

[Fish Fan]

I wouldn't add a fish until your cycle is complete. Most here now recommend a fish-less cycle method of bottled bacteria and bottled ammonium chloride.

The Microbacter 7 is a good product. Typically cycles with these products takes three or four weeks.

 

[Hishman]

It will cycle even without MB7 but much slower. Some put fish in day one but I’ve always cured rock in totes when setting up.

Measure every day or two until the ammonia is zero. Then measure every couple days until nitrite is zero. At that point it’s mostly cycled and ready for a fish.

I would avoid adding inverts at this time as there isn’t much film algae or detritus to consume yet. Also I wouldn’t turn your lights on until you add coral (unless Fowler tank of course)

 

[Marco_99]

I’m about a week into my cycle I’m using (.dr Tim’s ammonia and microbacter 7) my lfs said microbactor 7 will cycle a tank but I’ve read other things. Wondering if anyone else has done this and if so how long did it take you to fully cycle. Thanks

I am currently doing it with microbacter7 and I started my ammonia by ghost feeding freeze dried mysis shrimp for about 3 days. 12 days in yesterday I tested and was showing high nitrates(22) and my ammonia was coming down a lot (was above 4.0 and down around just below 1.0 now). 3 days ago I tested 0 nitrates. I could tell just by the water cloudiness clearing up considerably. Everything seems to be doing its thing ok.

I have new Marco reef saver dry rock and Carib Sea live sand. I’ve ran my skimmer all but outside the 4hrs recommended shutdown after dosing the microbacter7 (I’d have it off about 6-8hrs). I dosed the 5ml per 25gal a day for a week. No lights (wont run them for a couple months no need to). I’m in zero hurry letting it do its thing

My previous reef tank way back in the day was real wet Fiji live rock ($3 a pound lol) this is a new way for me I wanted to try out.

 

[Fish Fan]

A couple more things to keep in mind that may help:

When nitrites are present, they cause a false high on nitrate tests, so you don't really know what your nitrate is until the nitrite has gone down to zero.

That said, nitrite is not toxic in marine aquaria the way it is in freshwater, so many of us don't worry about it and don't test for it at all. Here's more info on that if anyone is interested:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nitrite-toxicity.402708/post-4805029

 

[MnFish1]

Here is a write up on microbacter 7 - to answer your question - yes it's used for cycling. Agree with the other comments. One thing you never want to do is to add fish to a tank using the Dr. Tim's ammonia method (where you're actually adding ammonia to the tank) - until the tank is fully cycled (as others have mentioned)

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/md-2017-01-microbacter7-aquarium-cycle

 

[MnFish1]

I wouldn't add a fish until your cycle is complete. Most here now recommend a fish-less cycle method of bottled bacteria and bottled ammonium chloride.

The Microbacter 7 is a good product. Typically cycles with these products takes three or four weeks.

I'm going to disagree with you - There is no reason not to add a fish - and in fact there is probably a benefit - the problem (IMHO) here is the OP mixing protocols - If you're going to use Dr. Tim's system - use the system. Not a combination. Many bacterial products including Dr. Tims are recommending this - and despite the adage that I dislike (nothing good happens fast) - in this case - it has worked for me for a long while. "With Dr. Tim's One and Only, you can add a few fish to your new aquarium on the first day, after adding the nitrifying bacteria and allowing for 24 hours of cycling. This method, known as "cycling with fish," is a quicker alternative to the traditional fishless cycle:

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm going to disagree with you - There is no reason not to add a fish - and in fact there is probably a benefit - the problem (IMHO) here is the OP mixing protocols - If you're going to use Dr. Tim's system - use the system. Not a combination. Many bacterial products including Dr. Tims are recommending this - and despite the adage that I dislike (nothing good happens fast) - in this case - it has worked for me for a long while. "With Dr. Tim's One and Only, you can add a few fish to your new aquarium on the first day, after adding the nitrifying bacteria and allowing for 24 hours of cycling. This method, known as "cycling with fish," is a quicker alternative to the traditional fishless cycle:

Thank you for your reply! I am familiar with fish-in cycles from the way back where you just added a Clown or Damsel and let the tank do its thing

I don't disagree with anything you're saying, except that I'm seemingly less confident in the OP's Microbacter 7 product than you are. From experience and from what I've read here at R2R, I believe the product that works the fastest is the Fritz TurboStart. I believe that if you want to do a fish-in cycle, I'd go for the Fritz product specifically. I don't know if the MB7 works as quickly as the Fritz does to establish a biofilter. I also personally quite like the Dr. Tim's One and Only, but again, I don't think it works as fast as the Fritz, and I probably wouldn't add fish the same day. I have seen other R2R members use the Fritz Turbostart and have added fish the same day or very shortly after.

Thank you again for your reply, I always appreciate your help!

 

[MnFish1]

Thank you for your reply! I am familiar with fish-in cycles from the way back where you just added a Clown or Damsel and let the tank do its thing

I don't disagree with anything you're saying, except that I'm seemingly less confident in the OP's Microbacter 7 product than you are. From experience and from what I've read here at R2R, I believe the product that works the fastest is the Fritz TurboStart. I believe that if you want to do a fish-in cycle, I'd go for the Fritz product specifically. I don't know if the MB7 works as quickly as the Fritz does to establish a biofilter. I also personally quite like the Dr. Tim's One and Only, but again, I don't think it works as fast as the Fritz, and I probably wouldn't add fish the same day. I have seen other R2R members use the Fritz Turbostart and have added fish the same day or very shortly after.

Thank you again for your reply, I always appreciate your help!

I agree with you:). And I recommend Fritz 9000.

 

[NC2WA]

I plan on using Fritz TurboStart on my 400 gallon tank. What fish can you NOT add? Or is everything ON the table. I would think added an angelfish would be too soon, yes?

I was planning on adding a clownfish, a couple wrasses and maybe a tang to start.

Thoughts?

 

[MnFish1]

I plan on using Fritz TurboStart on my 400 gallon tank. What fish can you NOT add? Or is everything ON the table. I would think added an angelfish would be too soon, yes?

I was planning on adding a clownfish, a couple wrasses and maybe a tang to start.

Thoughts?

maybe a week apart