Fastest way to cycle my new system?

[CoralReefer1019]

New 40G Breeder

 

[ShadowReef]

Hi,

why do you want to cycle it really fast? Do you have another tank that you need to transfer something from?

You can only cycle a tank as quick as you can get bacteria to multiply or keep alive. So you either add bacteria and a food source (frozen cube etc.) and then keep testing. If you dump loads of bacteria in and not enough food, the bacteria will just die off. There are products on the market that claim to be able to cycle tanks super fast but unless this is an absolute must then you may be asking for trouble later down the line. I’m sure plenty of people will have used these products with lots of success (and I will let them share their experience as I’ve not done it before) but I’m just a bit old fashioned with it lol
If you have another tank then taking some existing sand and rock will immediately put bacteria in but just make sure you feed it

 

[Mrod]

There are products designed for this purpose such as aquavitro seed, dr Tim’s one and only and micro after start xlm.

I have not used any myself (yet!) but appears they do work from others feedback.

good luck with your new tank!

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is not meant to be an insult, but:
NOTHING GOES FAST WHEN IT COMES TO SALTWATER/REEF AQUARIA.
If you make this a practice, you will set yourself up for many disappointments and failures. It is discouraging to have to wait so long to takes next steps and wait things out but is followed by a Huge Payoff.
You may use bacteria supplements to speed up the cycle but the word speed is NOT associated with the word Fast- just means you will maintain cultures to break down waste more effectively.

 

[Marco S]

It's almost 2020 and I am surprised by how many old school, (wait 30-60 days) people there still are when there are so many tested and proven methods to quickly cycle a tank. I have done this many times myself over the last year with all my quarantine tanks and even my main display with absolutely no issues.

I used Bio Spira for all my QT tanks and put fish in immediately and I have never seen an Ammonia spike at all. In about 3-5 days I see Nitrite, but it never gets to dangerous levels. About 6-8 days in I get Nitrate and that's all she wrote. I will say that sometimes the Nitrite sticks around for a bit, but it never gets to dangerous levels and I have never lost a fish because of it. I have lost many fish during the QT process to Uronema, bacterial disease, Brook and so on...but never to water parameters. Bio Spira WORKS!!!

For my Display Tank, I did take a month for the rock to cure while I had my fish in QT, but once they were ready I used 2 bottles of Turbo Start 9000 and added fish right away. Again, no issues and no fish loss and it has been up and running for a year now.

I personally will never again wait for a cycle to complete without adding beneficial bacteria and fish right from the get go again. And for those that would say I am rushing things, I would say that it has been a year and I still do not have my tank fully stocked because I have quarantined everything wet going into my tank and have had nothing but patience during the whole process. ;Happy

 

[C. Eymann]

Cured liverock from an established system.

^^^thats the quickest way to cycle any tank, but its definitely not cheap.

 

[lexinverts]

You can read about it in this article.

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

Get some live rock from another reefer's established tank, or order some live rock from a reputable place like this:

Premium Aquacultured Live Rock - Overnight to your Door

Aquacultured live rock is one of our specialties. You will get one of the best live rock available in the industry. Forget about painted rock with no life.

www.kpaquatics.com

 

[Marco S]

Cured liverock from an established system.

^^^thats the quickest way to cycle any tank, but its definitely not cheap.

I agree on the live rock, but also have to add that you are taking the risk of bringing pests into your brand new "clean" system. The risk was not worth it for me since I planned on putting a lot of money, effort and time in the QT process to eliminate the chance of bringing anything bad into my system. If the risk is worth it though, it probably is the quickest way to do it.

 

[C. Eymann]

Forgot to mention that pest risk, however some LFS I have seen take man made rock like caribsea and also ceramic media and submerge it in a big saltwater vat with pumps running, and dose the system often with ammonia and bacteria.

 

[Nick Steele]

I just used microbacter7 when I started my first saltwater tank this past month. I used it for 2 weeks each night before adding a Xenia frag and then waited another week before I added two clownfish. It’s been a week since fish and I still haven’t seen ammo or nitrite but I have nitrates (I feed really heavy).

 

[DSC reef]

One of the best and quickest acting bacteria in a bottle products you can by is fritz zyme turbo start. @Dr. Reef did a large test and thread and it's proven to work very well. I'd recommend real live rock as well.

 

[DavidBearWeber]

I did Dr. Tim's, by his strict guidelines, in a 20 gallon QT tank, and it took 26 days. I have read great things about Fritz Turbo Start 900. I would have done that if I knew about it. I am a 30-day old newbie. But, had saltwater tanks in the mid 70's when the technology was nowhere near what it is now.

 

[brandon429]

Nowadays they’ll set up 300 instant skip cycle reefs at marine aquarium conventions. That’s, arrive Friday nite- have full reef with ten thousand in corals and fish ready by Saturday morning, literally every reef that attends.

Only web forums have the concern, stated consequence for not delaying... in direct application they’ve been skipping cycles for fifteen years maybe twenty

Lfs owners who routinely transfer in live rock also have been skipping cycles the entire time they know how it works. Today’s issue is fish disease protocol being skipped

 

[C. Eymann]

I didn't go thru any cycling setting up a 10 gal QT that now houses 3 ×1.5in chalk bass.
Tank has been setup about 1. 5 weeks

Crammed 3/4 liter of established siporax in a hang on the back filter.

 

[sfin52]

I had an instant cycle on my 55. I took rock and sand and ceramic rings from my 75 and set my 55 with that. Zero ammonia and nitrite spikes. I also used water from my 75 as well.

When we where having issues cycling my buddies tank. I pulled rock, sand and ceramic rings and his tank was cycled in a day.

 

[huckjai]

Get some Bio-Spira to start your cycle. Get your quarantine tank setup at the same time for one or two fish you want to start off as first inhabitants. . By the time your fish is ready to go, your tank should be ready to go.

If you're doing tank transfer method, then no need to worry about cycling your quarantine tank. If juts a single observation quarantine, use some bio-spira, and do like a 25% water change every 3 days. Shouldn't get an Ammonia spike with few fish.

If you are not planning on quarantine, then you can just hope that your tank cycles fast enough for one or two fish. People have done it successfully. But if you are planning on a large bio load asap, might not be a good idea.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Thanks for all the great responses! What I did today was dose some MB7, added some live rock from local fish store and added a few pieces of mysis shrimp let’s see what happens. I also added some coralline chips from local fish store.

 

[huckjai]

My tank was cycled with live rock and new dry sand. Live rock was from the original owner, that he kept with his tank running fishless. I had the rocks in a Rubbermaid tub, with a powerhead and heater. Then had them transferred to the tank after I had set it up. Then let it run for a couple weeks. During that time I just added some microbacter7 and tossed in some misys shrimp. Tested for constant 0 Ammonia. Didn't worry about testing nitrates and nitrites. Two weeks later I put in some clownfish and all was good. Then slowly added more fish and some coral. So far no issues. Up and running for 3 months. Live rock would probably be the fastest.

 

[brandon429]

You wouldn’t want to add ammonia/ shrimp rot to a live rock setup that’s like letting a fish die on purpose in a tank that’s ready and leaving it to rot, the readings it would produce mean nothing about the ready state of live rocks from a lfs. Ammonia burns the animals you are paying more for in buying live rock vs dry rock

See this thread. Since day #1 the thread is about how to skip cycle with work examples.

The way you know if your live rock is skip cycle is to know it’s submersion history. If it’s been wet, it comes to you ready. There are also clues like living animals and plants attached to live rock that indicate submersion history

The microbiology of reef tank cycling.

You can skip your cycle. Ive been reefing online for twenty years and have never waited one second for a tank to cycle, because I buy rocks that are already cycled and move them home. Here's two: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/octo-high-end-sps-skip-cycle-build.713256/...

www.reef2reef.com

Skip cycle doesn’t mean it needs a day or an hour, it means you can set the tank up with the animals when you fill it.

This is an all dry setup instant cycle

Bio-spira works great

I use biospira when I set up fish quarantine tanks. It’s good stuff for that purpose.

www.reef2reef.com

just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should, have a researched plan for fish disease protocol before using skip cycle science to mix a bunch of diseased fish. **that being said, dry start instant setups are no fallow required, you can buy $ quarantined fish and you really would have a disease plan in place, using skip cycle science with a dry system.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

You wouldn’t want to add ammonia/ shrimp rot to a live rock setup that’s like letting a fish die on purpose in a tank that’s ready and leaving it to rot, the readings it would produce mean nothing about the ready state of live rocks from a lfs. Ammonia burns the animals you are paying more for in buying live rock vs dry rock

See this thread. Since day #1 the thread is about how to skip cycle with work examples.

The way you know if your live rock is skip cycle is to know it’s submersion history. If it’s been wet, it comes to you ready. There are also clues like living animals and plants attached to live rock that indicate submersion history

The microbiology of reef tank cycling.

You can skip your cycle. Ive been reefing online for twenty years and have never waited one second for a tank to cycle, because I buy rocks that are already cycled and move them home. Here's two: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/octo-high-end-sps-skip-cycle-build.713256/...

www.reef2reef.com

Skip cycle doesn’t mean it needs a day or an hour, it means you can set the tank up with the animals when you fill it.

This is an all dry setup instant cycle

Bio-spira works great

I use biospira when I set up fish quarantine tanks. It’s good stuff for that purpose.

www.reef2reef.com

just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should, have a researched plan for fish disease protocol before using skip cycle science to mix a bunch of diseased fish. **that being said, dry start instant setups are no fallow required, you can buy $ quarantined fish and you really would have a disease plan in place, using skip cycle science with a dry system.

so I added only a little bit of mysis shrimp to the tank. What should I do next? Add a bottle of bio-spira?