fritz turbo start 900

[cmmatxh]

im setting up my first reef tank just finished with all the wire management, sand and aquascape now i just need to add water and bacteria in a bottle to start the cycle. now my question is, do i turn off the return pump as i add the bacteria so it settles into the rock and not filter sock or it doesn’t matter?

 

[brandon429]

It does not matter, you can run the tank as normal and no part or design will stop the cycle. Skimming won’t hurt, running socks won’t harm or catch the bacteria. There are posts online saying it will strain out the bacteria, a sock, I guess that’s true if the bacteria are the size of sand grains ( half a million cycling bac fit on a sand grain)


add the bac, add a pinch of flake food, and a squirt of ammonia. Let stew five days with the aquarium hooked up as it will be, cycle is done. Fritz is ready in two days, waiting a whole five total is considered a long wait nowadays. Other brands take longer fritz is the fastest

the only thing you could do to stop the cycle would be to measure, dose and sustain matched antibiotics as you add the bac. The cycle will complete no matter what, check to see there’s some nitrate at the end to prove the bottle bac wasn’t dead from bad shipping or storage etc


Notice this trend: in any forum other than reefkeeping, everyone acknowledges the presence of bacteria in fluid media. It’s a given if you haven’t sterilized the water, all work surfaces, and surrounding air. But as soon as we inquire on a reef forum there are fifteen ways a mistake we make will prevent all contamination/ water bacteria, and only one way that wont.

Literally all other industries wish it was that way or even 1/100th that way.

 

[One Reefing Boi]

If you have a skimmer, don't run it. I also wouldn't use the filter socks either. You don't want your bottled bacteria to colonize on the sock that you will end up removing. Run the return, wavemaker (if applicable), heater, and lights off while cycling so you don't get an algae outbreak. don't run a uv sterilizer either if you have one

 

[G Santana]

It says right on the bottle, pull socks and filter media and turn off skimmer.