My Cycle process and results

iamacat · Nov 24, 2020

I posted this in my build thread but also wanted to share this here. When I was refreshing myself on cycling a new tank for the first time in 8 years I was amazed at the “possibilities”. I decided to get with the times and use bacteria products that have been proven to work in reef cycling. Here is my experience:

HOW I CYCLED MY SYSTEM

The Cycle:

D1 Oct 12 all rock goes into Brute with 250mL Microbacter StartXLM, Quick Cycle, heater set to 84, circulation pump running, and the salinity kept low at 29ppt. I the rest of XLM and quick cycle day 2. By day 7 my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate had all stabilized.

D10 Oct 22 the tank is put into place and plumbed

Oct 23 sand, new water, and rock all added to tank.

Oct 24 Algae barn refugium kit started in sump. Fritz turbo start added

Oct 26 all inhabitants transferred and old system tore down

D17 Nov 2 Diatoms appear. Microbacter Clean 250ml added

Nov 4 Diatoms gone

Nov 5-8 multiple different frags and 2 clowns added

Nov 16 Coralline algae starting to appear

D34 Nov 19 Very small amount of diatoms and some green algae on the sand in a low flow area. Gravel vac and 10g water change. Add final 250mL of Microbacter Clean

Nov 20 Started adding Dr Tims Refresh and Waste away on their schedule to manage algae.

At no point has ammonia been above 0. Nitrates vary but 0.4 was the highest tested at any point. I have done one water change at day 34. I have not removed any rock for algae removal. I have only cleaned the glass 2x a week with standard build up.

I have not lost one inhabitant from my previous system. I unfortunately had some damage to a couple new Euphyllia, this was due to one of my beefy snails knocking a powerhead off and blasting my torch and hammer. There was some tissue loss over a week but the corals are hanging in there. I dipped them in Tropic Marin Coral Pro once the shipment arrived and tissue loss has slowed or stopped.

Picture taken today Nov 24

brandon429 · Nov 24, 2020

this is cycling 2020 for bacteria control, nicely done. 30 day waits are so 2019. really they are

brandon429 · Nov 24, 2020

D10 Oct 22 the tank is put into place and plumbed

Oct 23 sand, new water, and rock all added to tank.

Oct 24 Algae barn refugium kit started in sump. Fritz turbo start added

Oct 26 all inhabitants transferred and old system tore down

The other day I was so happy to have a day to chill I typed up a huge diatribe on the official cycling rule updates for 2020 committee chairman was me and all findings and judgements/same lol

your assemblage meets the updates in that thread and we hadn't even met

its that timeframe above. Dr. Reef's bottle bac thread labeled fritz able to take on bioloads in just that timeframe, consistently. You did harness all of the best of 2020 cycling.

Updated Cycling Science thread 2020

The number of parameters measured allowing your start date is now reduced from three parameters measured (ammonia nitrite nitrate) into only one-nh3 form free ammonia. We dont need three-parameter compliance anymore to begin reefing safely. we need know only that ammonia is controlled. you...

www.reef2reef.com

iamacat · Nov 24, 2020

brandon429 said:
D10 Oct 22 the tank is put into place and plumbed

Oct 23 sand, new water, and rock all added to tank.

Oct 24 Algae barn refugium kit started in sump. Fritz turbo start added

Oct 26 all inhabitants transferred and old system tore down

The other day I was so happy to have a day to chill I typed up a huge diatribe on the official cycling rule updates for 2020 committee chairman was me and all findings and judgements/same lol

your assemblage meets the updates in that thread and we hadn't even met

its that timeframe above. Dr. Reef's bottle bac thread labeled fritz able to take on bioloads in just that timeframe, consistently. You did harness all of the best of 2020 cycling.

Updated Cycling Science thread 2020

The number of parameters measured allowing your start date is now reduced from three parameters measured (ammonia nitrite nitrate) into only one-nh3 form free ammonia. We dont need three-parameter compliance anymore to begin reefing safely. we need know only that ammonia is controlled. you...

www.reef2reef.com

I knew I was on to something!

I had great confidence with my approach. Thank you

iamacat · Nov 25, 2020

Update:

Waste Away dosing has lowered my pH slightly from 8.10 to 7.83 over 3 days. PH dropped from 8.01 to 7.83 since the time of my final dose yesterday. This is due to me finishing the last of the bottle on my last dose which was only over their recommended dosing by 8-10ml.
Following their guidelines yielded predictable results. By slightly veering off course I found their warnings are true, the available oxygen will decrease with high concentrations of Waste Away added to the system.

iamacat · Nov 27, 2020

this was taken today nov 27. This is day 42 into this rocks cycle. The tank itself has been stocked with the previous inhabitants as well as 20 frags and 2 new fish for 28 days.
After completing the Waste Away my pH has normalized at 8.2. As you can see I have basically no algae issues right now. That lil patch of cyano came in on those clove polyps and has very slowly grown over 2 weeks. KZ cyano clean will be delivered soon to help shoo it away. I was hoping to see more of a result from the previous products but they didn’t eradicate the small patch. They for sure kept it in check tho and for that I am thankful and happy I used those products.
I left the side glass dirty for visual of build up. It was last cleaned 4 days ago.
Oh and my hammer didn’t make it. I was worried that it wouldn’t make it from the start due to the damage it took from the flow of that rogue Nero. It was also a wall variety. The torch is doing good, I think with time it will heal up and grow.

brandon429 · Nov 27, 2020

Now that is a really, nice clean reef how sharp is that

very advanced. There’s no reason to wait months nowadays when avail products + artists touch produces that. well done

iamacat · Nov 27, 2020

brandon429 said:
Now that is a really, nice clean reef how sharp is that

very advanced. There’s no reason to wait months nowadays when avail products + artists touch produces that. well done

Thanks a lot man. I’m really proud of the results of my efforts and how much I’ve learned

brandon429 · Nov 27, 2020

Earlier today I was gonna type to ditch the waste away / merely my opinion but that may have truly helped with diatoms uglies theyre usually worse by now, I bet it helped y

iamacat · Nov 27, 2020

brandon429 said:
Earlier today I was gonna type to ditch the waste away / merely my opinion but that may have truly helped with diatoms uglies theyre usually worse by now, I bet it helped y

So I for sure see an improvement on my rocks since the waste away. The fuzzies are gone and the tiny spots of green hair algae are gone. I spent so much time reading and watching Dr Tim talk about cycling I had to give his products a try at some point so I chose the ugly phase to try them.
I do have more microbacter clean coming and I am going to start dosing microbacter7 once I feel that the algae is managed fully. I felt that I had more impactful results with the microbacter clean.