New tank cycling question (probably not what your expecting)

[matt6950]

Hey all!
New to this group and so far I’ve already found a wealth of information.

We got a marine fish tank 120L it’s the

AQUA ONE MINIREEF 120 AQUARIUM & CABINET - WHITE​

We got it it Sunday (yesterday) did some research before getting it, but that was mainly on the set up of the tank itself.

We set it up yesterday added shop brought salted water (don’t have the RO unit todo it ourselves yet, 2nd hand tank doing this all on a small budget)

Add our dry rock, and marine sand then added Evolution Aqua PURE Reef Balance

For the bacteria- we then left the tank for several hours it recommends 4.8balls for our tank so we just added 5.

Didn’t realise at this point we needed to add ammonia, went for fishless cycle and added Dr tim ammonia to get it to 2MG/L

Done a lot of research since then and confident on the next steps to take.

But my question and a mistake I think I’ve made is, the bacteria balls were added to the filtration part of the sump where we have bio-media balls

But I kept the sponges and the filtration sock on after adding the balls. So my very long winded question (sorry) is by keeping the sponges and sock on have I effectively filtered out the bacteria? Does it work like that? And is it worth maybe adding another ball or two into the sump and or tank itself?

As I say in confidence on next steps to get it cycled basically just waiting and testing, just want to make sure I’ve not hindered any bacteria growth by having the filter sock etc on. I also assume the bio-media balls aren’t going to cause any problems? Or should I remove them as well.

The protein skimmer has not been on simply because it’s broken and I need to get another one at some stage

Thanks guys and girls
Matt.

 

[BeanAnimal]

You are not "filtering out" the bacteria. But they will colonize your filter media. So you will not want to remove it until the tank has stabilized, otherwise you will just be slowing the process.

 

[matt6950]

You are not "filtering out" the bacteria. But they will colonize your filter media. So you will not want to remove it until the tank has stabilized, otherwise you will just be slowing the process.

I have taken away the sock, but have left the bio-media in place.

Tbh the sock was 2nd hand and been kept dry for a long time- so I don’t know if that would be adding good or potentially bad bacteria into the mix/- so think it might be best to remove it until I can find. Better solution for it- don’t like the idea of having to clean it every 3-4 days and potentially replacing it every week.

Appreciate your speedy reply!

 

[Gtinnel]

The bacteria that cycles the tank grows on surfaces within the tank and not so much in the water. So leaving mechanical filtration in the tank during a cycle should be fine.