Noob Questions (cycling + legitimacy of BRS)

[boboyo]

Hi guys, im new here and im getting frustrated on cycling methods since the internet seems very mixed on the subject.

If i get an aquarium tomorrow, dry sand and dry rocks, assuming the salinity is right and the temperature is good and having a bacteria booster bottle, how long should I wait for the cycle to start and safely put 2 clownfish? Is it safe to drop the booster bottle 24h after filling the tank (assuming nothing is cloudy and everything else looks good) then putting the clownfish 24h after that? Or should I wait longer? Or should I drop the bottle at the same time as i put the fish? Im lost and frustrated!!!! (also VERY excited because its a decade old dream coming true finally!!!) I'm also worried about the lockdown about to start in my province and afraid all the fish stores will be closed and I'll have to wait till after jan 11th to buy my first fish.

Also, is it recommended to use dry rocks and add 1 live rock in there to speed up the process? I'm on a budget here





I'm sure you guys are familiar with the 5 minute saltwater beginners series from BRS on youtube, is it super legit or are they not the most accurate? It looks cool as a good pointer for directions on how to start up with not much detail. Although, should I religiously follow their advice or should I ignore some of the things they say as there might be better methods?

 

[Damon Jensen]

I wish I still had the article, 7 stages of reefing or something like that. It was dead on.

Bottomine, take your time, research, Quarantine, and remember this is not a cheep hobby. Trying to save money can cost you in the end. Last year I lost over $1000 in fish, because I was not prepared to treat sick fish. Now I have a QT, hospital tank and my DT.

Take your time

 

[MarshallB]

A lot of this hobby is researching and using your best judgement. BRS is a good place to start. Yes they are a store and they want to sell product, but they also put in a tremendous amount of time testing and researching products and topics before releasing information into the public.

If I am uncertain on something, I try to find consistent information between multiple sources. There is a lot of 'feeling' in this hobby, but there is also quite of bit of research and testing with factual results.

 

[tricky_tran]

This is my second rodeo, after a 10 year hiatus. Previous tank was a 120 Gal FOWLR. In this game, patience is a virtue and unfortunately I don't have much of it, especially being cooped up at home. I had an Innovative Marine Nuvo Concept Encore 20 running. 1 side freshwater, other side saltwater. I cycled the saltwater side for over a month adding a bottle of Dr Tim's and ghost feeding. then i put a pair of peppermint shrimp and finally a pair of Maroons and emerald crabs, all while i was waiting for my stand to come for a 75 Gal I inherited from a friend.

I got my 75 Gal wet on December 12. 60 lbs of Fiji Pink Live Sand and 70 lbs of live rock from my LFS, bottle of Dr Tim's the first day, then a couple of days later, 2 bottles of Instant Ocean Bio-Spira. no lights, no skimmer and a quarter bag of blood worms in the sump. Tested for a week and it looked like I missed or bypassed the nitrite spike, all I had were traces to no ammonia, no nitrite and some nitrates. Knowing that the clowns are pretty hardy, I moved them into their new home after a week of cycling on Dec 20th along with the rock cave I had in the IM. Continued testing and parameters have been stable. Wife got ahead of herself and bought some more fish, a Condylactis Anemone and Derasa Clam. 3 weeks since it got wet and so far everyone still seems happy in the tank. 15 fish, clean up crew, nem, clam and I kind of feed pretty heavy too and the skimmer has been working overtime. No ammonia spikes what so ever. Nitrates were over 50 for a bit. Nitrites still negligible. I started a fuge and will be putting in a Brightwell no3 brick seeded with Microbacter7 soon. Not sure if I went overkill and I am sure i wasn't patient enough. I did have 1 casualty, out of 5 blue/green chromis, 1 died overnight after being put in.

Moral of the story, i threw a bunch of money into the tank to get it to cycle faster, its only been 3 1/2 weeks and I am constantly worrying because it was rushed and i dont think i will stop worrying till after a couple of months of stability. Don't be like me, aquariums are supposed to be a stress reliever, not stress causer.

 

[DirkCourage]

Hi guys, im new here and im getting frustrated on cycling methods since the internet seems very mixed on the subject.

If i get an aquarium tomorrow, dry sand and dry rocks, assuming the salinity is right and the temperature is good and having a bacteria booster bottle, how long should I wait for the cycle to start and safely put 2 clownfish? Is it safe to drop the booster bottle 24h after filling the tank (assuming nothing is cloudy and everything else looks good) then putting the clownfish 24h after that? Or should I wait longer? Or should I drop the bottle at the same time as i put the fish? Im lost and frustrated!!!! (also VERY excited because its a decade old dream coming true finally!!!) I'm also worried about the lockdown about to start in my province and afraid all the fish stores will be closed and I'll have to wait till after jan 11th to buy my first fish.

Also, is it recommended to use dry rocks and add 1 live rock in there to speed up the process? I'm on a budget here





I'm sure you guys are familiar with the 5 minute saltwater beginners series from BRS on youtube, is it super legit or are they not the most accurate? It looks cool as a good pointer for directions on how to start up with not much detail. Although, should I religiously follow their advice or should I ignore some of the things they say as there might be better methods?

Hey there, fellow newbie to the reefing world (a whopping 80 days into the tank) but if maybe you’ll find my perspective useful.

Some general thoughts: yes I think BRS is super legit and useful. Amongst all the information, they deliver some pretty common themes in the hobby: Be patient of course, but also that there are many pathways to success. I think this hits on one of the key dilemmas and intriguing aspects of the hobby, which is that there is no 1-2-3 for a successful tank. Every tank and reefer are unique, and much of what we “know” in this hobby is anecdotal rather than driven by data. I think they’re very forthright about this and still provide invaluable advice, and there’s a LOT of it. Their product spotlights are pretty much commercials, but in a hobby just spilling over with gear they are still REALLY helpful.

Now that I’ve done it, I think the tank cycling conversation is kind of overblown or over complicated. People (myself included) tend to stress over it because it’s step #1 in something completely new, but it’s fairly simple. It’s also a good illustration of what I said before: there’s different paths to success. The dead shrimp method, ghost feeding, just throwing a poor pair of clowns in water... all these things can cycle a tank, but are they the way you want to do it? Personally, I don’t get why anyone would not use starter bacteria and if you’re doing that, also dose the ammonia. First off, you’re staring with bacteria, so you’re skipping a ton of time. Then you’re providing that bacteria the food (ammonia) to propagate and cycle the tank. When you dose, YOU control the process. You know how much ammonia went in, so when you test you know what you’re looking for. Time is always a variable, but if you follow the instructions on any of these starters the tank you will clearly see the ammonia drop/nitrite/nitrate peaks. That’s key too, follow the instructions on the bacteria. Most issues people have are simply from not following the instructions and/or getting impatient.

With the live rock? Again, opinions vary there’s no “wrong way” here. I decided against any live rock because I didn’t want to start off dealing with any hitchhikers. No regrets so far.

Good luck! I can tell you that your comfort level will grow as you move forward. There was so much I only got a feel for once I had water in the tank.

 

[RobW]

Big thank you!!! You guys are honestly the best!! 2nd post and always got some quality advice and clarifications!!!

Happy holidays to all of you!! (my bday was yesterday and this saltwater aquarium is my present to myself).

Best thing to do is learn as much as you can and be patient. When I first started in the hobby I didnt have success right away. I'd say after the first year and an upgrade from a 55 gallon to a 150 gallon and much better equipment, I started to get things right. I was more patient. I learned a lot more. The larger water volume of the tank made things a bit easier to keep things balanced. Leaving things alone goes a long way too. People tend to try to put too many things in their tanks to remedy issues. The best thing to do is use ro/di water and be consistent with cleanings and water changes. After the tank starts to get a little more mature and you stock it with certain fish, corals, clams, etc. Then you can start to cater to the different needs of the tank. Just go slow and ask lots of questions. You'll find good info here. No one here wants you to fail or become discouraged, that's for sure.