Questions about Cycling

[Frigideus]

I've had my tank since July and it's finally time for me to put some water and it and start (either this week or next week)! So I have some questions about cycling. I don't use forums much and have a hard time navigating them so the answers to some of my questions probably already exist I just cannot find them.


Do I need to cycle if I use live rock, and is there any difference between ordering live rock or just buying it from my LFS? I read one forum post that said you didn't need to cycle if you used live but I want to make sure! Maybe I saw it out of context.

What kind of things should I be adding in to start/speed up my cycle? I know live rock is one thing that helps!

What things should I be testing for to decide when I believe my cycle is finished?

What do I do if I get an early hitchhiker while I am cycling? Will it survive in the tank while its cycling if it came off live rock?


I might have more questions but I just need a little help with the basics for now. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Fish Fan]

I'll do my best to address some of your concerns, and I'm sure others will be along soon with further advise

If you use real, wet live rock form a quality LFS, there will be no need to cycle the tank as the rocks will already be cycled. This is the fastest, and in my opinion the best way to start a tank. Just make sure it's real, wet rock from a tank, and not something like CaribbSea "Life Rocks", which is a dry rock with what I believe is an intentionally misleading name.

Real live rock from a quality LFS or another hobbyist's tank can be a great way to go. Better still in my opinion would be to order live rock from a mariculture facility such as Tampa Bay Saltwater. This rock literally comes out of the ocean, and is loaded with all kinds of life from micro to macro critters and algae. It's absolutely beautiful, and is my preferred way to start a tank. Behold!

Tampa Bay Saltwater - America's #1 Live Rock for Reef Aquariums

Tampa Bay Saltwater sustainably farms ocean aquacultured live rock and hand harvested sand. TBS Live Rock provides beneficial microorganisms, creates a less stressful environment for inhabitants and provides natural biofiltration by the lifeforms found in and on it. Healthy live rock, from our...

tbsaltwater.com

Anytime you add live rock, you run the risk of bringing in undesirable organisms, which is one reason that some reefers prefer to start with all dry rock. However, I believe the benefit of using real live rock far outweighs the negatives of possibly getting some pests, the majority of which are pretty easy to deal with.

If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.

If you use dry rock and do a fish-less cycled, you'd want to test for ammonia and nitrate. Here's some more info on cycling a tank if you decide to do a dry rock start with bottled bacteria and a source of ammonia:



I hope that helps! Please post again with any further questions and I'm sure someone will be able to help you

Good luck!

 

[Frigideus]

I'll do my best to address some of your concerns, and I'm sure others will be along soon with further advise

If you use real, wet live rock form a quality LFS, there will be no need to cycle the tank as the rocks will already be cycled. This is the fastest, and in my opinion the best way to start a tank. Just make sure it's real, wet rock from a tank, and not something like CaribbSea "Life Rocks", which is a dry rock with what I believe is an intentionally misleading name.

Real live rock from a quality LFS or another hobbyist's tank can be a great way to go. Better still in my opinion would be to order live rock from a mariculture facility such as Tampa Bay Saltwater. This rock literally comes out of the ocean, and is loaded with all kinds of life from micro to macro critters and algae. It's absolutely beautiful, and is my preferred way to start a tank. Behold!

Tampa Bay Saltwater - America's #1 Live Rock for Reef Aquariums

Tampa Bay Saltwater sustainably farms ocean aquacultured live rock and hand harvested sand. TBS Live Rock provides beneficial microorganisms, creates a less stressful environment for inhabitants and provides natural biofiltration by the lifeforms found in and on it. Healthy live rock, from our...

tbsaltwater.com

Anytime you add live rock, you run the risk of bringing in undesirable organisms, which is one reason that some reefers prefer to start with all dry rock. However, I believe the benefit of using real live rock far outweighs the negatives of possibly getting some pests, the majority of which are pretty easy to deal with.

If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.

If you use dry rock and do a fish-less cycled, you'd want to test for ammonia and nitrate. Here's some more info on cycling a tank if you decide to do a dry rock start with bottled bacteria and a source of ammonia:



I hope that helps! Please post again with any further questions and I'm sure someone will be able to help you

Good luck!

Thank you for this response! Out of curiosity, does that mean the tank is immediately ready for fish if I use live rock? Or is the cycle not the only prerequisite for adding fish? Because it sounds like if I use live rock, there's no need for me to cycle? Does live rock eliminate the need for bottled bacteria as well? Or is there a separate rock and water cycle I am unaware of?

I may be a bit brash here since I'm too excited to finally have a reef tank after 20 years, but at the same time I still want to try and get it right!

 

[Tikki]

I'll do my best to address some of your concerns, and I'm sure others will be along soon with further advise

If you use real, wet live rock form a quality LFS, there will be no need to cycle the tank as the rocks will already be cycled. This is the fastest, and in my opinion the best way to start a tank. Just make sure it's real, wet rock from a tank, and not something like CaribbSea "Life Rocks", which is a dry rock with what I believe is an intentionally misleading name.

Real live rock from a quality LFS or another hobbyist's tank can be a great way to go. Better still in my opinion would be to order live rock from a mariculture facility such as Tampa Bay Saltwater. This rock literally comes out of the ocean, and is loaded with all kinds of life from micro to macro critters and algae. It's absolutely beautiful, and is my preferred way to start a tank. Behold!

Tampa Bay Saltwater - America's #1 Live Rock for Reef Aquariums

Tampa Bay Saltwater sustainably farms ocean aquacultured live rock and hand harvested sand. TBS Live Rock provides beneficial microorganisms, creates a less stressful environment for inhabitants and provides natural biofiltration by the lifeforms found in and on it. Healthy live rock, from our...

tbsaltwater.com

Anytime you add live rock, you run the risk of bringing in undesirable organisms, which is one reason that some reefers prefer to start with all dry rock. However, I believe the benefit of using real live rock far outweighs the negatives of possibly getting some pests, the majority of which are pretty easy to deal with.

If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.

If you use dry rock and do a fish-less cycled, you'd want to test for ammonia and nitrate. Here's some more info on cycling a tank if you decide to do a dry rock start with bottled bacteria and a source of ammonia:



I hope that helps! Please post again with any further questions and I'm sure someone will be able to help you

Good luck!

Thank you for this response! Out of curiosity, does that mean the tank is immediately ready for fish if I use live rock? Or is the cycle not the only prerequisite for adding fish? Because it sounds like if I use live rock, there's no need for me to cycle? Does live rock eliminate the need for bottled bacteria as well? Or is there a separate rock and water cycle I am unaware of?

I may be a bit brash here since I'm too excited to finally have a reef tank after 20 years, but at the same time I still want to try and get it right!

I’m a fan on live rock also. It will still be a new system so you’ll want to take things slow. Invest in some decent tests.

 

[Fish Fan]

I think the best thing you can do is to use real live rock to start. Yes, live rock will eliminate the need to cycle the tank, and makes it safe for fish right away. I would give it a couple days or so, what you might get is a bit of a "mini-cycle" just from disturbing the rocks, but you won't need to wait weeks like with a traditional cycle. You don't need any extra bacteria either, it's all in the rocks

 

[Frigideus]

I’m a fan on live rock also. It will still be a new system so you’ll want to take things slow. Invest in some decent tests.

What type and brand of tests should I buy, and what am I testing for exactly? This answer seems to have a small degree of variance so I just want to hear it in one place to start my decision making here. Thanks! I'd been looking at Salifert (for brand).

Some people say you don't need too many tests, some people say you need many different tests, right now I'm just looking for essential tests for a beginner reef tank. My plan is to start with soft/LPS corals and slowly ease my way in to SPS corals down the line to have a mixed reef, but just soft and LPS for now! All help is appreciated!

 

[Tikki]

I’m a fan on live rock also. It will still be a new system so you’ll want to take things slow. Invest in some decent tests.

What type and brand of tests should I buy, and what am I testing for exactly? This answer seems to have a small degree of variance so I just want to hear it in one place to start my decision making here. Thanks! I'd been looking at Salifert (for brand).

Some people say you don't need too many tests, some people say you need many different tests, right now I'm just looking for essential tests for a beginner reef tank. My plan is to start with soft/LPS corals and slowly ease my way in to SPS corals down the line to have a mixed reef, but just soft and LPS for now! All help is appreciated!

Salifert is good to start. You’ll use ammonia and nitrite mostly only in the beginning. I personally use Hanna checkers for Phosphate, nitrate and alkalinity most often. Phosphate can be tricky to read to the salifert test so a hanna is a good investment when you can. I mostly use salifert for calcium and magnesium. You’ll want a good refractometer and calibration fluid for checking salinity.

 

[Subsea]

I'll do my best to address some of your concerns, and I'm sure others will be along soon with further advise

If you use real, wet live rock form a quality LFS, there will be no need to cycle the tank as the rocks will already be cycled. This is the fastest, and in my opinion the best way to start a tank. Just make sure it's real, wet rock from a tank, and not something like CaribbSea "Life Rocks", which is a dry rock with what I believe is an intentionally misleading name.

Real live rock from a quality LFS or another hobbyist's tank can be a great way to go. Better still in my opinion would be to order live rock from a mariculture facility such as Tampa Bay Saltwater. This rock literally comes out of the ocean, and is loaded with all kinds of life from micro to macro critters and algae. It's absolutely beautiful, and is my preferred way to start a tank. Behold!

Tampa Bay Saltwater - America's #1 Live Rock for Reef Aquariums

Tampa Bay Saltwater sustainably farms ocean aquacultured live rock and hand harvested sand. TBS Live Rock provides beneficial microorganisms, creates a less stressful environment for inhabitants and provides natural biofiltration by the lifeforms found in and on it. Healthy live rock, from our...

tbsaltwater.com

Anytime you add live rock, you run the risk of bringing in undesirable organisms, which is one reason that some reefers prefer to start with all dry rock. However, I believe the benefit of using real live rock far outweighs the negatives of possibly getting some pests, the majority of which are pretty easy to deal with.

If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.

If you use dry rock and do a fish-less cycled, you'd want to test for ammonia and nitrate. Here's some more info on cycling a tank if you decide to do a dry rock start with bottled bacteria and a source of ammonia:



I hope that helps! Please post again with any further questions and I'm sure someone will be able to help you

Good luck!

“If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.“

Let’s park here for a bit.
When I receive diver collected rock, it is uncured and shipped damp. It goes straight into the tank and there will be a cycle as rock cures.

For me, I like to establish sand bed nitrification bacteria first using a combination of dry sand and diver collected live sand, which brings in much more than nitrogen fixation bacteria. Once nitrogen fixation bacteria are established in sand bed, then a week later, bring in diver collected live rock. In that manner, the ammonia spike never happens when live rock is in tank.

Just a thought.

 

[Fish Fan]

“If you use wet live rock and you get some beneficial animals like snails or crabs, those animals will be fine, the rock itself is already cycled, and those are very hardy critters.“

Let’s park here for a bit.
When I receive diver collected rock, it is uncured and shipped damp. It goes straight into the tank and there will be a cycle as rock cures.

For me, I like to establish sand bed nitrification bacteria first using a combination of dry sand and diver collected live sand, which brings in much more than nitrogen fixation bacteria. Once nitrogen fixation bacteria are established in sand bed, then a week later, bring in diver collected live rock. In that manner, the ammonia spike never happens when live rock is in tank.

Just a thought.

I believe we are on the same page with using real, maricultured (diver collected) live rock, and I certainly have no argument with you or how you run your tanks. In fact, I very much look up to you

I believe you like rock from Gulf Live Rocks, and I have in the past used rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I think either choice would be a fine addition to an aquarium. I think the take-home point is that live rock is a great addition to any aquarium :-) I have been struggling lately with my newest build, and I should have used real, wet live rock.

As always, thank you for your reply and help

 

[Sam7]

I've had my tank since July and it's finally time for me to put some water and it and start (either this week or next week)! So I have some questions about cycling. I don't use forums much and have a hard time navigating them so the answers to some of my questions probably already exist I just cannot find them.


Do I need to cycle if I use live rock, and is there any difference between ordering live rock or just buying it from my LFS? I read one forum post that said you didn't need to cycle if you used live but I want to make sure! Maybe I saw it out of context.

What kind of things should I be adding in to start/speed up my cycle? I know live rock is one thing that helps!

What things should I be testing for to decide when I believe my cycle is finished?

What do I do if I get an early hitchhiker while I am cycling? Will it survive in the tank while its cycling if it came off live rock?


I might have more questions but I just need a little help with the basics for now. Thanks for any advice!

Keep us updated...hope to see some pictures of your tank and rock. We are here to help