Soooo New ...I need advice with my brand new aquarium
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Bleigh
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im not convinced that the bacteria is what set up the tank so fast. I honestly think it was the live rock. I got from a store that’s about 10 minutes from my house. They have about 6 giant troughs of love rock that waterfall into each other, so it must have already had tons of good bacteria in it. But I’d be remisced if I didn’t make the point that I used bacteria too. It may have been a combination of things that made mine cycle so fast. Or perhaps one out weighed the rest. the bacteria will colonize naturally either way. My main point is that there’s not a set timeline. It could be 2 days or it could be 2 months. The end point is nitrates and 0 ammonia and nitrites even with addition of an ammonia source
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Goose91
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Welcome to r2r gary!
I started with live rock too and was rather unsure how to start as the lfs told me to cycle but got conflicting info here. Basically if you truely have live rock, theres no need to cycle. As the bacteria that nitrifies the ammonia that the fish excrete are already present. If there is no bacteria then you have to cycle to create that bacteria, which takes 30 days. And if you add fish before its cycled, they will dienof ammonia poisoning. So as others have said, abd to be safe, and sure, dose asmall amount of amonia and food, and with all your testing you never see any ammonia or nitrites but see nitrate then your ready to add live stock. But start slowly. Only add a few critters as you dont know how much bacteria you have or how much bio load your new tank can support.
But welcome to the hobby and r2r. This place will get you itching to make your tank everything youve ever dreamed of! Its just so dang hard to patient...
I started with live rock too and was rather unsure how to start as the lfs told me to cycle but got conflicting info here. Basically if you truely have live rock, theres no need to cycle. As the bacteria that nitrifies the ammonia that the fish excrete are already present. If there is no bacteria then you have to cycle to create that bacteria, which takes 30 days. And if you add fish before its cycled, they will dienof ammonia poisoning. So as others have said, abd to be safe, and sure, dose asmall amount of amonia and food, and with all your testing you never see any ammonia or nitrites but see nitrate then your ready to add live stock. But start slowly. Only add a few critters as you dont know how much bacteria you have or how much bio load your new tank can support.
But welcome to the hobby and r2r. This place will get you itching to make your tank everything youve ever dreamed of! Its just so dang hard to patient...
The Aquatic Arsenal
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What bottle of bacteria did the LFS give you? If the rock you got was alive, and along with alive sand, you should cycle pretty fast. One thing that may slow it up is if you have any die off from the live rock.
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P-Dub
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Gary!!!! Welcome!!! Additionally, go here...
The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
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GaryM1966
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Thanks GooseWelcome to r2r gary!
I started with live rock too and was rather unsure how to start as the lfs told me to cycle but got conflicting info here. Basically if you truely have live rock, theres no need to cycle. As the bacteria that nitrifies the ammonia that the fish excrete are already present. If there is no bacteria then you have to cycle to create that bacteria, which takes 30 days. And if you add fish before its cycled, they will dienof ammonia poisoning. So as others have said, abd to be safe, and sure, dose asmall amount of amonia and food, and with all your testing you never see any ammonia or nitrites but see nitrate then your ready to add live stock. But start slowly. Only add a few critters as you dont know how much bacteria you have or how much bio load your new tank can support.
But welcome to the hobby and r2r. This place will get you itching to make your tank everything youve ever dreamed of! Its just so dang hard to patient...
Wayne P.
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And ugly tank syndrome can last a while, don't get disappointed or rush things. Oh and Welcome to R2R.I added bacter 7 (Brightwell) every 2-3 days and fed 1x per week testing 24 hrs after feeding.
Do expect ugly stages with Algae, cyanobacteria and diatoms which is brown film. All part of new tank establishment
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