Three weeks no ammonia or anything

[Beadz]

Started a 45g AIO tank three weeks ago using live rock from LFS system and bagged live sand. Lights on since day one.
I have had zero measurable levels of ammonia or nitrate.
Should I be adding something?
TIA

 

[brandon429]

A thread tracking pure skip cycle instant reefs, no bottle bac

THE GOLDEN EXAMPLE OF A SKIP CYCLE DAY 1 REEF https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/octo-high-end-sps-skip-cycle-build.713256/ read that entire thread before you read ours. that's the heart of skip cycling. Everything we do going forward in this thread reflects on that ability above, in the #1...

www.reef2reef.com

you're done

 

[crabgrass]

Your tank was likely completed the cycle the second you put the stuff in there. Time to add a fish

 

[Beadz]

Thank you. Strangely the same LFS won’t sell me a fish yet. Said I need to wait at least 4 weeks.

 

[Garf]

Started a 45g AIO tank three weeks ago using live rock from LFS system and bagged live sand. Lights on since day one.
I have had zero measurable levels of ammonia or nitrate.
Should I be adding something?
TIA

Did the rock come from a tank that had been fish free, for a while, i.e fallow (fish wise)? A picture would be good and there is no harm in testing the cycle depending on your confidence that the rock had been residing in the donor tank for a while, with a load. Are you going to go down the fish Quarantine route (also applies to live rock)?

 

[Beadz]

Did the rock come from a tank that had been fish free, for a while, i.e fallow (fish wise)? A picture would be good and there is no harm in testing the cycle depending on your confidence that the rock had been residing in the donor tank for a while, with a load. Are you going to go down the fish Quarantine route (also applies to live rock)?

Yes, in a giant tub that is rock only, but it is attached to a larger system for its water.
Regarding quarantine I’m not sure as I don’t know.

 

[Garf]

Yes, in a giant tub that is rock only, but it is attached to a larger system for its water.
Regarding quarantine I’m not sure as I don’t know.

1st thing on my "to do list" would be to cable tie that temperature probe to a small rock or something, don't want that sticking out into the air, lol.

 

[jda]

They could have told you 4 weeks for many reasons. One might be to make sure that the die-off from transferring the rock is complete, if there was going to be any.

That looks more like wet rock than live rock to me... don't see much film algae or bacteria on there, sponges, coralline (the purple looks like epoxy to me, so my apologies if it is coralline), etc. so there likely was little to no die off. It the rock full of pods, worm, starfish and stuff?

Having some ammonia oxidizing and nitrite oxidizing bacteria is the smallest and most simple function of live rock, IMO. While that rock could/likely be covered in the AOB and NOB, it has not likely spread to any of the tank without any carbon/energy or building blocks so still have some patience and brains when you stock.

 

[brandon429]

Some of that seems to be caribsea dry rock, and some on the end looks like the live rock we used in the skip cycle thread

was all the rock wet when you brought it home, or just some

 

[gbroadbridge]

Started a 45g AIO tank three weeks ago using live rock from LFS system and bagged live sand. Lights on since day one.
I have had zero measurable levels of ammonia or nitrate.
Should I be adding something?
TIA

That looks like Caribsea 'Life Rock' which is not live rock.

The substrate also looks too clean to me to be a cycled tank, esp if lights have been running for 3 weeks.

 

[J_C_Reef]

Started a 45g AIO tank three weeks ago using live rock from LFS system and bagged live sand. Lights on since day one.
I have had zero measurable levels of ammonia or nitrate.
Should I be adding something?
TIA

Dr. Tims turbo start

 

[Garf]

Yes, in a giant tub that is rock only, but it is attached to a larger system for its water.
Regarding quarantine I’m not sure as I don’t know.

You can test the rock by adding a little ammonia, say 1 to 2ppm, then testing the water in 24hrs to see if it's gone. Or if you are going to be quarantining livestock I would just add a little flake food every few days until the fish are quarantined. Quarantine is a bit of a faf so if your local fish shop are doing it for you, that would be great.

 

[Beadz]

Some of that seems to be caribsea dry rock, and some on the end looks like the live rock we used in the skip cycle thread

was all the rock wet when you brought it home, or just some

All came from running rock tubs and taken home wet.

 

[brandon429]

Then the example thread applies. Cycle is done we show, the same hour you placed the rocks in the tank, you selecting a disease prevention plan is the last thing needed to keep your fish alive beyond eight months (an average delay time between setup+skipped preps and someone posting for disease help in the disease forum)

 

[Beadz]

Then the example thread applies. Cycle is done we show, the same hour you placed the rocks in the tank, you selecting a disease prevention plan is the last thing needed to keep your fish alive beyond eight months (an average delay time between setup+skipped preps and someone posting for disease help in the disease forum)

Aside from quarantine (done at LFS/online retailer like Dr Reef/at home) and slow additions…is there anything else I should be aware of and putting into practice?
Thank you!

 

[brandon429]

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

In my opinion that’s the right way unless someone wants to run a dual tank system. The quarantine and fallow isn’t just for the fish initially, it’s for everything wet that goes into the tank

order of stocking is key to less hassle in my opinion. It’s a hassle to run a dual tank setup and fallow every new group of entrants.

 

[LandLockedJones]

Dr. Tims turbo start

Not trying to be rude, just pointing out for newer folks who may stumble across this. These are 2 different products. Both bottled bacteria. And it is not generally recommended to add both to the same tank. (Not that you were suggesting that j_c)

-Dr Tim’s one and only
-Fritz turbo start

Both great options for starting a tank(I hear) I use brightwell aquatics microbacter 7 paired with fastartm. And it is quite slooooow. But effective. Though the newer stuff is easier to find. Think it’s called fastartxlm…I think.

 

[brandon429]

This thread won't use bottle bacteria though

There's a subset of reef tank startups that totally skip the cycle and need no help

If they came home wet from a holding tank at a pet store they're cycled. Nobody in this thread or in all of reefing has ever seen falsely- sold wet rock from a pet store/ not being able to control ammonia.

The perpetual fear of too little bacteria or unready bacteria is the prime aim of old cycling science.

 

[LandLockedJones]

I was recommending its use in this case.

But with the title of the thread a newbie may look at it trying to figure out what to do for their own system. It was probably unnecessary to clarify haha. But it may help somebody someday.

I do like this thought process as well. I did it with my 20 gallon. I think I added 4 pieces of rock. I had to tear it down later because it was literally infested with bristleworms. There were probably 50 or better in a 20 gal tall. However, I never saw any detectable ammonia readings from that system.

I quit dosing brightwell on my 40 gallon system. I only just started up again because I saw it as a recommendation to aid in beating Dino’s during and after a blackout period. Will likely stop dosing it again whether it works or not.