Tips for Cycling. Please!

[lennyd4]

Hey, I just set up a 65 gallon saltwater fish only tank. I have an eheim canister filter, 1050 hydor powerhead, bak pak DP protein skimmer, 50lbs of marco key largo dry rock, and 40 lbs of live sand. Early next week I will also be picking up a 4 oz bottle of Dr Tims Nitrifying Bacteria. My question is, will that bacteria have anything to feed off of in the tank. Should I do anything else for the cycle besides wait? Thanks for the information in advance!

 

[Viva'sReef]

Toss in a raw shrimp

 

[Wy Renegade]

Here's a link to a thread on cycling that may help you out;

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/new-hobby-sw-beginner-forum/57100-back-basics-cycling-new-tank.html

 

[Saltgator]

Is the live sand from another tank or is it the kind from the store sealed in a bag? If it is the bagged type, usually there is dead and alive bacteria in there to start with in those. I would use the live sand w/ the dry rock and a bac additive and just watch your levels. Please don't rush. I burnned myself years and years ago by rushing. I just cycled a 125 with marco rock and sand using sechem stability and about 50 lbs of LR I already had in another system.. Using a bac additive helps speed things along, but you still may have to go the entire ride of 4-6 weeks depending on the cycle and it's process. Good luck

 

[lennyd4]

Yes, I used the live sand in a bag from the store. I will be adding 2 oz of Nitrifying bacteria next week. I have all dry marco rock and no live rock at all. If I add that nitrifying bacteria, will it even have anything to feed off of? I have no plans of rushing this process, I understand it takes 4-6 weeks and am prepared for that, just so I have a succesful tank. I dont' want to mess anything up just from being impatient. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Saltgator]

It will feed off the dead bacteria within the bag. You should be fine. I would just watch the levels. Look for the spike, then a water change is due, and last stable readings on your tests. FYI... wash the marco rocks well. I didn't the first 2 and had a cloud of dust. Regular water wash and you'll be good. Let us know if you need anything. Most of us have done this atleast twice (or like me.... a bunch).

 

[lennyd4]

I am going to have to abuse your brain t hen for information haha. Thanks for everything. When should I do my first water change and how often? Also how often should i be testing? I have Mardel 5 in 1 test strips and then an ammonia test.

When should I start to expect any readings in ammonia? Just started the tank with everything in it on tuesday? So I guess early next week minimum?

 

[Saltgator]

I would check right now every 3-4 days. The water change is due when the levels spike from nothing to almost off the chart. Your test kit is fine, but I would recommend a better test kit once your ready for fish and/or corals. The strips can be a bit hard to read or give faulty readings time to time. I would test next week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (just an idea). I would also keep this schedule until the readings become spot on. No problem with questions, glad to help. I didn't have this great site when I started. Trust me, I learn or research something new each day.

 

[lennyd4]

That's funny, I was thinking the same thing when reading the test kit.." hmm is that a tint of pink or not!!" Its frustrating haha I always ask for second opinions. What kind of water changes are we talking about? 10% or just whatever will get me below maybe .3 ppm Ammonia?

 

[Saltgator]

I would start with 10 percent and go up if needed. Yep, those test strips can be tricky. :wink:

 

[Rockadile]

see i am of a different opinion on the water changes. When i cycle a tank I typically do not do any water changes until after the cycle, wait another week, test again and if everything comes back clear do a 10% water change.
I personally felt it was just a waste of time and resources to do a water change during a cycle period.

 

[lennyd4]

Alright well next week I will test all parameters and cross my fingers AMMONIA haha.

 

[fish&corals]

see i am of a different opinion on the water changes. When i cycle a tank I typically do not do any water changes until after the cycle, wait another week, test again and if everything comes back clear do a 10% water change.
I personally felt it was just a waste of time and resources to do a water change during a cycle period.

+1 u can take out your bio load out when you do a water change to soon .. your wanting it to grow .. i would wait for a water change and do one in 4 weeks after set up date IMO .. just take it slow .. as long as you put a dead shrimp in there and it turns red you will start to see the cycle ..

 

[ReefMP]

You could do the shrimp thing but it's not necessary. I've never cycled a tank with any raw shrimp, pee (still can't believe people do this), or live fish. If you have LS and some uncured LR in the tank, that's enough to get the cycle going, you just have to be patient. I've cycled quite a few tanks over the years with this approach. I'm also in agreement that you don't have to do a water change during the cycle, wait for the cycle to complete (~4-6 wks), you'll know by testing when your parms stabalize. After the cycle, add a small fish or 2 and let the system stabalize to the new bio load. Do a 10-15% water change....keep repeating this process, adding livestock very slowly and monitoring. Most of us have made the mistake of rushing...go slow and you'll be OK. Try to stay away from all the stuff out there that claim to speed up the process, they almost never work. Good luck.

 

[bct15]

I've never used live fish, dead shrimp, or any other cycling additive. All I use is some live rock, live sand, and some flow. I recommend whatever you do, do not try to rush it. Take your time and do it right the first time, you will not regret it. I agree, water changes are nit necessary during the cycling period. Also, don't run your lights during your cycle.

 

[lennyd4]

Ok I have 40to lbs of Marco dry rock so next week I will check parameters and see how it is. Thanks for info.

 

[Raggamuffin]

best advice I can give is let it sit, and then sit some more. if you were useing live rock keep amonia under 1ppm since there is no live rock let it buck. dry rock will take MUCH longer to cycle keep that in mind, it will slowly leach nasties far longer than LR. my guess is it will cycle for a minimum of 8 likely closer to 12 weeks, the reason being that the spike you see at first will not be the total so you end up having low levels for longer. in order to counter this you can wait until the first major spike has past and just go grab a few rubble pieces and tuck them in somewhere.

 

[lennyd4]

yea i had a feeling it would take a while, but I have live sand and my LFS gave me a few pieces of corraline algae plates, so I am hoping they help it a little bit.