Will I Ruin my Cycle? (Noob Question)

[BeanAnimal]

Frantically searching for reverse.

Not in the slightest.

If I was trying to be snarky or a jerk, it would have been much clearer than that. I Have no issue with you, your trade or your opinion.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I ordered premium live rock. I decided to use ceramic media to supplement the surface area. Why is this the Spanish Inquisition?

@jabberwock, it's not the Spanish Inquisition. When you simply respond with "wrong," or when you respond to someones advice to another poster with "that's not what is recommended by...," then you are asking for more questions. TBS has a guide on starting a new tank with their product. What @BeanAnimal and I have posted follows what they recommend to a T. Maybe that is not how you did it, but that doesn't mean a recommendation from someone else is "wrong" as you like to say. I have been running reef tanks for over 30 years. In that amount of time I have learned that there are quite a few ways to run a successful system. I have also seen people waste a lot of money by over complicating the process.

 

[Brian-222]

I would like to start by thanking everyone for their input and answers to my questions. I would like to say though for someone just starting out my mind is swimming and confused with so many different ways to cycle a tank. I have read each and everyone of your posts in depth and have taken everything into account. I still don't know what the right answer is after nine pages of this thread. The one thing I can say is there is a lot of disagreement on this subject. So, for someone just starting out and doing countless hours of research and asking questions with so many different answers I'm still lost as to what to do. Thank you again though for each and everyone of your answers. I'll have to figure it out.

 

[averagesteve]

I would like to start by thanking everyone for their input and answers to my questions. I would like to say though for someone just starting out my mind is swimming and confused with so many different ways to cycle a tank. I have read each and everyone of your posts in depth and have taken everything into account. I still don't know what the right answer is after nine pages of this thread. The one thing I can say is there is a lot of disagreement on this subject. So, for someone just starting out and doing countless hours of research and asking questions with so many different answers I'm still lost as to what to do. Thank you again though for each and everyone of your answers. I'll have to figure it out.

Yeah, every thread on cycling an aquarium is going to end up this way. There's a few different ways to establish the nitrogen cycle in an aquarium that all work and no one really agrees on what is the best way.

Same goes for algae problems, some will say address the nutrient problems or lighting problems leading to the algae outbreak and add some cleaners, others will say that you need to take down your whole aquarium and rinse the sand for a day and scrub the rocks and then rebuild the aquarium every 6 weeks.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I would like to start by thanking everyone for their input and answers to my questions. I would like to say though for someone just starting out my mind is swimming and confused with so many different ways to cycle a tank. I have read each and everyone of your posts in depth and have taken everything into account. I still don't know what the right answer is after nine pages of this thread. The one thing I can say is there is a lot of disagreement on this subject. So, for someone just starting out and doing countless hours of research and asking questions with so many different answers I'm still lost as to what to do. Thank you again though for each and everyone of your answers. I'll have to figure it out.

Hey @Brian-222, it can be confusing and one thing you can take away from this is there are many different ways to accomplish the same outcome.

I was basing my recommendation on you saying that you were going to use TBS live rock. If you were doing something else, my recommendation would change. That being said, I do think that using TBS live rock is a superior method over many other methods. What I am trying to keep you from doing is mixing methods. TBS live rock is already cycled. It has everything you need. Have you looked at the TBS website for their "The Package?" If not, they have an instruction sheet on how to use their product. Even if you don't want to invest in "The Package," you can still use their method for your tank using their other live rock and sand, if you choose to use their sand as well.

The best advice I can give you is to find which method you want to use and stick with it. Take advice from people who use/advocate for that method. If others make suggestions for a different method, say thanks, but still stick to the method you chose. Otherwise, you will find yourself chasing your tail and spending money needlessly.

 

[Soren]

I would like to start by thanking everyone for their input and answers to my questions. I would like to say though for someone just starting out my mind is swimming and confused with so many different ways to cycle a tank. I have read each and everyone of your posts in depth and have taken everything into account. I still don't know what the right answer is after nine pages of this thread. The one thing I can say is there is a lot of disagreement on this subject. So, for someone just starting out and doing countless hours of research and asking questions with so many different answers I'm still lost as to what to do. Thank you again though for each and everyone of your answers. I'll have to figure it out.

I think the best recommendation that can be offered is the following:
1) Understand that the cycling process is to establish populations of bacteria that break down/process ammonia
2) See the 3 types of methodology I mentioned earlier and determine which method you prefer (you already mentioned TBS live rock? That would be methodology 2)
3) Study/research your chosen methodology specifically to avoid mixing methods
4) Make a plan and try to stick to it

If you want to know more specific information about a type of methodology, feel free to ask (maybe in your own new thread) with a narrowed focus on your chosen method and what you think should be in the plan.

IslandLifeReef just gave essentially the same advice right before I posted this.

Last note: if you are planning to buy TBS rock, I suggest getting recommendations from them for your plan.

 

[brandon429]

I find it amazing that in 2023 we/the hobby/ all cycling umpires/ are not in agreement over basic processes that run our tanks


we are all able to set up reefs that carry life, that's the marker of being cycled. uncycled tanks can't carry life...

its the hindsight analysis where disagreements come into play/do uncycled tanks carry life that acts normal, feeds normal? this is the ongoing evolution.

Add to this fact: there are no formal new articles on cycling science. we all have to wing it because Bingman has not written one/ Randy/the only writeups and podium talks on cycling come from bottle bac sellers with a profit margin involved and that's never going to work for me

its the same as no checks and balances in a governing body to have that bias on the official committee of cycling practices. we might as well have mortgage bankers and real estate persons holed up in the same offices, giving direct $ kickbacks for every successful loan if checks and balances aren't required for reefing procedure.


a HUGE impact in cycling disagreements is that none of us have a formal, nonbiased study to link that isn't easily undone by reading a few web example links. For example: we were recently told from the macna podium by a rather elevated and formal speaker that reef water doesn't contain cycling bacteria. once I saw a web thread of a huge dry reef getting cycled solely off water from another reef, in a couple weeks time, I could no longer accept bottle bac sellers as formal reviewers of cycling methods. checks and balances became necessary

I wish a neutral party chemist would step up and get that article written, and discuss the impacts to cycling that digital ammonia measurements has brought to the table. The sheer consistency in timing they reflect compared to the non shared timing of cycles that non digital test kits show must be discussed before a method is chosen.