Advice to cycle new tank

[Kasey Grohowski]

I have a 220 and I was going to cycle it like this:
First add 220 pounds of live sand
40 pounds of live rock
Add water
Add api quick start cycle kit
Start my refugium in my sump at this time also
Anybody have any ideas or advice on what to do/not to do? Also how long should the cycle process take?

 

[leroy_jenkinz]

Welcome to R2R,

For an 220 you’re going to need more rock or it’s going to look bare. As far as live sand goes some people say it’s worth the extra money to me I just stick to regular sand, run it through some RODI water to wash it then cycle it with the rock. There’s no time line as far as cycle goes. It’s a matter of how fast your bacteria grows and it processes nitrate. I used fritz9 and cycled my 90g in approximately 5 days and that was with 60lbs dry rock/40lbs live

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

Welcome to R2R,

For an 220 you’re going to need more rock or it’s going to look bare. As far as live sand goes some people say it’s worth the extra money to me I just stick to regular sand, run it through some RODI water to wash it then cycle it with the rock. There’s no time line as far as cycle goes. It’s a matter of how fast your bacteria grows and it processes nitrate. I used fritz9 and cycled my 90g in approximately 5 days and that was with 60lbs dry rock/40lbs live

Really? so you can use regular sand and still get proper bacteria? How did you know when your tank was cycled? 0 ammonia nitrates and nitrites?

 

[leroy_jenkinz]

Really? so you can use regular sand and still get proper bacteria? How did you know when your tank was cycled? 0 ammonia nitrates and nitrites?

Yes regular sand will just eventually turn to “live sand” once everything is up and running. Once it’s cycles you won’t have 0 nitrates as nitrites converts to nitrates. There are some good threads and videos on how to cycle a tank I recommend watching those.

 

[reef lover]

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/cycling-a-brand-new-reef-aquarium.542/

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

You've done a skip cycle setup. Read link to see why, the tank is cycled as soon as it's setup due to what you used. Adding more live rock adds more ready rock.