Any advice you would give on cycling?

[User 28262454]

About the start my first cycle and I really would like it to go well. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on some common mistakes that I should avoid, any things that will greatly help me be successful etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chrisv.]

I really like to monitor nh4, no2 and no3 every day while cycling and plot the data. Oh. Here is a tip: no2 cross reacts with no3 test kits, so while you still have high nitrite, you can't reliably test for nitrate.

Also, consider adding at least some live rock. Can be from an established tank. It will make things way better.

 

[mehaffydr]

Be patient
Be Patient
Be Patient

Really it seams like most new people test constantly and are always way over concerned about test colors.
If you are using bottle bacteria put it in add ammonia source and just let it go. It will cycle and in 3-4 weeks you will be good to go.

If you can get some REAL live rock that would be the best thing you can do.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Get some seeding material from another reefer that quarantines all their arrivals and/or quarantined live rock.

A scoop of sand, a handful o cheato if you have a refugium, and a piece of rock help wonders.

Bottled bacteria will help speed the process up substantially.

 

[Dbichler]

As others have said add to 2ppm ammonia then add bottle bac you can’t use too much. No need to test anything for the first couple days. Make sure you use rodi right from the start. Start testing about 3 days in you should see nitrites at that point and by day 7 you should see ammonia dropping once it 0s out do a large water change to get nitrates down to 5. Don’t add clean up crew first they will starve anyways a lot of reefers will say add them before fish I believe that’s a mistake add one fish first or 2 if tank is bigger than 50 gallons. Not big fish though and don’t add anymore for another 4-6 weeks to let your tank build its bio filter. Adding anything too fast can crash this and you’ll end up with problems.

 

[Chrisv.]

My pro-testing stance is based on the fact that there is not a lot to do when you first set up a tank, and testing will keep you engaged if this is a first tank. It will also teach you about cycling first hand, and that not all cycles are the same even if their outcomes are the same. Finally, it will keep you from adding fish too soon.

 

[Dave1993]

buy live rock and skip cycle is my advice

 

[Chrisv.]

buy live rock and skip cycle is my advice

Unless it's established live rock they should be probably still go through the motions of testing.

 

[ectoaesthetics]

Even with the best LR you will go through a cycle. The difference is that you will have a more diverse microbial plaque in the end and that your tank will be more stable.

I agree with the person who listed patience three times! I also am a FIRM believer in adding what you can that will increase bio diversity in your microbe world. If you have access to a cup of sand from a tank you trust I would add it for SURE. Also a turkey baster full of detritus from a trusted tank works as well. I also feel like chaetomorpha is a great way to add bacteria -even if your tank can't really sustain the chaeto and it melts.

IF you do have access to real live sand or detritus from a trusted tank PLEASE feel free to skip ANY of the bacteria in a bottle products out there. If you do not it is a viable way of moving your tank through the cycling process. I have also REALLY played with the idea of adding dead clam or muscle to the tank rather than shrimp or fish food... Since they are filled with bacteria. However, I have never done it.

 

[brandon429]

How to find testless live rock for skip cycling: go to any pet store


find the holding bin of rock in water, there will be things like coralline, pods, various pigments of color, algae possibly, all attached. Buy this rock, take it home, set in your tank, you just skipped the cycle and it cant fail. Not at any time does bringing home pet store rocks result in dieoff or a mini cycle, it's already cured for tank use. No testing is needed this way.

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

This is a testless cycling thread, we don't want ammonia testing here for any job if possible, because we are teaching reefers/readers that moving live rocks system to system does not restart the cycle: many in our community don't understand that rule and feel that any tank being setup simply...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

All reef conventions are ran by live rock transfer skip cycling, and no vendor demo booths have mini cycles coming or leaving the convention

 

[Dave1993]

Unless it's established live rock they should be probably still go through the motions of testing.

Yea mb i should have probs stated Cured live rock

 

[Duncan62]

About the start my first cycle and I really would like it to go well. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on some common mistakes that I should avoid, any things that will greatly help me be successful etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Natural cycle with live rock is almost instant when algae scrubber or growing refugium is in place. Be patient with a fake chemical cycle. It can go on and on.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

About the start my first cycle and I really would like it to go well. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on some common mistakes that I should avoid, any things that will greatly help me be successful etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Diver harvested live sand and ocean aquacultured base rock shipped submerged will provide diverse beneficial microorganisms for a successful new tank, no bottle bacteria needed.

 

[GK3]

About the start my first cycle and I really would like it to go well. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on some common mistakes that I should avoid, any things that will greatly help me be successful etc. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Use ammonia not fish.
Provide a bacteria starter
Wait

everyone tries to rush the cycle and tries to do it in 1 day. Just wait, it’s nature, let it do it’s thing.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Cycling a tank is way more than just establishing the nitrification/denitrification process. It is really about establishing the basis for all nutrient processing in the tank. True live rock and sand cultured in the ocean mixed with a big helping of patience is the best recipe for dong that. KP Aquatics and Tampa Bay Saltwater are two places that supply good, ocean cultured, live rock.

 

[jrill]

Watch Dr Tim's videos

 

[3429810]

Natural cycle with live rock is almost instant when algae scrubber or growing refugium is in place. Be patient with a fake chemical cycle. It can go on and on.

What is a fake chemical cycle? How would an algae scrubber or refugium make any difference to cycling live rock? This is a fresh tank so the scrubber will have no algae and a refugium wouldn’t have any nutrients to grow even if you bought chaeto.

 

[Timfish]

Patience.

Quality maricultured or wild live rock to establish sponges essential for reef ecosystems as well as introducing microbial stuff you can't get in a bottle, and it's never too late too add some.

Patience.

I don't bother testing at the beginning but as this is your fisrt system test pH, alkalinity and magensium to esptablish benchmarks and become familiar with how the chemistry fluctuates.

Patience.

Did I mention patience?


Here's some links to check out while while you're being patient

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont

BActeria and Sponges

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[User 28262454]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies!
To start off unfortunately I cant get live rock as I already bought dry because I found it really cheap. I can add a bit of sand and water from a small saltwater (I could add maybe 1 peice of live rock from there, it would only be 1-2 pounds though) tank if that would help.
Would this sort of process work( I’m the kinda person who can’t do anything without a plan lol)
-add water,sand,rocks
-add bacteria
-add amonnia
-wait 3 days then test (should I test ph alkalinity etc at this point too?)
-Continue daily testing
-once ammonia hits 0 do large water change( total tank volume is 91 gallons how large of a water change would you recommend?)
Anything I’m missing or got wrong?
Yes I will definitely be very patient with thr whole thing and not add any fish for a month or montb and a half. At what point do I know the cycle is fully finished?

Once again thanks for the replies they are very helpful!!