Beginner cycling questions

[Peli45]

I am here from the freshwater side, and I am building a 55 soon. I have most of the tank planned, and I am wondering how to cycle a tank. It is a 55, and I plan to buy rocks and water from my LFS. So HOW do I do it?

 

[LRT]

What kind of rock do you plan on using?
Wet from established tank thats already carrying a bioload or dry rock from shelf?

Your going to get alot of its useless and harmful to use water from an established tank and all that and it may actually be depending on what kind of system your pulling the rock and water from. One of our lfs sells water from display system full of healthy fish and thriving corals so use your best judgment on that one.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Cycling an Aquarium

Cycling a new aquarium. One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank...

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[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Lots of good info already collected and placed at the top of each forum... Read through the threads I posted and others in the Sticky sections, they will answer a lot of questions for you.

 

[damsels are not mean]

It will cycle similar to in freshwater. With an ammonia source any body of water will eventually cycle, fresh or salt. If the rocks you are buying are wet ("live rock") then the cycle will be very fast or, depending on how well the stuff on the rock survives in transit, essentially instant.

 

[Peli45]

What kind of rock do you plan on using?
Wet from established tank thats already carrying a bioload or dry rock from shelf?

Your going to get alot of its useless and harmful to use water from an established tank and all that and it may actually be depending on what kind of system your pulling the rock and water from. One of our lfs sells water from display system full of healthy fish and thriving corals so use your best judgment on that one.

Wet, and I would like to use dr. tims. The main thing I am confused about is where ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are supposed to be during the cycle. Spesifically, when to dose ammonia?

 

[LRT]

Your looking for a tiny register of ammonia and then back to 0.

However, If your pulling wet rock out of an already established system carrying a bioload- Fish and other critters.
Chances are you won't even notice a cycle or change in ammonia because your rock is already fully cycled and able to carry a bioload.
At this point you should be able to put rock in system with a few hermits and feed them just enough to eat a few times a day for a few days. I use frozen mysis. When I say just enough to eat I'm saying a few small mysis from a cube.

How big is your tank going to be?

 

[LRT]

I would not dose any ammonia. It's not needed for the way you plan on starting this tank. Your buying cycled rock from an established tank all the work has already been done on that level. Your trying to achieve keeping its cycle of life going strong but slowly at first to allow the tank to break in. After a week or so you should be good with a small fish or 2 for a month or so and let your tank grow and adjust.

 

[Peli45]

Your looking for a tiny register of ammonia and then back to 0.

However, If your pulling wet rock out of an already established system carrying a bioload- Fish and other critters.
Chances are you won't even notice a cycle or change in ammonia because your rock is already fully cycled and able to carry a bioload.
At this point you should be able to put rock in system with a few hermits and feed them just enough to eat a few times a day for a few days. I use frozen mysis. When I say just enough to eat I'm saying a few small mysis from a cube.

How big is your tank going to be?

55g

 

[PlumbTuckered]

I am here from the freshwater side, and I am building a 55 soon. I have most of the tank planned, and I am wondering how to cycle a tank. It is a 55, and I plan to buy rocks and water from my LFS. So HOW do I do it?

Make your own water. The water they sell at the fish store is old water from their system. You don't really think they are going to give you new water, do you?

Old water is depleted of crucial elements because the lfs livestock has already used it up. So they make room for new water by selling old.

 

[LRT]

55g

Nice I've setup countless tanks this way with as little as 1 pound per 5 gallons. I'd buy enough rock to build a nice scape and you should be set for life. Slow but steady is the trick. Cycling ammonia out is key. Keeping phosphates and nitrates recordable. Temp and salinity stable and there really is no way to fail. If you plan to keep corals id wait a bit until you get get comfortable and confident enough with testing alk,cal and mag because you will have to dose these things to maintain a healthy thriving tank down the road.

 

[LRT]

Make your own water. The water they sell at the fish store is old water from their system. You don't really think they are going to give you new water, do you?

Old water is depleted of crucial elements because the lfs livestock has already used it up. So they make room for new water by selling old.

I 100% disagree with this statement. This is fully system dependant on the system water is being pulled from. Folks spend thousands of dollars to test, sample and maintain nutrient levels in water column. If water is being pulled from the healthy, thriving system I just described its fully acceptable to use.

 

[Peli45]

Nice I've setup countless tanks this way with as little as 1 pound per 5 gallons. I'd buy enough rock to build a nice scape and you should be set for life. Slow but steady is the trick. Cycling ammonia out is key. Keeping phosphates and nitrates recordable. Temp and salinity stable and there really is no way to fail. If you plan to keep corals id wait a bit until you get get comfortable and confident enough with testing alk,cal and mag because you will have to dose these things to maintain a healthy thriving tank down the road.

I am not gonna worry abt corals for a while, that seems like a lot that I can work on later

 

[LRT]

I am not gonna worry abt corals for a while, that seems like a lot that I can work on later

Good stuff let us know what you end up doing id like to see how everything works out for you.