Brand new, could use some help with cycling Info!

[Richie1898]

So I just got my fluval 13.5 nano tank setup with instant ocean salt (perfect salinity). I have live sand and live rock also. Yesterday I put the correct dose of Bio-spira to help the cycle start. And today I added some of Dr.Tims ammonium chloride solution to my tank. I have my temperature set properly and the filter running also. When should my cycle start and could I do anything better to help my tank?

 

[lapin]

The cycle is started the minute you added water to the rock.
With live rock and sand you should have a great bacteria population in no time.

 

[El_Guapo13]

Welcome to R2R!!! What questions specifically do you have? Here is the sticky thread that is all about cycling.

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...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

 

[Jsimon]

Welcome!

 

[brandon429]

if you assembled exactly as mentioned, your cycle is already done. moving live rock among tanks never downscales it, the same bac just ride over, and cycling is about building up bacteria.

post a pic of your rocks.

liferock, which is not live, represents about 50% of all cycles we currently see, the other 40% is dry white rock, and 10% is true live rock that needs no cycle prep. live sand is also fully ready.

 

[Richie1898]

Welcome to R2R!!! What questions specifically do you have? Here is the sticky thread that is all about cycling.

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...

www.reef2reef.com

I’ve had freshwater since I was little and decided this is definitely the time. Basically I’m asking how long after adding my bacteria (bio-spira) and adding ammonium chloride should I test my water to see progress and thank you! I’m super excited for this tank

 

[Richie1898]

if you assembled exactly as mentioned, your cycle is already done. moving live rock among tanks never downscales it, the same bac just ride over, and cycling is about building up bacteria.

post a pic of your rocks.

liferock, which is not live, represents about 50% of all cycles we currently see, the other 40% is dry white rock, and 10% is true live rock that needs no cycle prep. live sand is also fully ready.

 

[Richie1898]

Here is where it’s at currently. I added one more small piece of live rock in the right corner because I wanted the space filled a tad more

 

[brandon429]

we are making cycle progress (off pics, not test kits thats ironic)

so if thats real live rock, it came from a vat marked live rock at the fish store and in that vat was animals like pods, little shrimp, worms, sponges, algae and things attached in places, real coralline, that tank is 100% completely cycled.

but, it could be painted liferock....it comes from a shelf. its dry usually when you get it

how was that rock when you bought it/sourced it from

 

[Paulie069]

So I just got my fluval 13.5 nano tank setup with instant ocean salt (perfect salinity). I have live sand and live rock also. Yesterday I put the correct dose of Bio-spira to help the cycle start. And today I added some of Dr.Tims ammonium chloride solution to my tank. I have my temperature set properly and the filter running also. When should my cycle start and could I do anything better to help my tank?

I’m at work in ocean right now but can’t wait to get home so I can read your post here I’m not gonna even fully look now gonna save it for home looking forward to it

 

[Richie1898]

we are making cycle progress (off pics, not test kits thats ironic)

so if thats real live rock, it came from a vat marked live rock at the fish store and in that vat was animals like pods, little shrimp, worms, sponges, algae and things attached in places, real coralline, that tank is 100% completely cycled.

but, it could be painted liferock....it comes from a shelf. its dry usually when you get it

how was that rock when you bought it/sourced it from

It was in a huge filtered tank with hundreds of pieces. Got soaked digging for these chunks lol. I have water test from yesterday and everything was normal. Ammonia was zero and so was nitrates

 

[brandon429]

we have a cycled tank it cannot be a wrong call. to be mega technical you need to identify actual inclusions on your rock to seal the deal...but imagine how much bad luck you'd have to endure to show up to lfs, they have all that machinery running but only for rocks formerly dry just added a day prior (so they wouldnt be ready) and in the end they sell something fake labeled as live.

I cannot imagine such a series of events lol based on known history alone

but to seal the deal, its a single fanworm attached and sticking out. a living accreted animal takes orders longer to adhere than filtration bac, when underwater.

or real coralline, coralline seals the deal. anything with coralline on it is cycled. coralline takes months to plate onto

or algae of any time/ little corals that might be attached. something scummy and slimy feeling, all that is proof of nitrifying bacteria though we cannot see those without specialized gear. we can infer them via known order of ops for reef building organisms and associates.

do you have any growths of life at all on your rocks

 

[Richie1898]

we have a cycled tank it cannot be a wrong call. to be mega technical you need to identify actual inclusions on your rock to seal the deal...but imagine how much bad luck you'd have to endure to show up to lfs, they have all that machinery running but only for rocks formerly dry just added a day prior (so they wouldnt be ready) and in the end they sell something fake labeled as live.

I cannot imagine such a series of events lol based on known history alone

but to seal the deal, its a single fanworm attached and sticking out. a living accreted animal takes orders longer to adhere than filtration bac, when underwater.

or real coralline, coralline seals the deal. anything with coralline on it is cycled. coralline takes months to plate onto

or algae of any time/ little corals that might be attached. something scummy and slimy feeling, all that is proof of nitrifying bacteria though we cannot see those without specialized gear. we can infer them via known order of ops for reef building organisms and associates.

do you have any growths of life at all on your rocks

There is growths I can confirm, it’s started to come to life after a couple hours of water being reintroduced

 

[brandon429]

when you brought it home from the pet store did you have it in bags etc

whats it's out-of-water history

massive delay, if any, outside of water will not kill the bac it can stress inclusions like worms. the bac are 100% set here, we're wrapping up the final part I bet it was transported normally.

my own live rocks can be held in the air for 30 mins or more right now if needed, they're darn tough. you'd have to be directly mean on purpose sustained to harm your live rock in moving home to your tank.

 

[Richie1898]

when you brought it home from the pet store did you have it in bags etc

whats it's out-of-water history

It came in large clear bags with some water, then after a couple hours of sitting it went right into the tank

 

[brandon429]

This is cycling 2020, some aquariums are simply ready and they transfer ready, thats how nearly all tanks at huge marine aquarium conventions get set up, without a cycle, successfully.

its not that you have to buy more things, bottle bac, or wait for testers to line up (they dont read right lots of times, we can see live threads today showing as much) you simply proceed on tanks like this one.

whatever you envisioned for the start of the tank/can do.

your thread is now on page one of the microbiology of cycling thread where we loathe aquarium test kits lol but relish cycling via inclusions.

 

[Dragon52]

 

[brandon429]

one other trend I wanted to notate was to spend 30 mins reading all posts on front page of the fish disease forum, its amazing nowadays what happens if we add marine fish without some sort of prep protocol/fallow time/quarantine etc.

thats a main reason I dont keep fish I just like dense coral and invert systems but I know you'll want some swimmers

your tank is ready for starter corals, thats pretty cool. some snails or something all easy starts for sure. we're not being crazy on the assessment, that rock is old or it would be all white, no attachments, and from a shelf

that your tank shows up at home ready is hard to believe--but not if we attend a marine aquarium convention where 450 aquariums some 500+ gallons are set up just like yours with complete full running reefs and twenty fish. setup in one day, sustained as long as you want the convention to run.

were it not for marine aquarium conventions everything we are doing would sound like lunacy and it still does to 90% of readers lol.

 

[brandon429]

if you would buy some snails or a starter coral or whatever you wanted to add and update us, this thread can be made to be really useful in new upcoming cycle works

we have several examples of people skipping cycle time by using bottle bac, their systems were dry starts.

your example is live rock transfer skip cycling, the ends are the same for both your tanks though the rocks are different in origin (wet vs dry) and thats an amazing progression for today's cycling, we are barely closing the door on a firm rule that all reefers must wait for 30 days to start. its now possible to opt out of that former requirement.