can i ask a cycling question - sorry!!

[LilElroyJetson]

Have you added any live rock or substrate? Will help your problem and also get the bonus of biodiversity. I ended up adding about 10lbs of rock from 3 different local stores and 2 lbs of crushed coral from their shark tank

Definitely good to have more surface area for bacteria to colonize but getting live rock or substrate from other established tanks does run the risk of introducing unwanted hitchhikers to the tank. A lot of people don't care and welcome the surprise critters, but some of them aren't such a pleasant surprise sometimes. Just something to note.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Unfortunately I’m in rural Ireland so my choices are limited

Ah, I understand. Keep us posted!

 

[Jekyl]

Got the idea from Lasse or Paul B. Basically 90% of what you get is beneficial vs 10% that could be bad. The good outweighs it and the bad can always be dealt with if it pops up.

 

[Jekyl]

That being said my main source happens to run separate systems for every tank and doesn't medicate any of them. Nothing beats a good LFS that actually cares about their livestock. Getting some substrate from a 5 year old shark tank has to be a positive thing for any new tank

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Got the idea from Lasse or Paul B. Basically 90% of what you get is beneficial vs 10% that could be bad. The good outweighs it and the bad can always be dealt with if it pops up.

I respect Lasse and Paul B's approaches to their tanks, they've been in this hobby much longer than I have. However, if you've ever had a tank overrun by aiptasia, and no number of peppermint shrimp or filefish could keep up with it, you might question if you really wanted to run that 10% risk. Eventually, your dry rock will have all the beneficial stuff you need without the added risk. Just my opinion. There is no single right way of doing things around here. Many people have success following varying approaches. And many people define tank success differently.

 

[Bigboned]

The LFS that has live Rock is over 2 hours away and it’s not easy to look it over first either so I went with safe and long winded!

 

[lapin]

The LFS that has live Rock is over 2 hours away and it’s not easy to look it over first either so I went with safe and long winded!

Bobs your uncle and fanny's your aunt.
Perfect choice

 

[Bigboned]

Thanks everyone

 

[Ferrell]

I’ve cycled two tanks with dr Tim’s and ammonia cycle was minimal and moved right into the nitrite/nitrate cycle. Still took about 5 weeks to fully cycle

 

[Bigboned]

progress is being made!!