Confused about my tank cycle

AoD · Jan 17, 2019

I’ve had my new system up for a week now and I used Caribsea Life rock and live sand. I have no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates still. Do I have to introduce some sort of food source for the bacteria to live? When can fish be added? The cycle is confusing to me as I always thought the whole reason for it is so the bacteria can build up to sustain a bioload. But from the way I started my system, I should have a healthy population of bacteria already. Please help, I’m a noob.

therealman1 · Jan 17, 2019

I went to the local supermarket and bought a raw coctail shrimp and there it in the tank. This shrimp will be broken down by your bacteria into ammonia, which will in time make other bacteria thrive that will break the ammonia down into nitrite. Finnaly, that nitrite will be broken down to nitrate which is removed with a water change. Once both ammonia and nitrite reach zero you can do your first water change to lower nitrate. I would add a small clean up crew, wait a week or so, then add fish.

AoD · Jan 17, 2019

therealman1 said:
I went to the local supermarket and bought a raw coctail shrimp and there it in the tank. This shrimp will be broken down by your bacteria into ammonia, which will in time make other bacteria thrive that will break the ammonia down into nitrite. Finnaly, that nitrite will be broken down to nitrate which is removed with a water change. Once both ammonia and nitrite reach zero you can do your first water change to lower nitrate. I would add a small clean up crew, wait a week or so, then add fish.

Thanks for the reply! So basically you’re saying, no matter how you start your aquarium, you have to make it nasty before it becomes stable?

therealman1 · Jan 17, 2019

Exactly, after this bacteria cycle, you will experience an alge cycle. For this it would be best to let it run its course besides attempting to throw dosing and more agle eating critters at it.

Geebs19 · Jan 17, 2019

Have you read this yet?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/

AoD · Jan 17, 2019

With all that being said, why would anyone(me) start a system with live sand and life rock instead of dry rock and sand if it has to go through a nasty period anyway? Did I waste money by going the way I did?
Thanks for the help

DaveNJ · Jan 17, 2019

Drop 4 flakes of fish food in a day until you spot ammonia in your daily tests. Keep feeding an imaginary fish daily---and 5 days after you fail to provoke ammonia, you are cycled... 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite. Test your Mg, Ca and KH too and have them at the correct steady numbers. At this point you can add ONE fish