Cycle

[Isiah1820]

Need advice on cycle. Starting with live rock with lots of life on it and live sand you can get anywhere. I've read in a thread on this site that starting with live rock and sand its possible to skip the cycle process all together? Again new to this.

 

[BeejReef]

"Cycled" is a relative term.
If that rock was kept wet, it is indeed "cycled" and will process ammonia.
It will take days to weeks for the bacteria to spread all over the other available surfaces of your tank and sand though. At that point, the tank will be able to process even more ammonia and handle a higher bio-load.

So, my understanding is that yes, the rock is cycled. That doesn't mean that the tank is ready for six fish though. If you're feeling very eager, it would likely keep two hardy fish alive and happy.

That doesn't appear to be a ton of rock relative to the size of the tank, so a cautious approach would be advised. Just as with all of the other cycling threads, it's easy enough to confirm the cycle by dosing ammonia or dead shrimp. If you choose to do that, you might go easy on the ammonia dose (<1ppm) to avoid injuring or killing any of the life on that nice rock.

 

[Isiah1820]

Got cha. Thanks for the quick reply. And yea I plan on getting more rocks, Looks too empty to me.

 

[Reeftown5]

Yes just keep some ammonia neutralizer handy for a few days and your good

 

[Isiah1820]

Should I store my rodi water mixed or unmixed. Concerned about the salt build up.

 

[Isiah1820]

What do you guys think. This is my first test

 

[brandon429]

You can begin, if the ammonia was green we’d be concerned. Live rock brings in full bac, so that test above/not green and the known bacteria make it ready for start. If it smelled notably that might be a concern, but smells normal can proceed.

 

[Isiah1820]

No bad smell. And I tested the ammonia again and it came out the same.

 

[Isiah1820]

Thanks branden.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed that holding pattern for ammonia means it’s ready. A climb back up to notable change would‘ve been a problem but it’s all set.

 

[Isiah1820]

Soo I got a blue damsel and a cleaner shrimp all for a discounted price to test out the tank. After almost 2 days the shrimp is feeding and active. The damsel was also doing the same but not so much now. I scooped him out and put him in a bucket with air. And he's on his side still moving and breathing. Surprised he didn't do well since there so hardy. The shrimp is still looking good tho.
Zero ammonia
Zero nitrite
10 ppm nitrate
About a 1.22-1.24 on the gravity