Cycle ?

[Atg]

i have dry pukani rock and reef grade arag alive sand. is the cycle proccess as long as with live rock?

 

[Steven R]

Dry rock takes about two to three weeks to start getting colonized depending on conditions that you started the tank with. on the plus side you will not have any die off to deal with. It all is really the same time as long as you put some type of live bacteria in the system. Make sure you have a test kit if you do not already to test for ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph. Your ammonia will spike then your nitrite then your nitrate when proper bacteria have developed. Once ammonia and nitrite have zeroed out the bacteria population is adequate to handle the current load of the tank. slowly add fish so you do not overload the system. I would hold off on any sensitive fish/inverts until about four months down the road since the tank will not be strong enough or stable enough to give them the stability they need until this time or even a little later.
Hope this help Steve

 

[Atg]

Dry rock takes about two to three weeks to start getting colonized depending on conditions that you started the tank with. on the plus side you will not have any die off to deal with. It all is really the same time as long as you put some type of live bacteria in the system. Make sure you have a test kit if you do not already to test for ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph. Your ammonia will spike then your nitrite then your nitrate when proper bacteria have developed. Once ammonia and nitrite have zeroed out the bacteria population is adequate to handle the current load of the tank. slowly add fish so you do not overload the system. I would hold off on any sensitive fish/inverts until about four months down the road since the tank will not be strong enough or stable enough to give them the stability they need until this time or even a little later.
Hope this help Steve

the sand said it had live bacteria in it. Should i get some bacteria additive? or will the sand be enough

 

[todd141]

I just put a cocktail shrimp in my tank to start the cycle. I then let the tank cycle for about 4-6 weeks-cant remember exactly as it was about 4 years ago.

I didn't trust any additives. Just started testing about two weeks in.

 

[thewackyreefer]

I would suggest using a bottled bacteria over tossing a shrimp in there. I think you'll be fine with just the sand though.

 

[Steven R]

oh:oh:

I would suggest using a bottled bacteria over tossing a shrimp in there. I think you'll be fine with just the sand though.

I agree

 

[coralhead]

Is there any advantage to using a seperate container for cycling the dry rock? Will a small amount of live rock work as well as fish for cycling? Is protein skimming helpful during the curing process? I'm just starting out with dry rock and I hope this works as far as reef pests in the system go.