Hi Brew12, really refreshing to hear someone in the hobby talk sensibly about cycling an aquarium. Great article. I also agree that we need to keep things as simple as possible if we are to eliminate any confusion.
IMO using the word `CYCLE` is perfectly suitable for the purpose of this article. Of course we all know that the biological and chemical cycle within our aquarium is in constant motion. That is just the nature of nature and the temptation of the aquarist in making changes. The context I will use the word cycle any further discussion will be based on the completion of creating an environment within your aquarium that is able to sustain the animals you wish to keep without causing them any detrimental effect.
I have a number of reef tanks, some that I keep as my DTs and some that I use to carry out experimentation. Having so many tanks to cycle I researched a method that would be both simple, relatively quick and most of all successful in creating an environment that would be able to handle my intended bioload.
As a sustainably minded aquarist my particular method also involves using what I would compare as sustainable. So here is my personal method of `cycling` a salt water aquarium.
EQUIPMENT USED (besides the obvious of aquarium, saltwater, return pump, water circulation , heater ect.)
SENEYE MONITOR (buy, beg or borrow), IMO this is the perfect tool to monitor the progress of your cycle. Not only does it graph your Temp,and PH, it will also give you separate readings for NH3 (Toxic, Ammonia) and NH4 (Non Toxic Ammonium) As I understand the relationship between the two, in way of proportionality is relative to the PH of the water. The problem I can see with reagent hobby test kits is they only measure TOC (total ammonia content that why they are generally labeled NH3+NH4. May I at this time point out I am in no way qualified in Chemistry, This is just my personal understanding. If you are unable to obtain a seneye then any one of the hobby test kits will suffice.
BIO MEDIA. To be placed into my sump, or you could put it into any filter. In my case this is Marine Pure Spheres. This is to provide enough surface area for the bacteria to colonise. Please note I only use rock in my aquarium as a means of aquascaping and providing a structure for my animals to inhabit. My personal choice is the man made rock (Reel Reef Rock, from Real Reef Solutions). For me this keeps things nice and simple and clean. I will be certain I am not introducing any other living or dying organisms into my aquarium that I may later regret.
BACTERIAL STRAIN. Live strains of Nitrifying Bacteria suitable fr a marine environment. In my case Dr. Tim Havanec`s One and Only Saltwater.
AMMONIUM CHLORIDE SOLUTION. this is used to kick start the cycle of the bacteria and continue the colonisation of the bio media. If you don`t` want to complicate matters. I can suggest Dr Tims Ammonium solution, again this is the product I use.
SUBSTRATE. This is a personal choice, I prefer to run bare bottom tanks, but if you prefer the aesthetics of sand then please just use some marine aquarium sand, in this case not live sand as this may complicate matters.
ROCKWORK . man made rock suitable for a marine aquarium.
METHOD. This is the method I use , I neither condone or condemn any other method, the choice is yours.
ARRANGE YOUR ROCKWORK (Man made Rock) If you are adding substrate, then I prefer to add the rock first then the sand to overcome any possibility of borrowing animals de stabilising the rock structure. Make sure there will be good circulation around and through the rockwork.
FILL THE TANK WITH SALT WATER. Filling your tank with correct salinity of aquarium salt water. This is an ideal time to calculate your actual water volume. Measure the amount as you add it to your aquarium. Once you have acquired the prefered level, this is the actual water volume of your aquarium with displacement of rockwork and equipment. I suggest you write this number down and keep it safe, In the future you can refer directly to that figure for any other dosing calculations. Bringing it up to temp. Switch on all of your equipment. I suggest you leave the tank run overnight just to check everything is working correctly, that the water is up to temp and any gases or interactions of the saltwater mix have calmed down.
ADD THE BIO MEDIA. This can be added to your filtration device , in my case the sump. Follow the instructions on the packaging to determine the quantity required
TEST FOR AMMONIA, This is your reference. you should be reading 0.0ppm or on a seneye around 0.001 ppm.
ADD BACTERIA. IMO You might aswell use the whole bottle, I have no indication of shelf life once opened.
WAIT OVERNIGHT. Not quite sure if this is necessary, its just a precaution I use. Do not run your skimmer at this point. Your skimmer if you are using one can be turned on after the first 24 hours of cycling.
ADD ONE DROP of Ammonium Chloride per US gallon of aquarium water. Under no circumstances should you test your water and try and achieve the suggested 1.25ppm - 2ppm. Trying to acheive figures using hobby equipment can be very misleading. For now forget about the figures and just concentrate on the correct dosage.
EACH DAY . record your Ammonia and Nitrite content and write them down. Then once again add 1 drop of ammonium per US Gal of water. IME after around 6 days the ammonia levels will fail to rise significantly on your seneye. They will drop back to level of 0.001 within 12 hours. The Nitrite and Ammonia levels on your test kit will read 0.0 and if you test for Nitrate you will have noticed a marked increase. Just to be sure dose one more time and check again the following morning.
SLOWLY ADD LIVESTOCK. If after the next 24 hours your readings are still at 0.0ppm or 0.001ppm seneye. IMO you can now safely start to add the animals to your aquarium, Please take things slowely. IMO add one animal at a time. I suggest you wait between 7 -14 days before each animal is added. Try adding the smaller animals first, just so they can find there security. Never overload your aquarium with animals. Make sure you are sensible about impact that a particular species may have on the Bioload.
These figures are not set in stone. Your figures may not exactly match those above. Don`t` worry about the numbers and just be patient. You are aiming for an end point where you have 0.0 pppm of both Ammonia and Nitrite in your tank. Keep monitoring these numbers on a daily basis until all your animals are settled in.
Thats it, I hope I did not fail to mention anything obvious, please feel free to comment if I did. This is just the start of your fantastic hobby. They are many more hurdles to overcome but don`t` forget to enjoy the experience and gain some knowledge along the way.
and it must be repeatable imo to be legit
