Cycling an Aquarium

[Venzzla]

Are you adding copepods directly to the tank? If so could you point me in a good direction for some research, best ones, how to and the like? I just recently read about them but it wasn’t much and I’m considering it.

Yes I added them directly to the tank with the pumps off. I purchased Poseidon’s feast from algae barn. I could see all the pods moving around. Just need a little phytoplankton too feed them.

 

[Venzzla]

Wait till your parameters are stable and you have something growing.

I did water change and I have 0 ammonium, .025 nitrites, 0 nitrate and pH is 8.0.

 

[Venzzla]

I did water change and I have 0 ammonium, .025 nitrites, 0 nitrate and pH is 8.0.

I will check in morning. Hoping nitrite drops to zero by then

 

[Venzzla]

Wahoooo! party time today! Checked all my parameters this morning and they all were 0. pH was only little off, 7.8 so I added a touch of buffer to bring it up to 8.0.

I will be adding my clowns today! I'm very excited to be adding. So from start to finish it took me a week to cycle with turbo 900.

 

[Venzzla]

I will see where the LFS keeps their pH and adjust to 8.2 if necessary before adding fish.

 

[EHaddad]

What type of rock is it that you are curing? And what process are you using to cure it?

Fritz Turbostart 900 seems to be the best based on the testing I have seen for speeding up the cycle.

The rock I am using is dry Tonga And Aqua Maxx from Marine Depot

I am curing it in salt water with a heater and a cheap pump off amazon to circulate the water.

I

 

[Brew12]

The rock I am using is dry Tonga And Aqua Maxx from Marine Depot

I am curing it in salt water with a heater and a cheap pump off amazon to circulate the water.

I

Are you worried about pulling phosphates out of it? Curious as to why you are curing it.

 

[EHaddad]

Are you worried about pulling phosphates out of it? Curious as to why you are curing it.

Yea was just gonna make sure there weren’t any. I do have some shells and stuff on the Tonga that probably needs to decompose. But none of the Rock was live when I got it all dried.

 

[NoobReeefer]

i cured some pukani (about 100lbs) for 2 months. ghost feeding and adding a little biosprira here and there and adding microbactr 7 every few days. put the rock in my tank the other day and dumped half a big bottle of biospira in there, i also threw in a large frozen shrimp. tonight have zero ammonia, 0.05-0.1 nitrite and about 4 nitrates. the shrimp is still in there btw.
I've never started a tank with cured rock so do i still gotta wait for nitrites to hit 0 before i add a couple fish from my old system? I'm thinking im good, my tank is processing ammonia since its reading zero after 3 days with a fatty shrimp chillin in there. i know i know all the start slow ect.
thanks

 

[Brew12]

i cured some pukani (about 100lbs) for 2 months. ghost feeding and adding a little biosprira here and there and adding microbactr 7 every few days. put the rock in my tank the other day and dumped half a big bottle of biospira in there, i also threw in a large frozen shrimp. tonight have zero ammonia, 0.05-0.1 nitrite and about 4 nitrates. the shrimp is still in there btw.
I've never started a tank with cured rock so do i still gotta wait for nitrites to hit 0 before i add a couple fish from my old system? I'm thinking im good, my tank is processing ammonia since its reading zero after 3 days with a fatty shrimp chillin in there. i know i know all the start slow ect.
thanks

You should be fine to add some fish imo.

 

[Nem0]

Hi guys, I'm currently cycling my tank (a 9g fluval flex)- I used 2 pounds of live rock, more base rock, and 10pounds of live sand. Also used a whole bottle of instant ocean biospira. I've been cycling it for about 5 days now. Once I had everything set up, I added some fish flakes each day for the ammonia kick. Today, my test results are ammonia:0.25ppm, nitrites: 0.5ppm, nitrates: 40ppm. At this point, what should I do? a 20% water change? or let the nitrites and ammonia reduce to 0

Thanks!!

 

[Brew12]

Hi guys, I'm currently cycling my tank (a 9g fluval flex)- I used 2 pounds of live rock, more base rock, and 10pounds of live sand. Also used a whole bottle of instant ocean biospira. I've been cycling it for about 5 days now. Once I had everything set up, I added some fish flakes each day for the ammonia kick. Today, my test results are ammonia:0.25ppm, nitrites: 0.5ppm, nitrates: 40ppm. At this point, what should I do? a 20% water change? or let the nitrites and ammonia reduce to 0

Thanks!!

I would give the tank a few more days then do whatever size water change is needed to get nitrates under 20ppm. It might not need one since the nitrites will impact your nitrate reading.

 

[stanleo]

I’m going to do this cycle the right way. I have ammonia to dose. It’s the same ammonia I used to cycle my freshwater. I dosed the tank today with Dr Tim’s. The bottle was for 120 gallons and used the whole thing so I’m going to dose tomorrow. How much should the initial dose be on 120 gallon tank with a 4 inch sand bed? Is there a calculator on this forum for ammonia dosing?

 

[NoobReeefer]

I’m going to do this cycle the right way. I have ammonia to dose. It’s the same ammonia I used to cycle my freshwater. I dosed the tank today with Dr Tim’s. The bottle was for 120 gallons and used the whole thing so I’m going to dose tomorrow. How much should the initial dose be on 120 gallon tank with a 4 inch sand bed? Is there a calculator on this forum for ammonia dosing?

http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

 

[Sea Pickle]

Great article...Nice job

 

[Why-Me]

@Brew12

My plan is to put my aquascape together and cycle it in a covered 44G Brute can with heater and powerhead for 2-4 months. I bought Reef Cleaners rock, (that doesn't leach phosphate) Fritz Turbo 900 and Red Sea test kit.
I've read through these pages of cycling and I have a few specific questions...

1. What S/G should I mix water to?
2. Which tests do I need to perform?
3. How often do I need to test?
4. How often do I need to do water changes?
5. What % water change should I perform?
6. Should I use an air pump for oxygen since it will have a lid?
7. Will switching salts when going from the Brute to the DT do anything adverse or negative and considered ill-advised? <-----Plan here is to use IO for cycling and RS blue bucket for DT.

 

[Brew12]

I'll be glad to offer my opinion on these.

What S/G should I mix water to?

I would mix it to at least 1.016 and no more than 1.026. If the only goal is to grow bacteria anywhere in this range will work.

Which tests do I need to perform?

The only routine tests I feel are of value are going to be ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. I would be tempted to take an alkalinity and calcium sample at the start and again at each water change but more out of curiosity than anything.

How often do I need to test?

I wouldn't worry about testing too often, especially at the beginning. You have set aside way more time than you need. I am not sure what you are planning for an ammonia source but I would test before and a day after each add.

How often do I need to do water changes?

I'm thinking I would only do one if nitrites test 0ppm and nitrates test over 100ppm. The only other reason I would do one is if the water started smelling bad.

What % water change should I perform?

I would do around 50% if you can set up to do that. It isn't a problem if you uncover the rock for a few hours to mix up salt in small batches.

Should I use an air pump for oxygen since it will have a lid?

Yes, if you are going to keep it covered than a very small air pump would be a good idea. The nitrifying bacteria you are trying to establish are aerobic so an oxygen source will be helpful.

Will switching salts when going from the Brute to the DT do anything adverse or negative and considered ill-advised? <-----Plan here is to use IO for cycling and RS blue bucket for DT.

Nope, no problem with this at all.

 

[Why-Me]

@Brew12
Thank You

 

[NoobReeefer]

@Brew12

My plan is to put my aquascape together and cycle it in a covered 44G Brute can with heater and powerhead for 2-4 months. I bought Reef Cleaners rock, (that doesn't leach phosphate) Fritz Turbo 900 and Red Sea test kit.
I've read through these pages of cycling and I have a few specific questions...

1. What S/G should I mix water to?
2. Which tests do I need to perform?
3. How often do I need to test?
4. How often do I need to do water changes?
5. What % water change should I perform?
6. Should I use an air pump for oxygen since it will have a lid?
7. Will switching salts when going from the Brute to the DT do anything adverse or negative and considered ill-advised? <-----Plan here is to use IO for cycling and RS blue bucket for DT.

i used instant ocean salt cause its cheap, i mixed to 1.022ish just to save some salt, i cured for about 2 months and never tested anything i just ghost fed some big pellets every few days, i also used bio spira and micro bactr7 like every 4 days or so but not a lot. i did 2x 100% water changes in the 2 months my rocks were curing. once i added them to my tank i added more bio spira and some micro bactr 7. The tank was basically already cycled, i tested after 4 days and only had a tiny bit of nitrites and nitrates. i added 3 fish and duped in a big bottle of bio spira after the fish.

 

[Nem0]

@Brew12, i've heard many people say not to use an airpump due to salt creep and what not. what do you think the benefits are of using one? i ask this as I have an extra airpump lying around collecting dust...and was told not to use it! i also have a lid for my tank as well

addditionally, if I'm doing a fish only tank, do I need tests for phosphate, alk or calcium? I have the API test kit and didn't want to get more tubes if i didn't need to!