Cycling question

[Heidivee]

Always started a tank from scratch so I know how that works. This time I have a 50 gallon with about 60 pounds of pretty live rock and 40 pounds of live sand. I was going to do a fishless cycle but think with this setup, a fish wouldn't suffer. The filter is a crappy hob one that came with tank but should have a sump set up next weekend. Was also going to seed the filter with material from my 6 month old tank. How long does it take to get the nitrogen cycling done with this set up and would a small damsel or 2 be okay in there?

 

[Timfish]

My guess is your system is already cycled. Test and if there's no ammonia start adding fish and corals.

 

[Heidivee]

My guess is your system is already cycled. Test and if there's no ammonia start adding fish and corals.

My set up is 4 days old. I also grabbed about 15 gallons of water from the tank I got the live rock from. I only tested the nitrates so far which were 0

 

[Timfish]

I've been skipping the initial cycle fo rdecades using live rock. Test but if your live rock was of decent quality you should have skipped the initial cycle.

You may find these links helpful for understanding the microbial processes in reef ssytems

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont

BActeria and Sponges

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"