Cycling tank with reef roids?

[reefer81]

Is is possible to start your cycle with reef riods as your ammonia source?

 

[Tired]

Since reef roids will decay and produce ammonia, sure. But it's messier than dosing ammonia, and much less precise.

 

[reefer81]

I figured, I’ll just order some dr.Tims then, unless house hold ammonia would be just as good?

 

[Tired]

Household ammonia can work, if it doesn't have any other additives. You can look up what brands people use safely. I don't know them off the top of my head, but I know they exist.

 

[tankstudy]

It's better to order a known concentration. I've seen folks use household ammonia brands but you have no idea how much ammonia is initially poured in to the tank which can lead to a lot of troubleshooting problems down the line.

 

[reefer81]

thats true, better safe then sorry.

 

[KrisReef]

Is is possible to start your cycle with reef riods as your ammonia source?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!
Good luck with the cycle and start-up.

 

[reefer81]

Thank you!

 

[Steph1]

I think you will sycle the tank, but you will also end up with a ton of phosphates to fight down

 

[brandon429]

Dr reef pointed out adding carbon via some type of feed along with ammonia for a complete feed, this was in his huge bottle bac thread. After reading that I like to pass it along add both a little and it will work great. Agreed on algae fuel above just a little for carbon is fine via any feed

 

[reefer81]

Later in the cycle if/when algae blooms will part of that be from phosphates?

 

[Tired]

Algae will bloom in new tanks, especially on dry rock. Phosphates may make it a bit worse, but you're going to have an ugly stage until the tank starts to find a balance and begins to establish populations of non-pest algaes. When the rock starts turning colors other than white, that means it's growing a population of slower-growing algaes (which need nutrients to grow) that will gradually help to outcompete the opportunistic pests.

When you see a decent bit of algae, add a good cleanup crew. Check out ReefCleaners.com for some ideas. You want lots of snails, maybe a couple hermit crabs if you like those. Pull out long tufts of hair algae by hand (snails can only eat short stuff), keep your nutrients reasonable (NOT zero), and ride it out.

 

[reefer81]

Sorry new to a lot of this, should I be adding anything to be keeping the nutrients where they should be?

 

[Tired]

Once you have the tank fully cycled, the ugly stage will still be in full swing. Assuming you add and start feeding livestock, those will release nitrates and phosphates, which will probably be enough to keep the nutrients reasonable. Just feed your fish (fish, singular, only add one once the cycle is done) once a day, and you should be good.

 

[reefer81]

ah! Thanks for the info!