Cycling the tank

pdiehm · Jan 5, 2015

I have pure ammonia. I have close to fully cured dry rock (still in the process of curing).

Should I use the ammonia or shrimp? Or both? Cycling saltwater is different than cycling freshwater from what I've read..

I understand the general premise but there's more involved. Dose ammonia, wait for nitrites to show, dose less. when both are 0, do a large water change, and add your first fish or cleanup crew.

What this means is...I really need to get a move on for my quarantine setup.

143MPCo · Jan 5, 2015

The nitrogen cycle of an marine aquarium is a chain reaction in nature resulting in the birth of various types of nitrifying bacteria, each with their own job to do. Each new bacteria born consumes waste of the previous one, and in turn gives increase the levels of the next bacteria. The three components involved to make this happen are 1st, ammonia (NHÂ³ or NHÂ³+4), 2nd, nitrite (NOÂ²), and 3rd, nitrate (NOÂ³).

In general the nitrogen cycling process usually takes about 30-90 days, but there is no exact time frame for this process to complete, as each aquarium is different. Factors such as how many fish, other livestock, and organic matter is present in the tank can vary the completion time, one way or the other.

Testing your aquarium water during cycling is very important, as this will tell you what phase the aquarium is in at any given time throughout the process.

That all said, if your ammonia and nitrite levels are around 0, you can begin to add inhabitants but, take it slow and allow the tank to adjust for the bio-load.

pdiehm · Jan 5, 2015

143MPCo said:
The nitrogen cycle of an marine aquarium is a chain reaction in nature resulting in the birth of various types of nitrifying bacteria, each with their own job to do. Each new bacteria born consumes waste of the previous one, and in turn gives increase the levels of the next bacteria. The three components involved to make this happen are 1st, ammonia (NHÂ³ or NHÂ³+4), 2nd, nitrite (NOÂ²), and 3rd, nitrate (NOÂ³).

In general the nitrogen cycling process usually takes about 30-90 days, but there is no exact time frame for this process to complete, as each aquarium is different. Factors such as how many fish, other livestock, and organic matter is present in the tank can vary the completion time, one way or the other.

Testing your aquarium water during cycling is very important, as this will tell you what phase the aquarium is in at any given time throughout the process.

That all said, if your ammonia and nitrite levels are around 0, you can begin to add inhabitants but, take it slow and allow the tank to adjust for the bio-load.

I understand how the process works. I just don't know if I need to add pure ammonia or a piece of shrimp.

143MPCo · Jan 5, 2015

pdiehm said:
I understand how the process works. I just don't know if I need to add pure ammonia or a piece of shrimp.

Either, some add pure ammonia and a bacterial starter like Dr Tim's one and only, other go the all natural road and start with shrimp, etc.

heathd.hd · Jan 5, 2015

I went with shrimp on my last tank and it's kinda like driving blind. I would go the ammonia way if I was to do it over again. You can actually control what your doing. Add some than test and watch how fast your tank converts it. When it processes it in a short time. You know your ready.

pdiehm · Jan 6, 2015

heathd.hd said:
I went with shrimp on my last tank and it's kinda like driving blind. I would go the ammonia way if I was to do it over again. You can actually control what your doing. Add some than test and watch how fast your tank converts it. When it processes it in a short time. You know your ready.

That's what I was planning to do, but have been advised to use a piece of shrimp because of the phosphate and carbon release as part of the cycle process. Still need to read up on that.