Cycling

[Alanna Horn]

How long should your tank cycle before you should get fish?

 

[sfin52]

until no more Ammonia.

 

[Tiger Brown]

Hello and welcome! I'm still a noob in the forum, although I've kept saltwater aquariums for years, and here you will find awesome people with amazing knowledge.

My two cents is that you shouldn't measure your tank cycling by the standard of time, but by testing. There are literally hundreds of threads and thousands of posts on here about the proper way to cycle (fishless vs fish vs dead shrimp vs bacteria in a bottle, etc., etc.) While I do advocate strongly for fishless cycling, the method you choose will, in part, determine how long it takes your tank to cycle. If you fill it with live rock and/or established sand bed, it could be super quick, if you add water and feed an empty tank or put in a shrimp, longer. I would read up on it if you haven't done so already. Here is a good link, but there are so many https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/cycling-a-brand-new-reef-aquarium.542/

Best of luck!!!

 

[beaslbob]

How long should your tank cycle before you should get fish?

depends.

With lotsa macro algae it could be only a week or so. the algae will consume the ammonia directly preventing the dangerous parameter spikes.

my .02

 

[Geebs19]

Agreed, read this
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/cycling-a-brand-new-reef-aquarium.542/

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!

 

[Alanna Horn]

Thanks so much for your help. Just curious, I had 2 clownfish that mysteriously went missing but my inverts are still ok including the shrimp. I tested my water and everything was fine. The ammonia levels are still ok but I have no idea what happened to my clownfish. If you have any ideas on what happened please let me know. Thanks again

 

[lapin]

4 weeks min before any fish or coral.
Look on the floor or under your rocks. They died.

 

[Dimmy007]

Welcome to R2R!!! Definitely follow the link above about cycling.

 

[Alanna Horn]

Unfortunately we already have some shrimp and Bristol star, turbo crab and hermits crabs. Any suggestion on how to get the cycle going without killing all my other friends...

 

[Alanna Horn]

Unfortunately we already have some shrimp and Bristol star, turbo crab and hermits crabs. Any suggestion on how to get the cycle going without killing all my other friends...

 

[Alanna Horn]

Thank you. The tank also has a Bristol star, shrimp, and crabs. Any suggestions on how to get the tank to get into a cycle with life already on it?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

The cycle has already started. The inverts will create waste that will keep the cycle turning. Just feed them a little bit of meaty food and wait it out.

Edit: Also things like Fritz turbostart 900 when you put your first fish back in will greatly reduce any risk of ammonia buildup and help with the cycle.

 

[Tiger Brown]

The cycle has already started. The inverts will create waste that will keep the cycle turning. Just feed them a little bit of meaty food and wait it out.

Edit: Also things like Fritz turbostart 900 when you put your first fish back in will greatly reduce any risk of ammonia buildup and help with the cycle.

I agree, there are several good bacteria in a bottle options to instantly add some good nitrifying bacteria to your tank. I used Instant Ocean's Bio-Spira with good results, and Dr. Tim's always gets good reviews. It can only help.

 

[Alanna Horn]

Thank you again. Would you change out the water while the tank is cycling? Also, do you think it is ok to use nite out every day? I start to panic when the algae builds up, afraid the ammonia gets too high.

 

[lapin]

The algae will consume some of the ammonia. Thats a good thing. I would only change the water if your ammonia gets too high

 

[Aetius]

I am at the point of starting my new tank cycle, but I have to go on vacation or 10 days. Of course, I will unhook all power. I will start with dry rock, live sand and DrTim's one and only bottle.
Question: should I fill up the tank and start the cycling without any power for the 10 days while i will be away? Will that help or make it worse?
thanks.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Just put a small power head in the display. Zero chance of failure and it will give you ten free days of cycling