Does a holding/ display tank need to cycle?

[JasonBester96]

Hi Everyone, i am new to the forum- Hi!

i am busy importing marines from Indonesia but having difficulty getting info on holding/ display tanks.

The big question i have is - does a holding tank with nothing in it need to cycle? No rock, no sand. I used Seachems Stability and i have filter socks to catch any dust or solids that fall in the tanks and a couple of heaters, but that’s it.

i used Aquaforest reef salt with RODI water

Any advice will be much appreciated!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hi Everyone, i am new to the forum- Hi!

i am busy importing marines from Indonesia but having difficulty getting info on holding/ display tanks.

The big question i have is - does a holding tank with nothing in it need to cycle? No rock, no sand. I used Seachems Stability and i have filter socks to catch any dust or solids that fall in the tanks and a couple of heaters, but that’s it.

i used Aquaforest reef salt with RODI water

Any advice will be much appreciated!

If you intend to hold livestock in them for a decent length of time, then I would assume they need to be cycled. The cycle is for the livestock, not the rock/sand, as the cycle allows the tank to convert toxic waste produced by the livestock (Ammonia) to basically harmless nutrients (Nitrates).

If livestock were kept in an uncycled tank for a decent length of time, then they could potentially suffer some damaging effects from prolonged exposure to high levels of Ammonia.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No tank technically needs to be cycled, but you'll need to be prepared to do frequent large water changes to remove ammonia that accumulates in a tank with little nitrifying bacteria...

 

[Makara23]

What's the emergency? Incorrect use of tag.

You don't NEED to cycle it, but you'll have ammonia issues if it's not cycled. Quarantine/Hospital tanks sometimes are not cycled, but frequent water changes deals with ammonia build up.

 

[JasonBester96]

If you intend to hold livestock in them for a decent length of time, then I would assume they need to be cycled. The cycle is for the livestock, not the rock/sand, as the cycle allows the tank to convert toxic waste produced by the livestock (Ammonia) to basically harmless nutrients (Nitrates).

If livestock were kept in an uncycled tank for a decent length of time, then they could potentially suffer some damaging effects from prolonged exposure to high levels of Ammonia.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Thank you. The fish are mostly all pre-ordered so they will only stay for 5-10 days. I also have Seachem Am Guard for that initial Ammonia shock.

Thank you happy to be here!

 

[JasonBester96]

No tank technically needs to be cycled, but you'll need to be prepared to do frequent large water changes to remove ammonia that accumulates in a tank with little nitrifying bacteria...

Yes, i do intend to do large water changes - thank you for your advice

 

[JasonBester96]

What's the emergency? Incorrect use of tag.

You don't NEED to cycle it, but you'll have ammonia issues if it's not cycled. Quarantine/Hospital tanks sometimes are not cycled, but frequent water changes deals with ammonia build up.

Emergency is - fish are here in 10days and im afraid they’ll all die after acclimation in the holding tanks.

i will definitely do water changes, will also be using Seachems Am Guard to help bind harmful ammonia .
Thank you!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Emergency is - fish are here in 10days and im afraid they’ll all die after acclimation in the holding tanks.

i will definitely do water changes, will also be using Seachems Am Guard to help bind harmful ammonia .
Thank you!

Please understand 2 things --

1. There is quite a bit of evidence that products like Am Guard, Prime, etc DO NOT do anything to reduce/bind/detoxify ammonia.

2. Even if the products work as advertised, ammonia is only converted to ammonium for about 24 hours and then will become toxic again.

Please consider adding some media like Matrix (or even a sponge filter) and a bottle of nitrifying bacteria NOW to start cycling your holding tank. The only other thing you'd need to do is add some fish food as an ammonia source for the bacteria. At the VERY least, continue adding Stability (this is also nitrifying bacteria) as you add fish.

 

[Tired]

5-10 days is long enough to kill fish in an un-cycled tank unless you do quite a lot of large water changes, which is stressful on them. Absolutely at least attempt to cycle the tanks- you may be able to manage it by dosing a good bit of nitrifying bacteria, but you'll need some media somewhere, maybe in your filtration, for it to live on.

I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't you have found this out before ordering any fish?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi Everyone, i am new to the forum- Hi!

i am busy importing marines from Indonesia but having difficulty getting info on holding/ display tanks.

The big question i have is - does a holding tank with nothing in it need to cycle? No rock, no sand. I used Seachems Stability and i have filter socks to catch any dust or solids that fall in the tanks and a couple of heaters, but that’s it.

i used Aquaforest reef salt with RODI water

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Does not need to be cycled but seeded. filter socks entrap small micron particles but does not provide bacteria. Seachem while a bacteria is for establishing culture in a new tank, not necessarily a bare tank.
If youre importing fish or transshipping , you should know this and have tanks prepared ahead of time. These fish go through enough with transport and transfers and if unprepared will simply not make it long term.
You will need to closely monitor ammonia levels and change water frequently.
Typical holding tanks are connected and routed to a central sump or berlin sump and a commercial sterilizer and filter.

Regarding emergency, what others are saying is An emergency is a trauma or crisis situation in which one is losing fish rapidly, tank is leaking, coral suddenly turning white, as examples and these persons warrant immediate help and posting a basic question takes away from those who need immediate attention.
Just a clarification for you as if one day you have a true emergency, you cant get help fast enough and will hope someone is nt posting similar making you wait.

 

[JasonBester96]

Please understand 2 things --

1. There is quite a bit of evidence that products like Am Guard, Prime, etc DO NOT do anything to reduce/bind/detoxify ammonia.

2. Even if the products work as advertised, ammonia is only converted to ammonium for about 24 hours and then will become toxic again.

Please consider adding some media like Matrix (or even a sponge filter) and a bottle of nitrifying bacteria NOW to start cycling your holding tank. The only other thing you'd need to do is add some fish food as an ammonia source for the bacteria. At the VERY least, continue adding Stability (this is also nitrifying bacteria) as you add fish.

Thank you for your help, the tank has been running for about 25 days now. I will be placing Aquaforest life bio in the sump to help the cycle.

Regarding the Am Guard, i am based in Namibia and we have access te very limited stock. Everything needs to be import from South Africa and thats only if they have stock - therefore i use the best available products that i can get. I have orders a bottel on bio-s from Aquaforest to help the nitrifying bacteria on.

once again, thank you

 

[Tired]

25 days of water in an otherwise empty tank doesn't do much. You need somewhere for the bacteria to grow- the glass won't hold enough for more than a few little fish.

 

[JasonBester96]

5-10 days is long enough to kill fish in an un-cycled tank unless you do quite a lot of large water changes, which is stressful on them. Absolutely at least attempt to cycle the tanks- you may be able to manage it by dosing a good bit of nitrifying bacteria, but you'll need some media somewhere, maybe in your filtration, for it to live on.

I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't you have found this out before ordering any fish?

The tanks have been running for 25 days now adding some media from my mature tank to help the process and cycle the tank.

Not rude at all, i do agree with your question. My answer simply is that i did not at all think about this until my holding tanks where built and i realized that im in trouble. Therefore i want to do everything possible to correct my wrong and not place the fish in harms way.

i will definitely do daily water changes and monitor my Ammonia.

 

[JasonBester96]

Does not need to be cycled but seeded. filter socks entrap small micron particles but does not provide bacteria. Seachem while a bacteria is for establishing culture in a new tank, not necessarily a bare tank.
If youre importing fish or transshipping , you should know this and have tanks prepared ahead of time. These fish go through enough with transport and transfers and if unprepared will simply not make it long term.
You will need to closely monitor ammonia levels and change water frequently.
Typical holding tanks are connected and routed to a central sump or berlin sump and a commercial sterilizer and filter.

Regarding emergency, what others are saying is An emergency is a trauma or crisis situation in which one is losing fish rapidly, tank is leaking, coral suddenly turning white, as examples and these persons warrant immediate help and posting a basic question takes away from those who need immediate attention.
Just a clarification for you as if one day you have a true emergency, you cant get help fast enough and will hope someone is nt posting similar making you wait.

Thank you for you in-depth reply. I will be adding media from my mature reef tank to help the process, these tanks have been running for about 25 days now.

all tanks are connected to a sump - please see image. Here is where i will be adding my matured media and adding a large skimmer for extra filtration.

thank you for the explanation on the “emergency” tag. Will definitely keep that in mind.

Planning on monitoring Ammonia and doing water changes accordingly.