Dry rock microorganism seeding

[swiss1939]

I am starting with dry rock and a bag of live sand and will cycle tank with dr. Tim's one and only. My question is given dry rock start and a bag of live sand, will the live sand provide starter culture of microorganisms like amphipods?

If not, what are some good products to get to seed my tank with beneficial organisms besides the bacteria? I'm aware of amphipod packs, but are there other packs to seed a tank with things like bristle worms or anything else beneficial?

 

[F i s h y]

The best way in my opinion to get additional biodiversity is to find local reefers with established tanks and get small peices of rock from them. This comes with dangers of un intended hitch hikers and previous medication use, so know who you are dealing with and ask questions

 

[andrewey]

Most of the time, those bags of live sand aren't really "live" or at least not like a cup of real sand from someone's tank. Beyond the packs you mentioned to increase diversity, you have a couple options. One would be to put a piece of live rock in the tank after it's finished cycling, another is to add a couple spoonfuls of live sand from a tank you trust is pest free. There are other options including saving beneficial hitchikers before you dip, but the easiest is usually to get from a trusted reefer and QT if you're worried about harmful organisms.

 

[swiss1939]

Anyone have experience with this pack that includes worms copepods, amphipods and some other stuff?

: : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : :

Indo-Pacific Sea Farms produces captive-bred marine life for healthier reef aquariums: invertebrates, detritivores, live sand, snail grazers, amphipods, beneficial worms, macro algae, plankton, corals, coral food and beneficial bacteria.

www.ipsf.com

 

[swiss1939]

Just finally got my tank set up and adding water slowly over the last few days. This got me wondering if it is a good idea to start the tank during cycling with a copepod seeding using one of these kits? Given I am starting with completely unseeded tank with dry rock and a bag of live sand, would the seeded copepods be able to survive in this tank and feed off what little exists in it?

 

[andrewey]

I would wait and add copepods after the cycle. This will avoid die off due to ammonia spikes and ensure they have enough food to survive on after the cycle is completed and you start get algae growth.

 

[swiss1939]

Perfect! Exactly what I wanted to know. This will be my first stocking after cycle.

 

[csb123]

I recommend Garfs grunge from Garf.org. Don’t worry about the archaic website. They’ve been around a long time.