First cycle

[archiedoogs623]

Hey everyone,

I am cycling my first saltwater aquarium. My tag is a 35 gallon cube tank. I have a hang on the back filter. It has been cycling for about a week now I have live rock and live sand in the aquarium. I purchased Turbo start 900 and was wondering if it is too late to put the turbo start in or when the best time to put turbo start in, I have no fish in the tank as of now, but I know a lot of people will put turbo start in and then add fish a day or so after. Just wondering if I am on track to put the turbo star in. I also purchased Dr. Tim‘s ammonia chloride. Should I put that in before I put the turbo start in or put the turbo in and then add fish? Should I just forgo the Dr Tim’s?

Just looking for some advice.

Also, I have not purchased a light yet for the tag because a lot of what I haven’t been reading said wait until the cycle is over to add light. Any recommendations on a budget friendly light will add character to the tank. I do plan on having coral once I get full understanding of my tank.

 

[lapin]

Put the turbo in since you have it. Add ammonia to 2.0 Wait until it reaches 0.0 ( few days), change 50% or more water and your done with the cycle. Live rock prob made the tank already cycled, but since you dont want the turbo to go to waste.

 

[lil sumpin]

Curious where you sourced your live rock and sand from? How many lbs of ea? As a beginner, names like 'liferock' and 'real reef rock' are very misguiding. These products are not live at all

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How did you cycle the tank if you didn't use anything?
What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

 

[Jekyl]

If the live rock you purchased came from an established tank then there's no need for additional products. The cycle you're trying to complete is already occuring.

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Cell]

Live rock = skip cycle

Was this rock that came wet and stayed wet?

 

[archiedoogs623]

If the live rock you purchased came from an established tank then there's no need for additional products. The cycle you're trying to complete is already occuring.

Welcome to R2R!!

Live rock = skip cycle

Was this rock that came wet and stayed wet?

It was Carib sea life rock

 

[archiedoogs623]

Curious where you sourced your live rock and sand from? How many lbs of ea? As a beginner, names like 'liferock' and 'real reef rock' are very misguiding. These products are not live at all

It was Carib sea life rock

 

[Jekyl]

It was Carib sea life rock

That's not live rock. The advertisers make this hard on new reefers. This would be considered dry rock and needs to be cycled properly. Add your bacteria product and follow instructions on any necessity for adding ammonia.

 

[archiedoogs623]

How did you cycle the tank if you didn't use anything?
What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels

That's not live rock. The advertisers make this hard on new reefers. This would be considered dry rock and needs to be cycled properly. Add your bacteria product and follow instructions on any necessity for adding ammonia.

Understood. So turbostart then ammonia chloride if necessary?

 

[Jekyl]

Understood. So turbostart then ammonia chloride if necessary?

The turbo should do its job no matter what. The ammonia is used as a tool to prove so.

 

[Bruttall]

Hey everyone,

I am cycling my first saltwater aquarium. My tag is a 35 gallon cube tank. I have a hang on the back filter. It has been cycling for about a week now I have live rock and live sand in the aquarium. I purchased Turbo start 900 and was wondering if it is too late to put the turbo start in or when the best time to put turbo start in, I have no fish in the tank as of now, but I know a lot of people will put turbo start in and then add fish a day or so after. Just wondering if I am on track to put the turbo star in. I also purchased Dr. Tim‘s ammonia chloride. Should I put that in before I put the turbo start in or put the turbo in and then add fish? Should I just forgo the Dr Tim’s?

Just looking for some advice.

Also, I have not purchased a light yet for the tag because a lot of what I haven’t been reading said wait until the cycle is over to add light. Any recommendations on a budget friendly light will add character to the tank. I do plan on having coral once I get full understanding of my tank.

If you used Live Sand your tank is most likely cycled already. Easy way to test is to put some flake food into the water and tomorrow test for Nitrates, if you have Nitrates, your cycle is complete, Congrats. Go get a fish.

 

[Jekyl]

S

If you used Live Sand your tank is most likely cycled already. Easy way to test is to put some flake food into the water and tomorrow test for Nitrates, if you have Nitrates, your cycle is complete, Congrats. Go get a fish.

Sand makes very little difference when it comes to the bacteria needed for the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Cell]

S
Sand makes very little difference when it comes to the bacteria needed for the nitrogen cycle.

To the surprise of many:

Actually, I'm getting good results with bagged "live sand". Three different bagged sand products (including this one) are all eating ammonia & nitrite as well or better for me than most bottled nitrifier products.
Wasn't what I expected.

 

[Bruttall]

 

[Jekyl]

Saying that it helps isn't wrong. However it doesn't do near the job the rocks do.

 

[Bruttall]

S
Sand makes very little difference when it comes to the bacteria needed for the nitrogen cycle.

Really? You know the water in the bag of "live sand" is there to keep the bacteria wet. Nitrifying Bacteria can live for up to a year as long as it stays wet. And I did a 12 day chemical free no bottle bac cycle using live sand and dry marco rock, you can track the dates on page 2 of my build thread, Picture of rock work in tank no water on 4-10 and on 4-22 I migrated my 75g into my 300g cuz it was cycled.

 

[Bruttall]

Saying that it helps isn't wrong. However it doesn't do near the job the rocks do.

buying live rock will work also but look at the risk of invasive hitchhikers. Dry rock is way cheaper, and the Nitrifying bacteria is easy to jump start. Drawback is you need a Coralline "seed" rock to add to your tank using the dry rock method.

 

[Jekyl]

Really? You know the water in the bag of "live sand" is there to keep the bacteria wet. Nitrifying Bacteria can live for up to a year as long as it stays wet. And I did a 12 day chemical free no bottle bac cycle using live sand and dry marco rock, you can track the dates on page 2 of my build thread, Picture of rock work in tank no water on 4-10 and on 4-22 I migrated my 75g into my 300g cuz it was cycled.

That 12 days was the time needed for the rocks to start taking effect. If sand made a significant difference you would have been able to add fish on day 1. As is seen when people use products like turbo start.

Not saying live sand is a bad thing, it isn't. Without the rocks though the sand wouldn't be enough to sustain fish for an extended period.

 

[Jekyl]

buying live rock will work also but look at the risk of invasive hitchhikers. Dry rock is way cheaper, and the Nitrifying bacteria is easy to jump start. Drawback is you need a Coralline "seed" rock to add to your tank using the dry rock method.

There's no hitchhikers out there that outweigh the benefits of mature rock in my opinion. Everything you may encounter has a means to be dealt with.