Frag Tank Setup Question

[reefpeeper]

Hello all. I have recently setup a frag tank that i will mostly grow zoas in. I will be putting marine pure biospheres in sump and also a marine pure block. Question is do i have to cycle the tank. Or will dumping in some water from my established tank get some bacteria in there to colonize the marine pure stuff? How soon can i put frags in tank? What is you guys experience?

 

[Flatlandreefer]

Put the marine pure blocks into the established tank to get colonized for a week or so and then put them in the frag tank. This would be similar to starting up a fish qt with a sponge filter.

 

[leepink23]

Hello all. I have recently setup a frag tank that i will mostly grow zoas in. I will be putting marine pure biospheres in sump and also a marine pure block. Question is do i have to cycle the tank. Or will dumping in some water from my established tank get some bacteria in there to colonize the marine pure stuff? How soon can i put frags in tank? What is you guys experience?

I too put marine pure in mine, I also added water from main tank. I added bright wells bacteria and have been feeding daily. I took some sand from the main display and put in Tupperware and placed in sump. I have 1 fish so far, with plans to add a second Friday. Probably 2 weeks total. I don’t plan to add Corals, albeit sps, for a few months

 

[andrewey]

Yes, you will still have to cycle the marine pure- you're simply building up a large enough bacteria colony to process ammonia.

In theory, assuming you didn't feed the coral, there's a good chance you could get away with putting the coral in a sterile container and the surface area of the rock/frag would likely cover any waste products (how most people are able to get by without rock at confrences/frag swaps). However, since there's a chance you may introduce a fish or decide to feed your coral, it's probably best to cycle your marine pure so you have flexibility later on and avoid any ammonia spikes.

I would simply put the marine pure in your DT for a week or two, then move it and your new coral over. You should likely be good as long as you don't overfeed your frag tank at first.

 

[reefpeeper]

What about using something like Dr. Tim's One and Only or Biospira?

 

[reefpeeper]

What about using something like Dr. Tim's One and Only or Biospira?

Anybody used this stuff

 

[Uncle99]

biological bacteria covers the hard surfaces, there is limited bacteria in the water itself.
Using Dr Tim’s is supposed to seed the bacteria and you certainly can use that, but I still would put those MP spheres in your DT to capture some of your existing bacteria to transfer.

in my case the frag tank still took about 3 months before I could put in corals, it still went through the ugly stage but I was carbon dosing which seemed to shorten the ugly period.

Just last week, I put in some softies, some GSP and 9 Florida Ricordea.