Fresh/salt cycle

[p7willm]

I am getting close to cycling my new tank, live sand but dead (mined) rock. I dumped a bunch of salt water in and did no water changes. I use Ammonia, from a bottle, to feed the bacteria and now I have a huge amount of Nitrates. I am going to have to do a complete water change to get rid of it.

My question is are the denitrifying bacteria different in salt and fresh water? Since I had nothing living in the tank could I have saved myself the cost of salt that no animal was ever going to use and cycled with fresh water and just put in salt with the change at the end?

Admittedly the cost of the salt is minimal compared to the rest of the stuff, pumps, rocks, sand, controller, tank, etc., but it is a couple of bucks and nothing but the bacteria are using it.

 

[Diesel]

Yes the bacteria are different.
You need to cycle your tank with the correct salt level we call that the NSW.
test id you salt level is what it needs to be and test further for ammonia and nitrite till the cycle is done.
How long is this tank running?

 

[p7willm]

About a month. It will suck up ammonia in a day but the Nitrites are still slow to come down. I just thought about fresh water while contemplating the massive water change when the cycle is done.

 

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

that has some key points that tie in to what you are stating:
-known 30 day submersion period w ammonia boosting
-confirmed ammonia digesting
-nitrite doesn't matter at any stage, and especially now given the first two. that thread is specifically around knowing cycle end dates. you may be at yours

I agree that to cycle in fw and verify, then sw to saltwater w require new ramp up time.