Got my rocks wet, when can i add bacteria?

Rookums Reef · Dec 17, 2021

Good evening y'all! I'm starting to cure this 120lbs of Marco I got from BRS. I bought a stock tank from the local ag supplier and am curing it. Been wet a week.
When's a good time to add bacteria?
I've got Brightwells microbacteria 7 and the 120g dr Tim's fish less cycle kit. I purchased dr Tim's thinking I would just start the tank with the rock in it. Once I saw the stock tank and did some research, I knew I wanted to cure it as long as possible. What does the reefing community recommend? Just looking to see what the popular opinion is vs the brs videos I've watched, if any. Thanks!

Tamberav · Dec 17, 2021

You can add it right now!

Azedenkae · Dec 17, 2021

Every time I used Microbacter7 I just ended up with perpetual bacterial blooms that basically did nothing for the cycling process and seemed like it just messed things up, so I actually would not suggest dosing it.

But you can dose the bacteria now as you are curing it. Basically cycling the rocks right now.

However, I am unsure if Dr. Tim's nitrifiers will help. In the past year I have seen zero threads in any forum (including Reddit) that said Dr. Tim's worked, and about a thread or so a week saying it does not.

I am sure it won't harm to dose Dr. Tim's nitrifiers, and maybe you'll get lucky, but yeah just thought I'd warn you.

I'd suggest Bio-Spira or FritzZyme. FritzZyme TurboStart 900 is probably best.

Good luck!

Garf · Dec 17, 2021

Rookum said:
Good evening y'all! I'm starting to cure this 120lbs of Marco I got from BRS. I bought a stock tank from the local ag supplier and am curing it. Been wet a week.
When's a good time to add bacteria?
I've got Brightwells microbacteria 7 and the 120g dr Tim's fish less cycle kit. I purchased dr Tim's thinking I would just start the tank with the rock in it. Once I saw the stock tank and did some research, I knew I wanted to cure it as long as possible. What does the reefing community recommend? Just looking to see what the popular opinion is vs the brs videos I've watched, if any. Thanks!

I suggest you buy a tiny bit of live rock and throw it in there with a few flakes of fish food.

Spare time · Dec 17, 2021

Go ahead and dose it. However, I would consider adding a pinch of fish food too just to add something for the heterotrophic bacteria to eat

Spare time · Dec 17, 2021

Azedenkae said:
Every time I used Microbacter7 I just ended up with perpetual bacterial blooms that basically did nothing for the cycling process and seemed like it just messed things up, so I actually would not suggest dosing it.

But you can dose the bacteria now as you are curing it. Basically cycling the rocks right now.

However, I am unsure if Dr. Tim's nitrifiers will help. In the past year I have seen zero threads in any forum (including Reddit) that said Dr. Tim's worked, and about a thread or so a week saying it does not.

I am sure it won't harm to dose Dr. Tim's nitrifiers, and maybe you'll get lucky, but yeah just thought I'd warn you.

I'd suggest Bio-Spira or FritzZyme. FritzZyme TurboStart 900 is probably best.

Good luck!

I have sold probably a over a hundred of dr tims one and only and all of them had worked. I think the issue that people get is related to shipping issues (according to brs as they say that Dr tims, turbo start, and similar are like this. I don't know the details)

Billldg · Dec 17, 2021

You can add it now, Just remember you will have to feed it for it to grow and populate the rock. I also used a large portion of Marco rock in my tank upgrade. It will suck up a ton of N03 and P04, so I would start to feed the bacteria and take N03 and P04 readings.

Azedenkae · Dec 17, 2021

Spare time said:
I have sold probably a over a hundred of dr tims one and only and all of them had worked. I think the issue that people get is related to shipping issues (according to brs as they say that Dr tims, turbo start, and similar are like this. I don't know the details)

That can very well be the case. I think with something like Dr. Tim's that has been so well established as a viable brand over a long period of time now, it'd be weird that suddenly it'd not work for whatever reason. It may be why things like Stability is often reported to work better, just because it may often be stocked on shelves in LFSs than say compared to Dr. Tim's or other products.

With that said, I've never had problems with say FritzZyme TurboStart, even when the product came was not as cool as I normally get it it still works. I guess Dr. Tim's is just more susceptible to shipping (and other logistical) issues than some other products like Fritz perhaps.

Rookums Reef · Dec 18, 2021

Thanks everybody, for the help! Now I've got to navigate around the fact that I just poured the whole bottle of microbacter 7 in 100g. I'm not the smartest fellow at time but I'm thinking if I don't feed it much, I'll loose it. I just got this batch of Fiji and am bleaching it as we speak. Then I'll add it to the stock tank in 2 weeks and we'll see what happens!

mehaffydr · Dec 18, 2021

If your bleaching the Fiji rock you will of course kill everything on it. You are fine with pouring the whole bottle in but totally not necessary. You will still need to feed the bacteria for it to multiply and cover the rock.

Rookums Reef · Dec 19, 2021

mehaffydr said:
If your bleaching the Fiji rock you will of course kill everything on it. You are fine with pouring the whole bottle in but totally not necessary. You will still need to feed the bacteria for it to multiply and cover the rock.

The rock was doa when I got it. Power washed it and giving the bleach soak to make sure it's clean. Then I'll throw it in the stock tank with the rest of the rock to cure. Only food I've got on hand is for a beta. Might hit the lfs up today and get something else to feed the bacteria.

mehaffydr · Dec 19, 2021

You could even through in something like a piece of raw shrimp from the grocery store. thats the way we used to do a cycle. Just need food for the bacteria. The beta food would work too.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 19, 2021

With bacteria in and tank running, you can wait out the cycle or even add a couple FW mollies to the tank to help seed it with waste, eat algae should any form and allow the bacteria to get to work

Dkmoo · Dec 19, 2021

If you have some local reefers in your community with mature tanks, ask if any are willing to take a piece of your rock into their tank for a few weeks to seed. It will seed it some great biodiversity that you can take back to your tank.

I do it often for new reefers in my community.

Rookums Reef · Feb 5, 2022

After 6 weeks, I put all the Marco and water in my tank. I think the bacter7 did nothing! I'm curing another batch of Fiji I've been cleaning and I'm going to use the aquavital bactosprint that I have and see what it does.

mehaffydr · Feb 5, 2022

Why do you think the microbacter7 did nothing?

Rookums Reef · Feb 5, 2022

mehaffydr said:
Why do you think the microbacter7 did nothing?

I guess I was expecting to "Chia Pet" and take off with some sort of growth? I'm sure there's things happening that my eyes can't see! I've got no clue at this point what to expect!

Projects with Sam · Feb 5, 2022

I did microbaster7 & XLM start and to be honest, I didn't see anything going down (or up Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite) till after I added IO Bio-Spira...

mehaffydr · Feb 5, 2022

Rookum said:
I guess I was expecting to "Chia Pet" and take off with some sort of growth? I'm sure there's things happening that my eyes can't see! I've got no clue at this point what to expect!

Yea so you can't see bacteria grow. Unless maybe you would have a microscope and really know what your looking for. You really don't want to see things growing because at this stage the only thing your going to get is maybe some nuisance algae. If you put in the Microbater7 and something to feed the bacteria like small feedings or piece of shrimp, something that will produce ammonia the bacteria is growing.