How would YOU cycle YOUR tank?

[reefinginBD]

Hey guys, I’ll be setting up a 150 gallon tank and I’m kind of debating on how to cycle it. The problem is that ammonia in a bottle is not available here and I kind of don’t want to cycle the tank with raw shrimp or anything. I plan on cycling the tank with mollies and was wondering how many of them I would need to cycle a 150 gallon tank? I will also dose with bacteria before adding the fish.

 

[Miami Reef]

Dose bacteria and feed a tiny bit. Done.

Don‘t buy live fish to cycle a tank. It’s cruel, and then you’ll be stuck with fish you don’t even like.

What’s wrong with adding a few pellets or a tiny piece of shrimp to a tank anyway?

 

[bushdoc]

Ghost feeding, bacteria from the bottle or cup of sand, rock rubble from established tank.
Leave poor mollies en established tank.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

What kind of rock are you using?

 

[RedoubtReef]

I used established live rock/sand and then just ghost feed with pellet/frozen food.

 

[ReefDreamz]

This is what I did and it worked out well. Started with dry rock/dry sand and didnt have a dino problem.

• Start with lights, UV sterilizer, and skimmer off, and no filter socks.
• Dose 0.5 mL of Nitrocycle per gallon of tank water to achieve an ammonia level of 3ppm.
• Dose 1 oz. (29 ml) TurboStart 900 per 25 gallons.
• Soak a Genesis Rock in PNS Substrate Sauce and add to sump.
• Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate daily.
• Once aquarium has cycled do a water change if needed and add two clownfish.
• Turn on lights for a 6-hour photoperiod at max 20% output.
• Add filter socks and turn on skimmer to break it in but let it drain into the sump.
• Test nitrate and phosphate daily.
• Dose 5280 Pods and Oceanmagik live phyto.
• One week after clownfish are introduced begin dosing AF Life Source mud (20mL of aquarium water and 10ml per of AF Life Source for every 27 gallons).
• Continue testing nitrate and phosphate every 2 to 4 days. If nitrate and/or phosphate gets too low add more bio load (fish), feed heavier, and/or dose NeoNitro and/or NeoPhos. If nitrate and phosphate get too high start collecting skimmate, dose MicroBacter7 (5 ml per 50 gallons), and/or do water change.
• When algae starts to appear on the glass add CUC.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Live rock, and a little food.

Personally now what I do since I keep a bunch of rock in my sump, I just use that to instantly have a chcle in my new tanks. However, I just have to move it across the house into a tank with water at the same specs. If you are transporting it, the die off might cause you to have to wait for the cycle, but also provide ammonia for the cycle.

 

[fish farmer]

I would cycle my tank like l've always cycled. Mix of dry and real live rock. Let the live rock settle in, watch for die off if shipped in newspaper, pick off the die off if it is excessive, run the skimmer. Monitor the cycle for about a month.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Don't cycle with fish. It's cruel, and it isn't even the best method. Real live rock from the ocean will have you cycled in a week or so. If you don't want to do that, dose bacteria and ghost feed. It'll take a little longer, but it'll work.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Been keeping fresh and salt aquariums for almost 20 years, and I've cycled so many tanks, I have never used a live fish to cycle a tank. I just don't get why people would.

The last few years I use bacteria. Before that, I fed fish food to the tanks. Its slow, but thats ok.

 

[brandon429]

you are going to be putting fish food in this tank

so, do a testless cycle that cannot fail using that tool you're already going to use

set up the entire tank with rock

input two pinches of fish food ground into powder

wait 30 days, it's cycled, and no testing is required because this can't fail. there isn't any home on earth in which this arrangement wouldn't cycle, so it's testless, we don't need to verify that which is guaranteed and already tracked a thousand times here.

if you are getting live rock that comes from another holding reef tank, then when you move it over it's already cycled. you get to skip the cycle in this case, transferring live rock does not cause dieoff. cured aquarium rock moves tank to tank just fine, without death. I assume you aren't going to be ordering rock from the ocean, so curing it won't apply
here. if you have dry rock, the testless cycle is stated above. if you have real cured live rock from an aquarium, that's a skip cycle and it's testless because moving rocks doesn't harm anything.

 

[brandon429]

all cycling discussions should immediately begin with fish disease preps

the cycle isn't worth much thought; we just listed two ways you can cycle that can't fail, so you're done with that part.

the reason fish disease controls are important is for reasons you can see when reading the fish disease forum for people who skipped preps. the most impactful thing you can do right now for the health of your reef is read this thread:

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[blaxsun]

Bio-Spira for insta-cycle.

 

[00W]

Each tank I have had I have used rock from an established tank. No cycle necessary.
Always someone getting out of the hobby you can find anywhere unless you live super remote then this won't work.
Get rock leave fallow come back to it when fallow is over and start. You are automatically cycled.
In the meantime you can qt whatever fish you might want to start with.
The rock I have in my tank now is 20 plus years old. I literally filled tank with water got equipment together dunked in rocks and aquascaped and in went first fish next day. No cycling fears at all. I regret my fish choice cuz he really turned into a dick so definitely make good smart choices there.
My opinion on my experience.
Don't know if that helps or if it's what you are into but I've never used dry rock or bacteria so I can't help with that.

 

[brandon429]

00W nice call. that's exactly why for 30 years marine conventions ran without a hitch, hundreds of fully stocked display tanks were ready by a given friday

none were waiting out in the parking lot, for permission from API ammonia to get started.

worried about a partial cycle or a weaker cycle than a 30 day wait? we don't need to be, that's old cycling science ( I know you know this ) new cycling science knows xferring in already live rock is a skip cycle any decade we want to run it. I figure he'll be on dry rock because finding a hundred pounds of wet cured rock is too costly/I could be wrong though and cured rock is certainly better, I'll never own a dry start reef. I'll find cured rock to xfer in or I won't be reefing.

 

[reefinginBD]

Dose bacteria and feed a tiny bit. Done.

Don‘t buy live fish to cycle a tank. It’s cruel, and then you’ll be stuck with fish you don’t even like.

What’s wrong with adding a few pellets or a tiny piece of shrimp to a tank anyway?

I tried that and for some reason, the tank smelled weird :/ will feeding with pellets just once or keeping a piece of raw shrimp for a few days be enough?

 

[reefinginBD]

What kind of rock are you using?

Ill be using dry rock for the display.

 

[reefinginBD]

This is what I did and it worked out well. Started with dry rock/dry sand and didnt have a dino problem.

• Start with lights, UV sterilizer, and skimmer off, and no filter socks.
• Dose 0.5 mL of Nitrocycle per gallon of tank water to achieve an ammonia level of 3ppm.
• Dose 1 oz. (29 ml) TurboStart 900 per 25 gallons.
• Soak a Genesis Rock in PNS Substrate Sauce and add to sump.
• Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate daily.
• Once aquarium has cycled do a water change if needed and add two clownfish.
• Turn on lights for a 6-hour photoperiod at max 20% output.
• Add filter socks and turn on skimmer to break it in but let it drain into the sump.
• Test nitrate and phosphate daily.
• Dose 5280 Pods and Oceanmagik live phyto.
• One week after clownfish are introduced begin dosing AF Life Source mud (20mL of aquarium water and 10ml per of AF Life Source for every 27 gallons).
• Continue testing nitrate and phosphate every 2 to 4 days. If nitrate and/or phosphate gets too low add more bio load (fish), feed heavier, and/or dose NeoNitro and/or NeoPhos. If nitrate and phosphate get too high start collecting skimmate, dose MicroBacter7 (5 ml per 50 gallons), and/or do water change.
• When algae starts to appear on the glass add CUC.

Oooo dang thanks a lot for writing everything out in detail! Would you say that the AF Life Source increased the biodiversity in your tank in any way? Did it help the tank mature faster?
I will use dry rock in the main display. True ocean live rocks from the ocean are not available here, but there is this store that sells wet dry rock which they left in a tank that they ghost feed all the time and those rocks also have copepods on them. I can use this but I am afraid that the copepods will not survive the cycle and that they will not have any food during the cycle. Live phyto is not available here. Or else I will just use bottled bacteria. Do let me know! Thanks!

 

[reefinginBD]

Live rock, and a little food.

Personally now what I do since I keep a bunch of rock in my sump, I just use that to instantly have a chcle in my new tanks. However, I just have to move it across the house into a tank with water at the same specs. If you are transporting it, the die off might cause you to have to wait for the cycle, but also provide ammonia for the cycle.

I will use dry rock in the main display. True ocean live rocks from the ocean are not available here, but there is this store that sells wet dry rock which they left in a tank that they ghost feed all the time and those rocks also have copepods on them. I can use this but I am afraid that the copepods will not survive the cycle and that they will not have any food during the cycle. Live phyto is not available here. Or else I will just use bottled bacteria. Also um do you think that the bacteria from the rock and the copepods would eventually make it into the display tank if I only put the rock into the sump and not the display tank? Do let me know! Thanks!

 

[reefinginBD]

I would cycle my tank like l've always cycled. Mix of dry and real live rock. Let the live rock settle in, watch for die off if shipped in newspaper, pick off the die off if it is excessive, run the skimmer. Monitor the cycle for about a month.

I will use dry rock in the main display. True ocean live rocks from the ocean are not available here, but there is this store that sells wet dry rock which they left in a tank that they ghost feed all the time and those rocks also have copepods on them. I can use this but I am afraid that the copepods will not survive the cycle and that they will not have any food during the cycle. Live phyto is not available here. Or else I will just use bottled bacteria. Also um do you think that the bacteria from the rock and the copepods would eventually make it into the display tank if I only put the rock into the sump and not the display tank? Do let me know! Thanks!