New Set Up...Cycling ?? Pls help!!

[Weehawken64]

I have a Coralife biocube 29. I will be doing a reef tank. I've taken my time and have done as much research as I could have so far. Tnx to all on this forum.
I'm waiting on my life rock(30lbs) & live sand(40lbs). I knw I have extra sand. My questions are..
1)how deep Shld my sand bed be and how many lbs will I need to get that sand bed.
2)I added a koralia 425, and changed return tubing to Eheim tubing. So will I have enough circulation?
3) most important ? is, when I start cycling do I need lights on? Do I need the powerhead on? I added an intank media basket and ill be using chemipure and purigen, so now do I use the media basket w the chemipure and purigen while cycling or do I put it in after tank has cycled?
4)when is a good time to add a cuc?
Thank you all in advance and I ask for all your help!


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[Lovge]

Ill be watching this one I have basically the same setup except my tank is leaking so ill be striping the whole thing down and doing a full resealing. Im also going to be going with the chemipure/purigen media basket mod with an aquaticlife 115 protein skimmer. However im not familiar with the Eheim tubing. what is that?

goodluck with the tank

 

[szutj001]

When you do a cycle you just do a cycle pull out other media. You have the live rock to cycle so your good sand bed you will have to ask people wiser than I......

 

[Weehawken64]

Thanks szut. Lovege I'm sorry you have a leak. Follow along and add in with any info you get


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[mike007]

At this point i would just add the live rock and circulation. You also need a protein skimmer. Some people are adding a dead shrimp to start the cycle,i never have. You will get alot of die off from the rock and you will get a ammonia spike. You need to invest in a good test kit so you can check all you parameters before adding anything. Go slow and let the tank acclimate. As far as the lights you can run them a little each day. If you start getting alot of algae just back them off a bit.

 

[Lovge]

When you do a cycle you just do a cycle pull out other media. You have the live rock to cycle so your good sand bed you will have to ask people wiser than I......

so are you saying u do the cycle with no chemipure/purigen or do you go ahead and cycle it with those in there?

 

[Weehawken64]

Thanks Mike. Do I need to do anything w the live rock when I get it or just put it in? Any idea in a good sand bed depth? Thanks again


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[jedidad]

I would wait till after the cycle to add the chemipure and purigen.

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[mike007]

I am a believer in a dsb 4-6 inches is what i have the best luck with. As far as live goes if it is aready cured it will take less time to cycle. If it is not cured you may get alot of die off which leads to ammonia spike.

 

[Weehawken64]

Thanks Mike. Is there a test kit that covers all that you can recommend?


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[Lovge]

Thanks Mike. Is there a test kit that covers all that you can recommend?


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indeed.. i just spent 2 hours looking at test kits...whats best

 

[mike007]

I like seachem and redsea test kits.

 

[bairdimusprime]

red sea definately offers quality products. IMO the smaller the sand bed the better, i started out with a 3" sand bed and ultimately after time i the bed got seriously disturbed it would lead parameter imbalance issues. i made the change to a 1" bed and never had an issue after that. Good luck and i cant wait to see some build pics!

 

[Weehawken64]

Thank baird. So is the 1" bed deep enough for you critters who like to burrow in it?


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[Weehawken64]

Any opinions on question #2? Thank you.


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[facade480]

If you plan to get wrasse etc 1 inch is def not enough...you need min 2-3 inches. But don't over do it either or u might get too much crap trapped down there

 

[fragmatic]

The deep sand bed option is one of various opinions. I'm not in that camp, it does have advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage in my opinion is after you have your tank up and running, you must not disturb that sand or you will "nuke" the tank. I am in the 1/2 to 1" of sand camp and am rock solid in my feelings about it.

You want all of what ever amount of sand you decide to keep, your live rock (you can add more later if you wish), good correctly salted water, and water flow, while you do the cycle. And yes, you need a test kits to test for pH, NO3, NO2, and Ammonia. While you are doing the test kit purchase thing consider your future needs to have kits for PO4 & KH. Your water will cloud and stay cloudy in different degrees as it goes through a few processes. For your 29 you may simply add a small piece of shrimp, maybe the tail with some meat on it. The water needs to "spoil" just a little. You don't need to filter your water during the cycle and if you do you will have to toss all the media that was in it. You should get a skimmer and then nix the filters, 30 pounds is perfect for live rock and it IS your filter. Your live rock volume will grow as you buy coral that is attached to live rock. I prefer coral that is on LR when I have the choice over plugs.

Another way to cycle is to purchase a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and pour it in and add a clown. I have done both and both work, the Dr Tim method is about a four day process and the other can take from a few days to weeks. Even with the Dr. Tim's process it takes a good while to get a crystal clear tank.

How much lighting is not critical during the cycle. Though I feel that some lighting for daylight hours is a plus and a method to start training your tank into the day night cycle.

Work on getting a refractometer to test your salinity and a way to mix and hold change water in advance. Your change water needs to have flow and temperature control.

Purchase a heater and get it set and your salinity stable before you add any fish or cuc.

You can continue to run your hang on the back filter as a refugium if you wish and I recommend you work towards that concept. It adds more diversity to the reef, and is a reef healthy concept.

At first your tank's eco system will be fragile and just about any kind of change will/can upset the balance. Adding fish, food amounts, etc must be done in slow & tiny increments.

Yes, you can and should add your cuc as soon as you have absolutely cycled and have added a fish. Take it easy on the first cuc quantity at first so they won't starve. You will have to work up the food quantity slowly so the cuc will have something more to eat for a while. By then you will be getting the hang of it all.

Over the next weeks or months you are going to go through some various algae cycles so expect them and embrace them as progressing through processes stages. Just make small adjustments as they come and don't panic, they will pass.

 

[fragmatic]

deep sand critters... yes 1" is enough for some and not enough for others.. sorry.. this is more a questions per species of creature.

brands of test kits.. my opinion... I have several brands.. here is the real life what happens answer:
I use Red Sea as my quality control of test kits.. (second opinion)
I favor actually using my API test kits because they are much quicker and easier to use and clean up (this is human nature). If I suspect a problem I then test with Red Sea or some other brand as a double check.
IF... IF... you always shake every bottle every time before you use them.. I have never had a test kit problem... I "suspect" not shaking bottles has ruined many a test kit's accuracy... and reputation.

 

[Weehawken64]

Thank you very much fragmatic. Much of what you say makes sense to this newbi and much is so foreign lol. I will be using about 30-40 lbs of LR to cycle the tank. A question I have from what you mentioned is...so there is no need for me to actually have the filtration system running/on while I'm in the cycling process? Just use the powerhead? Which if the case I wld only be using the koralia 425 I bout to use in conjunction w return flow which wld be off if you say not to run filtration sys. Did I understand you correctly? Thank yoy


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[jedidad]

Yes just use the powerhead and return pump during cycle. I really like the salifert test kits. Very accurate and easy enough to use plus most of them use powders instead of liquids so they dont expire as quickly.

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