New Tank Cycle

[fernalfer]

Help me understand this process. So i will be doing a fishless cycle. I bought 100lbs. of Marco Dry rock. I was going to go with dry sand as well. I have a few telling me i should throw in a few pieces of live rock to help the process along. Then have some saying don't because they could have potentially bad hitchhikers. Which one is it? Also what chemicals would i be using to help this process along and do I ghost feed as well?

 

[WVReefJunkie]

The difference between the two is the time for the cycling process to end. Put a piece of raw shrimp in the sump if possible, then wait for ammonia to raise around 2ppm then introduce nitrifying bacteria out of a bottle to break ammonia down. Will probably take you a estimated 4 weeks to finish the tanks cycling.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I did the fishless cycle. I used dry rock. I threw in a raw shrimp to get the bacteria going. It made a funny smell so I removed it. I added pure ammonia to the tank to get the ammonia to 2.o. I fed the tank pellets for my normal bioload and I put them into a mesh bag so I could keep them from getting in the rockwork. My cycle took forever, id say between 10-12 weeks. The benefits are awesome having no hitchikers or unwanted algae is incredible.

 

[inetjnky]

Check out my cycle thread. I did the same thing you are doing. Read it all the way through. I'd do the same all over again.

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Cycle-question..,.213966/

 

[fernalfer]

Check out my cycle thread. I did the same thing you are doing. Read it all the way through. I'd do the same all over again.

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Cycle-question..,.213966/

Thank you will read through it

 

[saltlife757]

If you use "live sand", that will already have the beneficial bacteria in it. That will help turn the dry rock into live rock. But the turn around time is just what has been said already. Go through your ammonia spikes and eventually everything will go back to 0. Every tank is different. It may take 1 week, it may take 4+. Just do your water tests and you will be fine

 

[fernalfer]

If you use "live sand", that will already have the beneficial bacteria in it. That will help turn the dry rock into live rock. But the turn around time is just what has been said already. Go through your ammonia spikes and eventually everything will go back to 0. Every tank is different. It may take 1 week, it may take 4+. Just do your water tests and you will be fine

Thats the other question i had. Is using live sand ok?

 

[saltlife757]

Thats the other question i had. Is using live sand ok?

Absolutely. I'd always use live sand over dry sand. The people at your LFS should have bags of it.

 

[ontop27]

I still cant believe live sand makes a difference. Those bags say good for a year or two..how is anything staying alive in a sealed bag in cold temps for a yr?

 

[fernalfer]

I still cant believe live sand makes a difference. Those bags say good for a year or two..how is anything staying alive in a sealed bag in cold temps for a yr?

You pose a very good question......

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I still cant believe live sand makes a difference. Those bags say good for a year or two..how is anything staying alive in a sealed bag in cold temps for a yr?

bacteria are amazing.
look up bacteria antarctic. we also find them in rocks deep in the ground as well as the volcanic thermal vents in the deep deep deep ocean. Space probes are looking for the tell tale markers of cyano on comets and mars.
But try to get a fresh bag if you can

 

[fernalfer]

When you say fresh bag you mean bags. About how many bags of live sand would I need for a 120 gallon? And how can you insure how fresh the bags are.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

When you say fresh bag you mean bags. About how many bags of live sand would I need for a 120 gallon? And how can you insure how fresh the bags are.

haha yes bags. Look at the dust on the bag and sometimes algae growth in the corners and how much traffic at the LFS.
Sand depth is a personal preference and sometimes a technique. I would guess 2 20lbs would probably give adequate coverage for a shallow. You can add another if it doesnt cover the way you want.
Stay away from oolte super fine unless your going dsb.
I personally believe shallow should be vacuumed and dsb takes care of it's self mostly.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/

what to do with new live sand



my interest was the bacteria question regarding liquid storage

there for sure is a finite date that bottle bac, or bagged bac, or even cross contaminated bac will live in aqueous soln without even extra nutrient support. toss in just a bit of extra nutrients, that time frame ranges. Water vessels will transport and sustain bac that aren't even suited for our tanks, bac loves water mostly.

entire industries exist just to keep water solutions free of bac, not to keep them alive within it, that's the easy part. since we are trading in aerobes, leave a little air gap at the top of that water soln and the bac inside can go a long time, past the due date I agree there would be some loss

-interesting changeup there, however. What is the fuel these guys want....ammonia. if bac dies next to bac, and rots, emits _____ammonia in the container


even the bottles are self sustaining for a while


the adaptive nature of bac has them doing things we'd not assume

here is the best formal study ive seen on bottle bac. extrapolates to bagged and moderately wet pack sand exactly the same:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/8/review

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Help me understand this process. So i will be doing a fishless cycle. I bought 100lbs. of Marco Dry rock. I was going to go with dry sand as well. I have a few telling me i should throw in a few pieces of live rock to help the process along. Then have some saying don't because they could have potentially bad hitchhikers. Which one is it? Also what chemicals would i be using to help this process along and do I ghost feed as well?

and yes the hitchhiker thing is kinda true. what you looking for is a bacterial seed(if we didnt make that clear) the live rock has bacteria but sometimes un wanted algae and bad bugs possibly. Matter of choice. bagged live sand has Canned bacteria. as does dr t's
Here is the best write up of the second fastest cycle I know of.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/somewhat-odd-fishless-cycle.221327/
FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. Im new to the school of DR T. and haven't done it yet. west coaster i suppose. we want an app for that.
keep in mind it needs to grow and mature.