Newbie - Water Changes during Cycling?

[Piscean_Introvert]

Hey there,

Once I complete my aquascaping, and add sand and water, should I do water changes during the cycling phase? Or just add ro/di water as it evaporates the first few month?

Thanks-
PisceanIntrovert

 

[Spare time]

A cycle should take less than a week. Once the ammonia and nitrite is gone (after you added ammonia, preferably ammonium chloride for aquariums and bacteria) then you can do a water change. Change the water as the tank's nitrate and phosphate rise

 

[Conovan]

I just kept mine topped off till I was ready to add fish. I did a series of large water changes (about 80% altogether) 3 days before I added fish because I had managed to rack up heavy nitrates.

 

[Piscean_Introvert]

A cycle should take less than a week. Once the ammonia and nitrite is gone (after you added ammonia, preferably ammonium chloride for aquariums and bacteria) then you can do a water change. Change the water as the tank's nitrate and phosphate rise

My apologies for not explaining better, but I have dry live rock and for what I’ve read and seen in various forums, is that I will need to grow the necessary bacteria’s on the rock before adding fish. Not turning on any lights, Some sites I’ve seen have said a up to 4 months before adding fish like tang, wrasses or clownfish.

Thoughts?

 

[Spare time]

My apologies for not explaining better, but I have dry live rock and for what I’ve read and seen in various forums, is that I will need to grow the necessary bacteria’s on the rock before adding fish. Not turning on any lights, Some sites I’ve seen have said a up to 4 months before adding fish like tang, wrasses or clownfish.

Thoughts?

The key here is to seed the rock. Here is what I would do. This is one of the safest and quickets ways to cycle a tank.

1.Buy some ammonium chloride from dr tims (nitrocycle from algaebarn is the same and brightwell also makes a version)

2. Dose the appropriate amount of ammonia (DO NOT OVERDOSE).

3. Dose nitrifying bacteria (Dr Tim's one and only, Fritz turbo start 900 and Microbacter xlm are the fastest generally speaking and I highly recommend these). Make sure to remove carbon or filter pads.

4. Test ammonia and nitrite. Once those are gone, dose ammonia again.

5. Test ammonia and nitrite, once they are gone, do a big water change (greater than 50% to cut the nitrates down)

6. Get a fish!

7. Seed with other forms of bacteria such as pns probio, dr tims waste away (the gel is very handy), eco balance, reef brite bacteria, or even coralline algae, etc. This will help combat the typical ugly phase that happens in new tanks. Diversity is key.

8. Finished!

 

[Piscean_Introvert]

The key here is to seed the rock. Here is what I would do. This is one of the safest and quickets ways to cycle a tank.

1.Buy some ammonium chloride from dr tims (nitrocycle from algaebarn is the same and brightwell also makes a version)

2. Dose the appropriate amount of ammonia (DO NOT OVERDOSE).

3. Dose nitrifying bacteria (Dr Tim's one and only, Fritz turbo start 900 and Microbacter xlm are the fastest generally speaking and I highly recommend these). Make sure to remove carbon or filter pads.

4. Test ammonia and nitrite. Once those are gone, dose ammonia again.

5. Test ammonia and nitrite, once they are gone, do a big water change (greater than 50% to cut the nitrates down)

6. Get a fish!

7. Seed with other forms of bacteria such as pns probio, dr tims waste away (the gel is very handy), eco balance, reef brite bacteria, or even coralline algae, etc. This will help combat the typical ugly phase that happens in new tanks. Diversity is key.

8. Finished!

So I was looking into purchasing this after doing some reviews:

The MicroBacter Dry Rock Bacteria Starter Kit by Brightwell Aquatics includes:

One 2 oz bottle of MicroBacter QuikCycl Ammonia Nutrient for Fishless Cycle
One 125 mL bottle of MicroBacter Start XLM
One 500 mL bottle of MicroBacter CLEAN

Or could I forgo this and just add a piece of live wet rock?

Thanks-

 

[K7BMG]

No need to do a water change until the cycle is complete.
Top off the water though.

There are excellent Nitrogen cycle threads here on R2R.
Several ways to go about it.

I recommend a fishless cycle. Pick a bacteria additive. Many to choose from as stated in the prior posts.
Add a frozen shrimp from the store, or add an Ammonia concentrate.
DO NOT OVERDOSE THE AMMONIA. again DO NOT OVERDOSE THE AMMONIA.
LESS IS MORE HERE.

Many chose to do a fish in cycle. Seek the experts advice on this method.

Testing will tell you when your tank has cycled, most of the time it is three weeks or less.
World Wide Corals talks about a 4 month cycle but that's for a SPS tank.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
Study the Nitrogen cycle ask questions. Pick a method and follow it. Do not deviate.

Test kit quality, this is a loaded question and everyone has an opinion. There are well over 100 threads on test kits and the best one to use. Many to choose from.
IMO a API Master reef or saltwater test kit for a fishless cycle is just fine.

The cycle is the cycle and it will happen the same every time.
Add bacteria, add ammonia but don't go over 2ppm ammonia. If you wish test for Nitrite. I don't see the need for this.
But some feel its important. I only look for NITRATES. If you have Nitrate you had Nitrite.
If you see your Ammonia drop from 2ppm to .25ppm using an API kit and the Nitrate has bumped up from 0 to 20-30 plus your cycled. Do a large water change matching salinity to bring the Nitrate down to 10 or below and add a couple of fish.
But go slow, remember your level of bacteria is small, adding to much to fast can cause problems.
Clowns are excellent hearty starter fish. I would have no confidence in the person who stated this.
More tanks have started with Damsels and Clowns over every other fish on the planet.

I recommend quarantining your fish.
You just need a few items for a QT Tank. At the minimum just observe them without treating them for a couple of weeks.
Do you research on Quarantining and how to set up such a tank.

 

[MaxxuM]

So I was looking into purchasing this after doing some reviews:

The MicroBacter Dry Rock Bacteria Starter Kit by Brightwell Aquatics includes:

One 2 oz bottle of MicroBacter QuikCycl Ammonia Nutrient for Fishless Cycle
One 125 mL bottle of MicroBacter Start XLM
One 500 mL bottle of MicroBacter CLEAN

Or could I forgo this and just add a piece of live wet rock?

Thanks-

Perfectly fine. I've use BIO-Spira and plan on using Red Sea's tank maturation product on the next tank. You should be done pretty quickly (a couple of weeks).

Aquarium stability takes longer though. Basically, for the first few months you need to go slow, but that doesn't mean waiting months before adding fish. The day after you see your ammonia go to zero and your nitrates above 0 you should be ready to add your first animal. Toss in 1 fish, 1 hermit/snail and wait a week - testing the ammonia levels ever couple of days. If they look good, toss in another animal, wait a week and so on.

 

[Daddy-o]

Perfectly fine. I've use BIO-Spira and plan on using Red Sea's tank maturation product on the next tank. You should be done pretty quickly (a couple of weeks).

Aquarium stability takes longer though. Basically, for the first few months you need to go slow, but that doesn't mean waiting months before adding fish. The day after you see your ammonia go to zero and your nitrates above 0 you should be ready to add your first animal. Toss in 1 fish, 1 hermit/snail and wait a week - testing the ammonia levels ever couple of days. If they look good, toss in another animal, wait a week and so on.

And before you know it you will have 3 tanks running

 

[Spare time]

So I was looking into purchasing this after doing some reviews:

The MicroBacter Dry Rock Bacteria Starter Kit by Brightwell Aquatics includes:

One 2 oz bottle of MicroBacter QuikCycl Ammonia Nutrient for Fishless Cycle
One 125 mL bottle of MicroBacter Start XLM
One 500 mL bottle of MicroBacter CLEAN

Or could I forgo this and just add a piece of live wet rock?

Thanks-

That kit works too. I would do this over live rock

So I was looking into purchasing this after doing some reviews:

The MicroBacter Dry Rock Bacteria Starter Kit by Brightwell Aquatics includes:

One 2 oz bottle of MicroBacter QuikCycl Ammonia Nutrient for Fishless Cycle
One 125 mL bottle of MicroBacter Start XLM
One 500 mL bottle of MicroBacter CLEAN

Or could I forgo this and just add a piece of live wet rock?

Thanks-

That works too. Live rock will also work but I am more of a fan of not using live wet rock since most that I find today lacks a lot of the cool things you get from ocean cultured rock and is concentrated with typical aquarium pests

 

[DS5000]

2wks into my first cycle. I used Dr Tims, and their NH4. Nitrites and nitrates forming, and NH4 slowly decreasing. Question - what if I overdosed ammonia initially - does that just prolong my cycle? stall it? will a large WC correct this?
I am using red sea kit, and ammonia has gone from 2.0 to 1.2 - but who knows if I started at 2 or something higher
thanks!

RS 170 max 45 gal, live sand, carib life rocks

 

[Spare time]

2wks into my first cycle. I used Dr Tims, and their NH4. Nitrites and nitrates forming, and NH4 slowly decreasing. Question - what if I overdosed ammonia initially - does that just prolong my cycle? stall it? will a large WC correct this?
I am using red sea kit, and ammonia has gone from 2.0 to 1.2 - but who knows if I started at 2 or something higher
thanks!

RS 170 max 45 gal, live sand, carib life rocks

If you overdosed ammonia by a lot, you can stall the cycle. Nitrite is toxic to the bacteria that produce it (from ammonia). If it builds up way too high, it can start to kill off these bacteria, leading to the ammonia no longer going down. A water change can fix that but unless your nitrites are off the chart by a lot then I wouldn't worry.