Restart Tank Cycle Process? New Tank Cycling..

[dimik]

Hey,

I've been cycling my tank for 5 days now but did some major changes this morning.

1)I removed a ton of rock.
2)I did a new aquascape with my live & dry rock. Broke into pieces, epoxied together, let dry over night, cleaned rock with RODI & added back to my tank.
3) I removed the sand bed and went with a bare bottom tank.
4) I removed 5 gallons of the water and added 5 fresh gallons.

Do I need to start the cycle process from the beginning because of all these major changes? I was planning on getting my first fish on Saturday but now I feel I should wait longer.

 

[BarSnackz]

You may have prolonged it a little bit, but only testing your water and comparing parameters will tell. If you're looking to add a fish or two in so soon, dump in a bottle of Bio-Spira and test your parameters the next day and you should be good to go.

 

[Funston07]

You may have prolonged it a little bit, but only testing your water and comparing parameters will tell. If you're looking to add a fish or two in so soon, dump in a bottle of Bio-Spira and test your parameters the next day and you should be good to go.

Fully agree with this. If you add a bottle of Bio-Spira you can safely add a fish the following day

 

[dimik]

You may have prolonged it a little bit, but only testing your water and comparing parameters will tell. If you're looking to add a fish or two in so soon, dump in a bottle of Bio-Spira and test your parameters the next day and you should be good to go.

Thanks for the reply & the info! I'll continue testing daily just to make sure it's keeping stable. I ordered the Dr Tims One & Only to add before putting in my first fish. Should I add bio-Spira instead?

 

[BarSnackz]

Thanks for the reply & the info! I'll continue testing daily just to make sure it's keeping stable. I ordered the Dr Tims One & Only to add before putting in my first fish. Should I add bio-Spira instead?

I've never used Dr Tim's before so I can't attest to it. I have used Bio-Spira a few times though, and can wholeheartedly say that it works and was able to add fish the next day.
Hopefully someone can chime in and say weather or not the two products work the same.

 

[Funston07]

Thanks for the reply & the info! I'll continue testing daily just to make sure it's keeping stable. I ordered the Dr Tims One & Only to add before putting in my first fish. Should I add bio-Spira instead?

Basically same thing. I just personally ised Bio-Spira and my tank was cycled by the following day. BRS even says its safe to add a fish immediately after putting it in your tank. Either or will work though.

 

[dimik]

I've never used Dr Tim's before so I can't attest to it. I have used Bio-Spira a few times though, and can wholeheartedly say that it works and was able to add fish the next day.
Hopefully someone can chime in and say weather or not the two products work the same.

Thanks!

 

[dimik]

Basically same thing. I just personally ised Bio-Spira and my tank was cycled by the following day. BRS even says its safe to add a fish immediately after putting it in your tank. Either or will work though.

Thanks! I wen't with the BRS advice from one of their Youtube vids which is why I got Dr Tims

 

[Funston07]

Thanks! I wen't with the BRS advice from one of their Youtube vids which is why I got Dr Tims

They do use both, I just seen their video using Bio-Spira first so thats what I went with. Couple weeks later I came across their video of using Dr Tims. You'll be safe with either or.

 

[twilliard]

To your original question.
I would wait and see what happens with the tank before adding any load to the water. It is easier to deal with issues that will arise if there is no livestock involved.
This will give you the time to balance your lighting schedule and water changes.
Being patient will be the best addition to your tank.

 

[brandon429]

this tank is cycled. the live rock will take over all duties of the uncycled rocks, by far. can run a pre test to prove the condition easily wo having to guess.

 

[brandon429]

removing sandbed does not recycle, we have a large sandbed removal thread for reference. Your cycle is the same as it was; it carries as many fish now, as it did with the live rock alone, because the lr portion is so far beyond in ability to carry bioload even if you remove surrounding surface area- the giant sand rinse thread does show/

you can pre test this prediction since there isnt a bunch of life in the tank:

change most of the current water for new sw, take a pic of an ammonia reading after the change, this is calibrated zero ammnonia/fresh start.
add liquid ammonium chloride to a bare degree of change on a common ammonia test kit, do not dose to 2 ppm, first degree of change very light reading + then stop, take second picture.

re test in 48 hours its back down to first indication level picture, due to the live rock already being ready. the inactive surfaces dont matter, they catch up in a week and would pass this same isolated test on their own. the live rock portion is going to mask the inability of the dry rocks to handle bioload; when you do the calibrated test above, that's what we use to cycle any reef and it applies here just the same. motion down for ammonia = cycled especially when live rocks have added more bac into the mix.

*if those are liferocks, painted ones vs true live rock, then it wont go down in 48 hours it will stay at pic #2 level. liferocks self-activate after about 12 days underwater, no assist required they're painted on goodies.

even if you waited 40 days to test the cycle, its using that calibrated system above, so running it now is the same as running it later-the motion down either happens or it doesnt, no middle ground. if it happens, cycled.