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Jason mack
Monti madness
You Will have too add an ammonium source too start it .. either by adding ammonia (available at all supermarkets) or by ghost feeding .. you already have good bacteria from the live rock you have used .. but it all needs too balance it's self out ( nitrogen cycle ) I would add ammonia and test get it upto 1 ppm then wait 24 hrs and test .. your tank should be able to 0 your ammonia in 24 hrs . Then you will be ready too add your first cuc (clean up crew) or a fish !! Good luck !!
Jason mack
Monti madness
I would also read this very good article by @Brew12
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/
Jason mack
Monti madness
You will get some die off ( depends on how long it was out of water ) but all you are doing by adding live rock /sand is adding the good bacteria your reef needs .. but no food source for it (ammonia)
The nitrogen cycle is basically turning ammonia which is deadly too fish and corals and invertebrates into nitrites and then nitrates , you don't have enough of these or an unbalance of these in your tank now .. it all needs too stabilize too the point where it will be enough too handle your bioload (fish poop) when you start adding them
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I have a favorite phrase at work. Trust, but verify.
Your live rock "should" have enough bacteria on it to allow you to add fish almost immediately. There is only one way to know for sure and that is to add a source of ammonia and verify it gets converted to nitrates. I recommend this because not all live rock is the same. If you get it online or from a big tub at a LFS you have no idea how long it was wet for or how much ammonia it can process. If it is in a system with a light bioload and a huge amount of rock odds are it will only have a little bacteria in it. If you get it out of another reefers tank then you are probably ok just adding fish. In my opinion it is much cheaper and more humane to verify your tank is ready by either adding pure ammonia or fish food than to just add a fish and hope.
Your live rock "should" have enough bacteria on it to allow you to add fish almost immediately. There is only one way to know for sure and that is to add a source of ammonia and verify it gets converted to nitrates. I recommend this because not all live rock is the same. If you get it online or from a big tub at a LFS you have no idea how long it was wet for or how much ammonia it can process. If it is in a system with a light bioload and a huge amount of rock odds are it will only have a little bacteria in it. If you get it out of another reefers tank then you are probably ok just adding fish. In my opinion it is much cheaper and more humane to verify your tank is ready by either adding pure ammonia or fish food than to just add a fish and hope.
CindyKz
Valuable Member
I am cycling my third tank with good quality live rock that spent very little time out of the water, and I found that just adding a "little" food wasn't enough to really spike the ammonia. I went and bought a large raw shrimp, tied it to a thread, and it is dangling in my tank 
Hopefully in the next couple of days my ammonia will spike up. If that shrimp turns to mush and I haven't seen a spike in ammonia or nitrites but I have nitrates, I'll assume I have enough good bacteria to add a CUC and proceed, as nitrate is the end product of the cycle. I used LR from the same source for my second tank and never saw a really good jump in ammonia, because there was so much bacteria it all got processed rapidly.
Buying straight ammonia is probably more efficient, but be careful that there are no additives.
Hopefully in the next couple of days my ammonia will spike up. If that shrimp turns to mush and I haven't seen a spike in ammonia or nitrites but I have nitrates, I'll assume I have enough good bacteria to add a CUC and proceed, as nitrate is the end product of the cycle. I used LR from the same source for my second tank and never saw a really good jump in ammonia, because there was so much bacteria it all got processed rapidly. Buying straight ammonia is probably more efficient, but be careful that there are no additives.
CindyKz
Valuable Member
Love this!
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Great! Just remember that you are really looking for nitrate. If you see ammonia you have an issue and your live rock wasn't live enough. If you see the decaying food show up as nitrate, you are in great shape.
