What do I need to cycle my tank?
- Thread starter jaycee123
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Sabellafella
7500 Club Member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Reef Squad Emeritus
Reef Master
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,593
- Reaction score
- 12,048
Wait till black friday brs sells rodi units for like 100 dollars u can legit make fresh pure water for ur house everyday, for now juss make sure yu get the water from ur petstore usually $1.00 a gallon in newyork were i m
Sabellafella
7500 Club Member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Reef Squad Emeritus
Reef Master
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,593
- Reaction score
- 12,048
I was supposed to start a buildthread today for a redsea 450, but shippin crate was too big for store nd couldnt grab a truck intime so i had them ship it out to me for friday, im gunna post everything from start to finish ,hasnt ben a thread yet so hopefully this can inspire u and everyone who wants to take a shot at it
I have to add to the get a RO/DI unit.
Yes you can buy water from a local fish store. But the time you have a late night emergency you will be glad you bought a RO/DI unit or pulling your hair out calling all the reefers you know to get water.
Yes you can buy water from a local fish store. But the time you have a late night emergency you will be glad you bought a RO/DI unit or pulling your hair out calling all the reefers you know to get water.
20 gallon nano
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2015
- Messages
- 265
- Reaction score
- 55
Yea rushing into it will just get you to waste your money if your going to upgrade to something better when its possible. First thing is to just get sand salt salinity checker and rocks to cycle your aquarium. U can go with a simple water conditioner to remove the bad stuff in the water that isn't good for fish. Cycle it for about few months while the bacteria developes. Then while it's cycling you can add equipment. U need bacteria to remove bad nutriants that fish produce.
Live rock will definitley cycle you quickly.
If you go dry rock route (no pests), just use some bacteria in a bottle like dr tims.
some of the carib sea live sand has bacteria packets as well.
as others stated, an rodi unit is ideal to make your water.
if you can buy all the kits, great. however you can get by with just a simple ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kit for the first couple months.
just dont add fish til the tank has cycled.
how do we know it has cycled?
well just add an ammonia source to the tank. can be any source. fish food flakes, salad shrimp that decays, windex, pure ammonia etc.
then test daily for ammonia. once it hits 0 stage 1 is done. then test nitrites. once it hits 0 after a couple weeks you will have nitrates.
do a 50% wc if nitrates are above 20ppm+ and add fish.
good luck
If you go dry rock route (no pests), just use some bacteria in a bottle like dr tims.
some of the carib sea live sand has bacteria packets as well.
as others stated, an rodi unit is ideal to make your water.
if you can buy all the kits, great. however you can get by with just a simple ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kit for the first couple months.
just dont add fish til the tank has cycled.
how do we know it has cycled?
well just add an ammonia source to the tank. can be any source. fish food flakes, salad shrimp that decays, windex, pure ammonia etc.
then test daily for ammonia. once it hits 0 stage 1 is done. then test nitrites. once it hits 0 after a couple weeks you will have nitrates.
do a 50% wc if nitrates are above 20ppm+ and add fish.
good luck
I went and got some live rock today. Its already cycling...
At my LFS the worker told me after a few weeks I can add crabs to the tank. Is this true? I would love to have something in there I know fish is a big negative but I haven't heard to much about crabs.
At my LFS the worker told me after a few weeks I can add crabs to the tank. Is this true? I would love to have something in there I know fish is a big negative but I haven't heard to much about crabs.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Its look'n good!
Sabellafella
7500 Club Member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Reef Squad Emeritus
Reef Master
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,593
- Reaction score
- 12,048
Upp to u its a type of nutrient export and a way to grow algea somewere other then ur display lol its not gunna make or break u my sump has 5 differenct macro algeas in it only nothing else besidr marine pure blocks
Oceansize
Active Member
Live Rock: most LFS carry "pre-cured" live rock. This will be extremely low in parasites, and of those, most are not harmful. The only harmful parasite I've experienced came in on a coral frag from my LFS, not from my pre-cured live rock. Live rock also cycled my tank very quickly ("only" a month, haha!)
RODI system: this will help defray the cost of water changes further down the line, but a low priority for a brand-new system IMO since you're already gonna spend a lot more money than you planned to at the beginning, and this expense isn't crucial since you have so many other options for water.
Also, it's going to be several weeks before you can add any fish, so don't feel like you have to stock ALL of your rockwork right now, for that can get really expensive. Get enough to seed the tank to get it cycling, then add more as funds allow. Keep in mind however that if you add live rock AFTER you have fish, you will have to add it slowly to give the tank time to adjust. That's what I'm doing....tank cycled in April before I had enough in my aquarium budget to finish the rockwork, but I couldn't wait any more to add fish, so now I'm adding about 1 rock per month in order to prevent my fish from getting shocked by the toxin spike associated with new live rock.
RODI system: this will help defray the cost of water changes further down the line, but a low priority for a brand-new system IMO since you're already gonna spend a lot more money than you planned to at the beginning, and this expense isn't crucial since you have so many other options for water.
Also, it's going to be several weeks before you can add any fish, so don't feel like you have to stock ALL of your rockwork right now, for that can get really expensive. Get enough to seed the tank to get it cycling, then add more as funds allow. Keep in mind however that if you add live rock AFTER you have fish, you will have to add it slowly to give the tank time to adjust. That's what I'm doing....tank cycled in April before I had enough in my aquarium budget to finish the rockwork, but I couldn't wait any more to add fish, so now I'm adding about 1 rock per month in order to prevent my fish from getting shocked by the toxin spike associated with new live rock.
melypr1985
totally addicted
You don't need any macro algae (that's what it's called and there are several types out there) while your cycling. If you wish to use this type of nutrient export along with your other filtration, i'll give you some of my calerpa when your ready. It does a good job and grows fast. The macro algae also gives pods (tiny shimp-like bugs that are great for your reef) a place to reproduce in the refuge safely away from hungry fish.
sunken3
Valuable Member
haha - lots of things to buy. I would think about what your budget is and what you think you'll want to put in the tank (think over the next 6+ months). A fish only setup can be much different than a mixed tank or coral only. Many things can be made at home or bought relatively cheap at your LFS. For example, RODI water is great to produce at home, but depending on your evaporation it may take years to recover the cost of an RODI vs. just buying the water (usually about $1 for 5 gallons) ... also, do you want to make your own salt or buy premade (or ocean water)? - this again can factor into whether an RODI is worth it (as it seems this may be your first tank). ... high quality expensive lights are usually needed for finicky corals, but lesser lights can be used for low maintenance corals .. fish can be happy with anything...
Chaeto may be a better sump algae than Calerpa (I have both) Calerpa is crazy fast growing and if introduced to your tank could tank it over quickly.. Chaeto is bullet proof and isn't nearly as evasive (many Calerpa's are illegal as well (to dump or sell) as they are so invasive).
good luck.
Chaeto may be a better sump algae than Calerpa (I have both) Calerpa is crazy fast growing and if introduced to your tank could tank it over quickly.. Chaeto is bullet proof and isn't nearly as evasive (many Calerpa's are illegal as well (to dump or sell) as they are so invasive).
good luck.
m88a2
Active Member
if im not mistaken, i believe some types of calerpa are banned in certain states so you may have to check if NY is one of them. Also have you decided on what time of corals and fish you want to keep? I think a general idea is good to have so you can better tune your tank to keep such critters.
