A few "when to" questions about new tank

[kimberly]

My husband is setting up a new SW, 190 gal with a 120 gal refugium (which will also be visible). There is a lot of DIY, so thankfully it is taking a while. Right now it has sand and water and salt. But we don't have a heater to get the water warm enough right now. We do have the lights already.

When do we add something with ammonia to start the cycle? Do we need to have the liverock in first? We are going to add some sand from our existing SW tank, when should we do this (irt temp and ammonia and live rock)?

I think that about covers the questions for now.
Thanks.

 

[seaham358]

First You should pick up a few heaters with that much water. LR IMO you should have a min of 1 lb per gallon. Adding extra to the fuge is a good idea also, base rock for the fuge will help save some money. Add all LR before the cycle, bacteria needs a place to grow and that is where the LR come into play. What do you plan on doing with the tank? reef, fowlr?? Do a lot of reading on this site, there is a ton of good info out there. If you get LR there may be enough die off to start a cycle if not a few cocktail shrimp form the supermarket will work to get things going. You can add the LS before or after the cycle. I dought your going to add enough to make a big difference in the cycle.

 

[kimberly]

It will be a reef. I am not sure what my husband is planning on putting in it.

Thanks for the info.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Just a different perspective, you do not have to add all of the liverock you want for the tank before the initial cycle. The sandbed is also an amazing amount of surface area for bacteria to colonize so don't fear if you can't or don't want to purchase all of the rock at once. I've actually cycled both ways, with no rock in the tank (only sand) and by putting some or most of the rock in first with no noticeable difference.

I would get heaters, decide what all you want added pre-cycle and add it (rock, sand, etc.) and then add some shrimp and the livesand.

 

[seaham358]

Good point Hoops, the only issue is when adding New LR to an already cycled tank you stand a chance of having another mini cycle unless you have cured LR or precure it yourself.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Yep, I never add uncured rock to an established one, for the main reason of not having a mini spike and also not wanting to add all the dying matter (sponges, algaes, etc.) that makes uncured rock "uncured". Even if I thought my tank could handle it, it is a lot of nasty stuff that will eventually lead to nitrates quickly anyway. I precure stuff in buckets and pick off what looks and smells funny.