Cycling my tank

[Zer0]

Alright well i know all about the shrimp in the water thing for cycling, but could i use LR to cycle my tank instead? Or would it be better to get the live rock and then do the shrimp thing. Not really sure about this.

 

[roka64]

You can go the LR route. Add a pinch of fish food and test for ammonia after a few days. If you don't see ammonia or nitrItes, you should be good to go.

 

[InfernoST]

I did both shrimp & LR, and it took about 3 weeks to complete the cycle.

 

[neilanh]

Depends on your LR IMO. If you get fully cured LR, I'd say no, you can't use it as the source for the cycle. If you get uncured, then yes it will work. I don't think fully cured LR (even though you get a little bit of dieoff) will be enough to cycle your tank sufficiently.

 

[Zer0]

Thanks for the info guys. Appreciate your opinions much.

 

[mdaniel2882]

Depends on your LR IMO. If you get fully cured LR, I'd say no, you can't use it as the source for the cycle. If you get uncured, then yes it will work. I don't think fully cured LR (even though you get a little bit of dieoff) will be enough to cycle your tank sufficiently.

If your LR is truely cured you will never see a cycle. I didn't the tank is cycled if your rock is cured.

 

[Zer0]

Also, one more thing to ask. What kind of fish food should i throw in the tank when they LR is cycling the tank?

 

[mdaniel2882]

You don't need to feed the tank

 

[thominil]

If providing an ammonia source, then just about any type of food like flakes, pellets, etc... should work.

 

[Zer0]

If im throwing uncured LR in there, then would i need to provide an ammonia source? I heard that uncured LR will start to cure, and then things die, and provide the ammonia source that the tank needs to cycle. This correct?

 

[InfernoST]

If you're using uncured rock i would still throw in an additional ammonia source such as an uncooked shrimp or two depending on the size of your tank. I'm not sure if the source provided by the uncured live rock is enough to last the duration of the cycle, the bacteria grow very slowly and need the source to develop.

 

[Zer0]

Redo.

Ok, heres my question, how big are the standard size fiji live rocks? Does anyone here have these types of live rock? If so, could you give me an estimate as to how big these pieces are? Im really not trying to get anything to small, and not too big.

 

[InfernoST]

There are no set sizes. the rock i received from online vendors came in all different shapes and sizes ranging from 2lbs to 14lbs each. If you're ordering online some vendors allow you to pick a particular piece, unfortunately that is a fee service. I found online to be roughly 75% cheaper than any of my LFSs.

 

[Zer0]

True. Alright thanks for the info.