New Aquarium- Please help me!

[Fish noob]

Hello, I am starting my first aquarium and am beginning the cycle now. I had a custom tank built. It's 65 gallons, (26X24X24), with the filter, skimmer, components all enclosed in the back portion of the tank. (similar to a biocube or an uniquarium).

I am new to this and am wondering if there should be an additional filter (rock, bioballs, etc.) beside the piece of black foam in the filter section. Please excuse me, as I'm not sure of all the terminology, so I included a picture to help illustrate my question.

I have approx 65 lbs of live rock and have 2" of live sand.

Also, Do I need to add anything for the cycle? I have read that some people will add raw shrimp, or an inexpensive fish, etc. to help with the cycle.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[AquaRick]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Technically, you probably don't have to put anything in that compartment. You could try some macro algae (if you had a light over this part of the tank) and/or some live rock rubble to help with filtration.

To begin your cycle, you need an ammonia source. I'm a huge fan of a fishless cycle and dosing with pure ammonia. See here:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

Also, is that right baffle stop in the middle of the tank, or does it go further down and almost completely to the bottom of the tank?

 

[Fish noob]

I think it is further to the right and goes further down. This drawing isn't to scale at all. Im at work and was attempting to draw it from memory.

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Technically, you probably don't have to put anything in that compartment. You could try some macro algae (if you had a light over this part of the tank) and/or some live rock rubble to help with filtration.

To begin your cycle, you need an ammonia source. I'm a huge fan of a fishless cycle and dosing with pure ammonia. See here:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

Also, is that right baffle stop in the middle of the tank, or does it go further down and almost completely to the bottom of the tank?

 

[AquaRick]

If that's the case i would think about adding some live rock rubble below the foam.

 

[Fish noob]

If that's the case i would think about adding some live rock rubble below the foam.

I went to the LFS to get some live rock rubble. The platform that currently holds the foam looks like a checkerboard with 1/2" square openings. So I purchased larger pieces (approx 2")of rock to place on the platform in order to prevent smaller pieces from falling through. I placed the smaller pieces on top of the larger pieces and placed the foam on top of all of the rock.

Is that acceptable?

 

[AquaRick]

Yeah that should be ok. If possible try to keep the rock somewhat "loose". I've had the rubble as dense as I could awhile back only to lower the water flow and create a place for detritus to build up. You have a foam piece however, so you should be ok.