tank cycling

[GoodFish]

when should i start my tank cycling

 

[RMPD109]

The only thing needed is the tank, heater, filter, saltwater and source of ammonia. You can vary this widely as most people add substrate and LR. As for the ammonia it was common in the past to add some fish and let them do it but this is now considered cruel. Sometimes the LR will have some dieoff that will produce the needed ammonia. The reliable method would be to add a raw cocktail shrimp and let it decay and produce lots of ammonia.

Check the articles and look for fishless cycling

 

[GoodFish]

should I add live sand as well as the live rock? and the raw cocktail shrip, i get that at my local grocery store?

 

[badfish]

Many will say Livesand isnt really worth it if your gonna add Liverock. Thats just my opinion. Yes, you would get two raw shrimp from the grocery store (make sure they are uncooked, and nothing is on them like seasonings). Your LR will seed your Livesand and save you a bunch of money.

 

[GoodFish]

so are you saying to buy artificial sand and let the live rock do its thing and turn the artificial sand into live sand? If so, would it be more beneficial to but the artificial sand?

can the artificial sand hurt my tank in the long run??

 

[steve-s]

What do you mean by artificial?

Cheers
Steve

 

[badfish]

its not artificial sand, go to the LFS and look for Caribsea Aragonite sand, it is sand from the caribean.

 

[badfish]

yes, the liverock will seed the sand turning it into livesand saving you a ton of money. Livesand is just sand with bacteria in it.

 

[pearsont74]

ALso check out the Homedepot sticky about play sand, Your HD may have the real good stuff....make sure its not the Silica stuff.

 

[GoodFish]

ok thanks ill be sure not to but live sand then