help cycling a tank. first time aquarium owner

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jones1483

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
139
Location
Millfield, Ohio
I was going to cycle my tank with pure ammonia. I have some old live rock that has been dry for some time now. If I cycle the tank with ammonia will this rock be live again?
 
Go to a grocery store and ask for a raw shrimp, they will probably just give it to you, unless they are really greedy and want their 20 cents for it.. Anyways, throw it in your tank for a week or two.. Pull out whatever is left of it and Che k the levels.. My ammonia and nitrites went to 0 two days after I pulled it, then about a week later added a couple of clowns to it
 
Hi there. i use pure ammonia to cycle my tanks, I find it much easier and you can control the level of ammonia. :)

Yes, the rock will become live over time. within a few weeks the rock will have beneficial bacteria on and in it and in a few months it will look really good. lol I would add as much rock as you can now so that it benefits from the cycling process. You can add a few lbs of live rock as well, that will help jumpstart the cycle. :)

Do you have a liquid test kit for the water? You'll need that for the cycling.
 
Well then youre set. Just try to add as much rock now like I said above. Base rock can be added in the future though so don't worry if you cant add it all now. :)

have you checked out the sticky notes at the top of the forums? There are some great articles about cycling and how it all works
 
Thanks for the replies. I have a test kit. So I should get a raw shrimp throw it in the tank wait a few weeks before I test it? Then it should be good to go as long as my levels are okay
 
Yeah that's how I did it.. Worked good for me.. I left it in for a week and a half.. I was told that it's a good method because the shrimp, being from the ocean, carries a good amount of bacteria to help jump start the cycle
 
Raw shrimp is a good source of ammonia, but they do not carry any similiar bacteria that you're trying to grow during your cycle.

I like ammonia in the bottle as well.
 
I have a bottle of ammonia, says the only active ingrediant is ammonia. I also put two shrimp in my tank last night. I was going to buy some live rock tomorrow. Could I put the live rock in and leave the shrimp in while also adding the ammonia? Sounds to me like this would cycle ultra fast but I dont know. I also don't fully understand when I should start testing for the ammonia and nitrites.
 
If you are using the ammonia there is no need for the shrimp. I also have cycled both ways and prefer the ammonia method for the reason carey stated. You can precisely control the ammonia levels. I have a 75 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump and it only takes a capful of ammonia to hit the magic 4ppm ammonia. Also, if you shake the ammonia and there are no bubbles, you are using the right stuff.
 
This would be a good time to get all your rocks in the tank. All the stuff that died during the transfer will create ammonia. You only need a little bit of live rocks. The rest can be base rocks.
 
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