Bare minimum to start a cycle?

[Scoot]

I'm going to be filling up my 180G pretty soon. Of course I'll mix the salt, add some sand (some new and some from my curren t tank), hopefully a little LR and a little from my current tank.

I'll add a heater to keep temp at around 80, and a couple powerheads to keep circulation going - but is there anything else I should need to add, other than a source of ammonia, to kick-start the cycle?

For a 180 - how much store-bought uncooked shrimp should I throw in?

No plans to use any chemical products to boost the cycle. I plan to gradually move sand and LR from my current tank to accellerate things (as long as my current tank stays stable).

 

[lando]

What are you using for a substrate? I suggest asking the LFS for a couple of cups of LS from one of thier established reefs to help seed the sandbed. Other then tahat, add what LR you can andthrow in 2-3 shrimp to start teh process. Looking forward to pics of the project!

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree with Lando. Good luck!

 

[roka64]

IME, go with 1 raw, unseasoned jumbo shrimp per 30 gallons. Other than that you should be good to go. You could probably just add a lot of base rock during the cycle, and once that is done, you can add the already cured LR from your other tank.

 

[Scoot]

Thanks all.

I should have explained I have a well-established 75G already, this is a new project in my new house. There's a build here:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=96133&highlight=

I've got plenty of sand from my own tank to use, I was going to use quite a bit of it. It's clean and fairly new (from when I relocated tanks a couple months ago). I was trying to do a DSB, but it wasn't working well, in this tank I'll probably just do an inch or two. Not so much of a detrius trap. I had over 5" in my current tank, and it just turned into a mess.


6 jumbo shrimp it is then

 

[cmor1701d]

Are you adding any more LR than what you have in your 75?
What about base rock?
You should get your filtration material set before you kick off the cycle. You want the bacteria to have some surface area to coat.

What was the DSB mess in your 75? Is there a thread here about it?

This is going to be an awesome aquarium when you're done. Keep posting pics.

 

[Scoot]

I have about 100 pounds of LR in my 75. I'm going to move about 25 to the new tank, and buy about another 100 to 150 pounds over the next month (as much as my wallet can handle). Yes, I'll probably pick up some base rock. Hopefully the 25 pounds of LR and the LS I move from here will be enough to seed it.

Plus some sand from my current tank.

I don't plan on having any mechanical filtration - except maybe a pair of Rena Filstar xp4's. I don't use anythign now but an XP3, and don't plan to start Fuge/sump, EuroReef skimmer, 2 sump socks.

No thread about the DSB mess. It just didn't work, 'trates were constantly out of control. I didn't have enough fauna or sand-stirring critters to make it happen. When I moved tanks a few months ago, the sand, especially what was under/behind the LR, was a mess. More detrius than sand.

Plus, I'm not going DSB in the 180, because honestly, that's just more sand than I care to buy. I'll have a small DSB in my fuge (a 55g long), but not in the main tank.

 

[cmor1701d]

You might want to look at at some of this base rock from ThatFishPlace. It's cheap and in a few months you won't be able to tell the difference.

 

[fishman]

On the shrimp issue..one small bit of info - my opinion only. I cycled my QT tank with raw shrimp and I put the jumbo shrimp in a ziplock baggie, and then cut small holes in it. Reason is when the shrimp starts rotting, it will of course come apart. The baggie will hold it all together and not let parts of it float around in the tank. Just more tidey in my opinion...

 

[Scoot]

For those who aren't following the babbling I do in my build thread, I went with 150 pounds of reef rock from ThatFishPlace. Nice stuff, clean, a little dusty, and lots of small broken pieces, but no biggie. There were a few nice sized pieces, up to around 8" across. THe rest were fist-sized or slightly larger. A few smaller ones.

I put about 10 pounds in my current tank - to get it going faster - it's already browning. The rest went into the new tank, which has almost completed cycling already (thanks to all the mature LR and LS I added).

Let me say this - 150 pounds of fist-sized (on average) LR is not easy to arrange. That's a LOT of pieces to mess with.

 

[ellisz]

When I setup my 180, I used 180lbs of new sand and some LS from my previous tank and a friends tank. I put some of my excess LR in the sump and that was it. A month later I added my LR from my 75 and my corals and fish. I did not cycle and did not see any hint of one. I had some anthelia in the 180 to gauge any water issues. That stuff never missed a beat. Did not have light either except the room lights.

You could add some ammonia to see if anything happens but I think the shrimp might not be needed since your not starting brand new ...

If you have enough LR/LS in there, you won't have a cycle.

 

[ellisz]

LOL, I just read your other thread. Looks like you have started a cycle already

 

[Scoot]

Yeah, I started with uncycled sand and base rock - then I added a couple quarts of cycled sand, and mature rock. It's definitely cycling, but it's going really fast. Ammonia was less than a week - and nitrates are at a peak, I expect them to start dropping tomorrow.

 

[Scoot]

Nitrates are showing up - between 10 and 20ppm.

Nitrite test looked like it was around 0.5 - still purple, but not as dark as before. Obviously nitrites are being eliminated, so it's just a matter of time now.