Live rock for cycling?

[lmetcalf]

Hello all,
I'm going to set up my 30gal tomorrow and start it cycling.
What are your opinions on this:
Should i cycle with sand and uncooked cocktail shrimp

OR

Cycle with sand, shrimp, and live rock?

I'm worried that all the cool stuff on the live rock will die in the ammonia spike, so should i add it later? Or is it's bacteria goodness important for cycling?

Thanks!

 

[thominil]

Just toss in the live rock now. The inverts on the LR should be fine.

 

[lmetcalf]

Do i have to cycle the tank with all my rock in there, or can I buy some now, cycle it, and add some more later?

 

[thominil]

You can cycle it and add more later. Just keep things simple in your threads, you are starting to make things more complex than they really are.

If the rock is cured, the rock itself has had all the die-off cycled through, the tank will still need to be cycled.

 

[Bige]

Go buy one of the instant tank bacteria. You can add fish almost instantly and you dont get a messy tank. I did it to my tank and had fish in the tank the same day I put (sw) water in it. Bioshpere I think its called. Works great though.

 

[thominil]

Disagree, those "bacteria in a bottle" things are just a waist of time and money IMO. Unless they are cold, there is almost no way that they help, even then still a waist of time. Learn patience, nothing happens fast in sw.

 

[spoonman]

Go buy one of the instant tank bacteria. You can add fish almost instantly and you dont get a messy tank. I did it to my tank and had fish in the tank the same day I put (sw) water in it. Bioshpere I think its called. Works great though.

How long has your tank been up and running now?

 

[Bige]

10 months. I have had no deaths and water parameters are always perfect. I, of course, change the water 20% every week. My fish (2 clowns and 1 neon goby) have been in tank since day one.

 

[thominil]

And did you have live rock in there? If you did, you are stocked VERY lightly and you won't have seen much ammonia, any considerable amount of live rock would have taken care of that quickly

 

[Bige]

I had about 15 lbs of LR.

 

[melosu58]

I would just cycle with LR. I`m not much on those quick fixes. Cycle your tank naturally and you`ll see more stability. JMO