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Tipton34

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
355
OK I've built a 70 gallon tank, I'm putting 4 t5 bulbs around 150 watts. It will be a fowlr tank for now. I will only use a power filter, and two power heads. IM going to set it up to cycle while I'm in Colorado! So after I get my live rock salt all setup, do I just add a piece of raw shrimp? And leave the lights off?
 
Not necessary to leave the lights on. It will just grow unwanted algae. But with live rock, sand and a shrimp chunk should get you on your way
 
Alright good, I'm going to add the bacteria additive to help speed it up some
 
There is a lot of debate as to if bottled bacteria works or not... I used biospera I think it was and it seemed to work for me.
 
It is debated because just like yeast it can all die off if not used by a certain date. I dont remember ever seeing an expiration date on them, so if that bottle sits on a shelf for months then all your getting is dead bacteria nutrient water. The life span of them in a bottle w/o ammonia to consume shouldnt be very long...
 
The thing with the bottled bacteria is that its alive and if your nitrites spike it could kill them off and would be pointless to add it. It's kind of like adding a fish to cycle your tank. I think you are supposed to do water changes a few times as you add the bacteria. In my opinion just adding a shrimp chunk will be good enough to start.
 
Think of it like the packaged live sand that sits on shelves forever and goes bad. Same thing, just in bottled form. I don't know if a nitrite spike would kill them since they are the cause of the nitrite spike to begin with.
 
Sniperhank said:
Think of it like the packaged live sand that sits on shelves forever and goes bad. Same thing, just in bottled form. I don't know if a nitrite spike would kill them since they are the cause of the nitrite spike to begin with.

Sorry nitrate
 
I see where yall are coming from. I ordered the bacteria from dr. Foster and Smith. Ill go ahead and add them just to see what happens. I'm hoping the tank will be cycled by the time I get back. Which will be 2 1/2 weeks.
 
scubasteve03 said:
Sorry nitrate

A nitrate spike would not kill them but too long a shelf life does. Usually large distributors have the freshest stock as its constantly being rotated through stock. Same goes for live sand.
 
Wow lol. So ya you should be good with what you are doing now can't wait to see the beginings of a great tank.
 
Tipton34 said:
I see where yall are coming from. I ordered the bacteria from dr. Foster and Smith. Ill go ahead and add them just to see what happens. I'm hoping the tank will be cycled by the time I get back. Which will be 2 1/2 weeks.

Which product did you order? Certain products are junk and few are actually legit.
 
I bought the instant ocean brand. And one more question, the organisms living on the live rock, do they not need light to grow?
 
If you are truly adding live rock, you shouldn't need to add anything. The rock already has everything you need on it. I just set up a 90g reef with 60 lbs of quality live rock and it cycled in 9 days.
 
SeanMonster said:
If you are truly adding live rock, you shouldn't need to add anything. The rock already has everything you need on it. I just set up a 90g reef with 60 lbs of quality live rock and it cycled in 9 days.

I would suggest more LR for a tank this size, I have 45LB in my 55g and should have about 60, general rule is 1pound per gallon minimum
 
I plan on having around 40 pounds to start off. I have 11 pounds that was left over from my first attempt but its been outside for three years. I figured it would be a good base rock
 
Tipton34 said:
I plan on having around 40 pounds to start off. I have 11 pounds that was left over from my first attempt but its been outside for three years. I figured it would be a good base rock

That will be a great start. I would wash the 11lb from outside since 3 years is long enough for plenty of nasties to grow on it. Other wise I'd say 40lb for a tank that size is a great start to your cycling. Also when adding more rock later , I would not do a huge amount of rock at once it could case a lil mini cycle for your tank .
 
I've been soaking the rock from the pasture in a bucket of water. So it should be clean.
 
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