Cycling...

[Sniperhank]

I'm not really sure what I should do to cycle my tank. My LR is on the way and have read many conflicting statements about cycling your tank with LR. Is it better to cycle with the LR and some ammonia or a shrimp or should I cycle my tank and cure my LR seperately? I've been told that cycling your tank with LR will make a mess of my live sand...is this true? If so, can it be cleaned up by inverts or would I have to do it?

Tank is 36 gallon. Came with a biowheel, probably going on holding tank for new fish. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bryceguam]

Cycle your LR in the tank. The only reason you wouldn't want to is if your tank was already cycled and you were adding new rock. The die off would cause ammonia and nitrite spikes. But in this case curing it your tank will help it cycle. I never had problems with LR messing up my sand bed.

 

[kwaenz]

I think your uncured LR will be enough to produce ammonia to start your cycling. So as long you dont have any livestocks in your main tank, its ok to cure the rock in there.

I've tried the Dead Shrimp cycle, it took me roughly 6 weeks have my tank fully cycled. The only minor problem i encountered is the smell of the decaying shrimp. Its not that super bad, its somewhat disturbing only.

Curing your live rock in your main tank, can make some mess i believe. Since some of the LR coat will rot, to which will drop off to the sand. You can clean em by siphoning. I have no idea if the CUC's will clean it. I added my clean up crew 5 days after cycling to control some algae blooms. So far so good.

You need to be patient when cycling. Good luck!

 

[Sniperhank]

Would the biowheel prevent cycle start? Im using it right now to keep the water moving while the rest of my equipment comes via mail.

 

[kurtyboh]

biowheel wont stop a cycle start. its used to house bacteria. your sand bed is going to get messed up anyhow, and on the quick.

the die off most likely wont get you through your cycle as it will continually just dieoff. you have ammonia from die off... when thats processed the only thing that can happen is more bacteria starve and die off as well...thats processed and your bacterial colony is continually shrinking in this way. you really should add some ammonia to keep the bb from starving.

 

[Sniperhank]

Ok, I think I get what needs to be done. My only remaining question would be should I have a "hardier" fish in the tank to aid with cycling? That is something else I hav stumbled upon in my reading up on this stage. Still taking my time with everything and don't think it is the best idea, but I'm not an expert by a long shot.

 

[kurtyboh]

Some peple like to cycle with fish in i prefer not. Your cycle will not go faster because of fish, the bqcteria grows to emove ammonia, if its pesent.

 

[Sniperhank]

So, why cycle with fish at all?

 

[Strawman]

Cause some folks can't wait to have something in the tank so they shorten its life span or kill it

 

[kurtyboh]

i have a book called the concientious aquarist, they talk about how niterbacters were found and they didnt know it. basically you would put in a couple of fish, feed every few days, leave the tank be until they died then go get the fish you wanted in there. Miraculously the fish would have no issue and people could then enjoy their aquarium... now im not saying a fish's life is more important than a human's but its certainly worth more than our enjoyment.

 

[Sniperhank]

My shipment got beat up some...

And finally getting it into the tank. Really stirred it up in there.

 

[kurtyboh]

thanks for the update!

 

[Sniperhank]

The one piece in the middle was as big as my chest. Took some real maneuvering to get it in there. Didn't want to break up something so nice so it is almost half of the tank. It's on the right.

 

[BallinCrew10]

I like the aquascape. Looks good.

 

[Sniperhank]

Here's my tank all cleared up this morning. Ran my tests and everything seems fine...except no ammonia.

Also, have some red bulbs starting to appear on my rocks, what are they?

 

[CleverBs]

just wanted to toss you some info about cycling with LIVE rock because I read this post yesturday and it so happen to be the day I was going to go to the store and get some live rock to start my tanks cycle. The pieces I got were curing and have some die off on them that I didnt notice to much till I put it in my tank. So i got an old toothbursh and scrubbed them a little bit. but what I found was if you have enough water movement the stuff wont ever hit the sand and will be picked up by your filter. I have a 29 gallon tank with a Korilia 1050 in it right now and it doesnt let anything hit the bottom of the tank. I think down the road I may down grade to a 750 but for now Im keeping it. dont really know if its hurting anything or will hurt anything.

 

[Sniperhank]

Im currently still waiting on my 750 to arrive so im using my biowheel and uv filter to move my water. I had no progression in my cycle this morning, so I threw an uncooked shrimp in and hit up black friday...where I broke down . I went into my lfs and got a piece of fiji lr. It was beautiful. It is red and contrasts wonderfully with my caribbean lr. Then there were salt water friends with deals... I ended up walking out with 2a true clowns and some hermit crab. Hoping they survive the cycle, because the price sure was right. They seemed quite happy to be in my tank. The clowns are swimming all over the place and ate once I fed them. Must be much better having all that room instead of a 20 gal ful of clowns. And my crab crawled up the side of the tank, came back down and found the shrimp. I took pics, will post once im not at work.

 

[BallinCrew10]

You really should have waited. Your clowns are going to suffer and the crabs may die. Having fish go through a cycle burns their gills and it never heals. You'll have to do many PWC's to keep your ammonia low, which is going to prolong the cycling process.

 

[Sniperhank]

I know I should have, but didn't. Im not too worried about it since I have my weekend coming up to watch over it at the start.

 

[BallinCrew10]

Going to take much longer than a weekend. Hopefully you don't lose anything. Keep testing and be ready to do a lot of PWC's.