Cycling question? Undecided

[ducatiboss]

So everyone just a quick intro Im new to AA and have been out of the aquarist hobby for over 20 years now. Just finished building a 150 gallon tank with a 55 gallon sump. Now here comes the problem. My wife has always been a SW fish hobbyist now me I have always been a FW. She really wants this tank to be a SW and Im not convinced but she usually always gets her way. Now I am in the process of doing a fishless tank cycle.. Its been cycling for a few days now and I expect it to take 6-8 weeks to cycle. So the question is, If I do decide to make this a SW tank will adding the Instant Ocean Salt mess up my cycling. I mean we are creating good bacteria for our tank and If I add the salt It shouldn't hurt right? I don't think this will create a problem but I wanted to get some ppl's perspective on this. Ohh and I can't ask my wife cause she will dog me for days, but did say it wouldn't hurt the cycling since it just started. She said just add a couple of dead shrimps along with some live rock in the sump. Happily Married for 13 years now.

 

[Mdmike52]

As far as I know fresh and saltwater nitrification bacteria are different. When you add the salt you will kill all your freshwater bacteria. And will have to start from scratch. I just recently converted a freshwater tank to saltwater and watched the cycle go through its steps all over again.

 

[Mdmike52]

PS I left all the filter media alone hoping like you that it would just work. I don't believe it did. Luckily only put 1 Damsel in there and I did not lose him.

 

[ducatiboss]

May I ask how long did you wait? I know that this process will test someones patience.

 

[Mdmike52]

The ammonia started going up in about a week and the cycle completed about two and a half weeks later. I was using Marine Bio starter but don't remember which one and I'm not home now to read the bottle. Also as I said I had a damsel in there which I was feeding. It's a small tank though only 34 gallons. Don't know how that would work out in a tank your size.

 

[Andy Sager]

Well, you are both right.
The nitrifying bacteria are different from fresh and salt so just adding salt will cause you to be at 0 again. On the other hand, just adding some shrimp and live rock will get some of the cycle started but that is a slower way of creating ammonia. Using ammonia will get things going faster but every tank has it's own time to finish.
One thing to remember, when your tank finish's cycling, it only means that there are enough bacteria present to handle the amount of ammonia being produced at that time. So a large tank cycled with only 2 shrimp decaying might not be capable of handling a lot of fish once it has cycled. If you use ammonia at a higher level, the end would mean there is a larger bacteria bed present to handle more fish. Neither is right or wrong.
Either way, you need to know that the bacteria count will rise and fall depending on the level of ammonia. So, using fish as an example, a tank cycled with 20 "starter" fish but those fish are replaced with only 3 fish that don't produce as much ammonia as the 20, the existing bacteria bed will shrink. If you cycle with 3 starter fish and replace them with 5 fish that produce more ammonia, the bed will need to grow and that can take some more time ( however, it usually happens quickly.) So the higher you start with ammonia, the more fish you can add once the cycle is done. The lower the level, the slower you need to go when adding fish.

Hope this helps.

 

[ducatiboss]

Thanks this gives me some clarification, told my wife lets add the salt from the lfs and get some damsels down the road. She said how about you go bathe in hydrochloric acid and tell me how you feel after that. Going to the hardware store to get straight ammonia. Still going to cycle this with no fish. Thanks everyone

 

[54seaweed]

this may help you get through this
Cycle your salt tank - Aquarium Advice

 

[ducatiboss]

Great read, I hate it when she's right. Thanks

 

[arnoldndana]

I'd probably make up my mind and then do the cycling process. I cycled my SW tank and then decided to add a refugium 3 months after and now I'm having to go through a partial cycle after I added the refugium because everything in it is new grrr.

 

[Sniperhank]

Skip the ammonia and just get some cocktail shrimp. Treat the wife to a shrimp ring and toss a couple in panty hose and toss it in the tank. Much easier and once the readings hit 0, it'll still be decomposing so you'll know you're done. Just throw it away and add fish after a water change.