Cycling questions

[two11devan]

I am in the process of cycling my 120 gal tank. I currently have about 180 lbs of livesand (bought the bagged stuff "aragalive") and about 116 lbs of LR from a friends tank. The lr was sitting in a 55 gal tank with no lights so its not too pretty right now. I am planning on ordering about 40 or so more lbs of LR from dr foster and smith. I tested the water and haven't seen much of a spike at all. All the levels are still at 0. the rock and sand have been in for a little over a week. I'm assuming since the rock was already cured in my friends tank, Im not going to see much of a cycle.

I hope the 40lbs I order online will help it out. Should I still try and throw a raw shrimp in there to jump start the cycle? I am getting some brown algae on the glass and sand. The MH lights are on about 8 hrs and the actinic are on about 10 hours (it comes on 1 hr before the MH and shuts off 1 hour after the MH turn off). Is that too much time?

Also, I was thinking about ordering some "real" live sand and mixing that with the stuff I already have to get some creatures in the sand bed. What do you think? Sorry if this is hard to read but the cable guy is here and is about to switch my cable services and I needed to get this posted before I lose the connection while he is making the switch! Its a race against time! =)

 

[roka64]

I would think about ordering base rock, as it will become live (and a LOT cheaper) and so will the sand. I wouldn't waste my money on anymore LR or LS. You could see a cycle/mini-cycle, since some of the LR may have die-off. You might still get some critters from your friend's LR.

 

[melosu58]

My rock is over 9 yrs old and still has life in it. It will transfer over to yours. I believe just like ROKA64 you might experience a small cycle.

 

[two11devan]

So i should be able to add fish if the levels stay at 0 for another week or two? Im getting the LR b/c I need some more for the tank. So I'll see what the levels are like after I put it in. I used the bagged LS in my last tank and never had any sand critters or a large pod population. Should I seed the sand with some of the critters?

 

[roka64]

I tend to thinkg the "sand critters" probably die while sitting on the shelf, with no water movement ans such. I think a lot of them will come in on the LR.

So i should be able to add fish if the levels stay at 0 for another week or two?

I think that is a safe assumption. I would suggest having some premixed water, just in case.

 

[melosu58]

Unless you can go to the LFS and get some "real" LS just let your LR seed it.