Stop with the chemicals brother and throw a shrimp in your tank (one from your freezer) just toss in and let it do it’s thing and stop thinking the chemicals are good,, there’s no such thing as Mother Nature in a bottle I guarantee that the shrimp will work better than any chemical crap you throw in there
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First Reefing Adventure... 30 Gal Tank for a New Hobbyist
- Thread starter Kstar86
- Start date
Paulie brings up a topic that’s not often discussed. “Chemicals”. I happen to agree that although there is a place for them. If it can be accomplished naturally, than that’s the best route. As far a cycling your tank. If you did nothing at all. Eventually the tank will cycle. It took almost three month for my system to fully cycle and yes that’s longer than some. But if all you do is put a piece of shrimp in your tank it Will cycle. Fact that your ammonia has risen is fantastic. You should shortly see your nitrites rise and won’t see nitrates until ammonia starts to drop. Do not buy the notion of an instant cycle. YES you can fast cycle. And YES adding bacteria in a bottle works and will speed it up. But keep in mind even a fully established tank with live stock will go through a mini cycle if a major change takes place like plumbing in an additional tank for frags or removing sand or rock. Stability in this hobby is king. So stay the course and give it time. The cycle will happen. We don’t get to choose how fast. Yes bacteria in a bottle will speed it up. But I have seen tanks cycle in three weeks. And three months. Just keep looking for those nitrites. stay in touch. No information is bad information so share share share And best of luck.
Adding Bacteria in a bottle makes sense.
You are not adding “chemicals” It’s bacteria
So you are helping your tank cycle.
That bacteria will exist if you do nothing but it will take longer. If you introduce the bacteria then it will cycle your tank faster.
I have used DR Tim’s with great success.
This time I moved and I setup a new tank and i used the fritz turbo start and I was able to cycle my tank immediately. I needed to be able to add my 4 very large tangs and two clowns right away. So the bacteria in a bottle
Allowed me to add fish day one.
You are not adding “chemicals” It’s bacteria
So you are helping your tank cycle.
That bacteria will exist if you do nothing but it will take longer. If you introduce the bacteria then it will cycle your tank faster.
I have used DR Tim’s with great success.
This time I moved and I setup a new tank and i used the fritz turbo start and I was able to cycle my tank immediately. I needed to be able to add my 4 very large tangs and two clowns right away. So the bacteria in a bottle
Allowed me to add fish day one.
I do second bacteria in a bottle. It’s great stuff. It absolutely speeds up the cycle. If speed is a concern. It works. But don’t be fooled. There is no instant cycle. It does not exist. YES you can put strong fish in right away. But the tank is NOT cycled and will not support the more sensitive fish corals and invertebrates. Time is your best Freind.
Actually you have to add fish when you add bacteria. It needs the fish poop to survive.
Corals don’t care about ammonia in the water. Fish will die if you have ammonia in the water. I have a seneye to test ammonia and I was at zero from day 1 adding bacteria. I also added snails I already owned from my last tank. I wouldn’t call my powder blue tang a strong fish. For most people they can’t keep it alive.
My margarita snails are huge so I can see when one dies. So far they all made it.
Corals don’t care about ammonia in the water. Fish will die if you have ammonia in the water. I have a seneye to test ammonia and I was at zero from day 1 adding bacteria. I also added snails I already owned from my last tank. I wouldn’t call my powder blue tang a strong fish. For most people they can’t keep it alive.
My margarita snails are huge so I can see when one dies. So far they all made it.
Bump very well put SPONGE, nothing happens fast in this hobby except coral death
Asking purely for my own knowledge and hopefully to help others (not trying to be a smart-ass). If you use live rock from an established tank and live sand (pre-bagged stuff) couldn't you have a very quick cycle (I guess I get the point that it wouldn't be an instant cycle and there would be some ammonia spike). But wouldn't that spike be small and quick?
The simple answer is YES. You get a very fast cycle. The problem is most people don’t fully understand what the cycle is. We all understand that it is the development of a couple strains of bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. The problem is there is an equilibrium And just because the “cycle” Completed making these bacteria’s it’s all in very short supply. And you can crash the cycle by adding to much live stock. Also just because the tank is able to convert the small amount of ammonia in the water doesn’t mean it is instantly able to convert all the amonia created by a number of fish and the food you are now putting in. It is for this reason people are always guided to add one fish at a time and give a good amount of time between additions. This allows the “cycle” to build up a larger bio load to compensate for the increased demand. You CAN get away with an early overstock of fish simply because they are tougher than they look. But make no mistake. They don’t like it. And it hurts them.
If you use live rock from the ocean. You will introduce all the diverse bacteria’s you need to keep your tank alive. So you can add fish right away. They even tell you to so. so that the bacteria doesn’t die. It needs the fish poop to live. Live sand is usually a dormant bacteria so it’s not the same as live rock.
But live sand will help with the cycle. I had a mix of real ocean rock and dead rock and live sand. I also added bacteria Fritz turbo start And I had no ammonia.
I love the diverse method. I’m curious about your nitrite levels. How did they test out. For me and using Dr Tim’s I found it did a good job on the ammonia and definitely sped up the start up but I still had to wait for the nitrite to complete. And as we all know. Nitrite is only a little less deadly than the ammonia.
Right now I just setup a 30 gallon quarantine tank.
I added a black clown I just picked up.
I put a capful of bacteria.
I am Using the seneye now to watch my ammonia.
This tank has no rocks or skimmer.
These are my numbers
Hmmm so we don’t know the Nitrite level. Darn. I would love to know if others have had the same issue as I have seen. I would like to add one more thing to this topic simply because it is often overlooked when we talk about the cycle. I have heard on many an occasion that the cycle is predominantly for the fish as they are more susceptible to ammonia and nitrite poisoning. This is of course only half true but not quite the issue. For corals it’s the last stage of the cycle that’s important. Many corals survive on dirty or more correctly stated, nutrient rich water. In other words nitrates. Some even enjoy water as high as 50ppm. until the cycle is truly complete and expanded to making nitrates. Many corals starve. We like to give our inhabitants the “cleanest” water we can but it is possible to strip the water and make things less than ideal.
I love your setup. So wish I had more space. But then again I imagine everyone would like more space to dedicate to the hobby
Why the Ferris oxide... are your phosphates unnaturally high?
I love your setup. So wish I had more space. But then again I imagine everyone would like more space to dedicate to the hobby
Since it’s a new setup I just put some in the reactor to help the algae scrubber. But I don t need it. The algae scrubber was growing algae from day 1. I never had one so I didn’t know how efficient it is. I will be removing the GFO and just run carbon.
Thank you it’s a work in progress. I need fish and corals now lol
We just completely hijacked this thread.
I am sorry
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Well... we only sorta hijacked it. We were very topical. And the cycle was a part of the thread so most people should have benefited from our discussion. I know when I started out (not that long ago) I loved when knowledgeable members would discuss things back and fourth I Always got the most out of a subject and would read them twice
Kris!! I hope you read all that!! hahahahaha!! may sound confusing at first, but once you do your research, it all makes sense. but #1 advice I tell everyone, and I'm sure everyone here agrees. with this hobby, PATIENCE AND STABILITY IS KEY.
Got it Bro!!! I understood most of it and took notes! Thanks everyone! YES Patience!