Can Someone Post How To Cycle A Marine Tank?

[connorsbala]

Can SOmeone post how to cycle a marine tank??? All i know is that you add salt to the water, aswell as dechlorinating it(can you use the same stuff that u use with tropical tanks?), and add live sand and live rock. Is it true that the sand and LR do all the bacteria and cycling, unlike tropical tanks where you add bacteria etc?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I need to convince my dad as i already have a tropical tank and am getting a bigger 1 for xmas, hopefully. All i want is a little 48litre 1 for my cabinet underneath my tv which is on the wall. I dont understand! Its my room and money!
Anyway, back to the subject, any help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

look at the pinned topics, here is a good place to start

 

[connorsbala]

So how did you cycle yours? How many water changes do you do after you add the sand and rock, 1 25% every day?

 

[Chac]

Liverock is the favored way to cycle your tank these days

You will need to keep a track of you readings (Ammonia, NitrIte, Nitrate, Phosphate, pH, Salinity)

Using Tap water is also a bad idea (even with dechlorinator) you will will need to use RO water (Available from you LFS for about 2.50 per 5g or buy a RO UNIT)

Personally I would look at aout 4 - 5 KG's of LR

Read as much as possbile as mistakes can be expensive on both your wallet & your livestock

 

[connorsbala]

Will i be able to add fish the same day as i add live sand and rock(the same day i setup the tank) or do i have to wait for the readings to shoot up, then come down and then do water change. Can soemone tell me when i need to do water changes plz, im really confused!!!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

connorsbala you really should be getting your first tank under control before thinking of setting up another.

 

[connorsbala]

connorsbala you really should be getting your first tank under control before thinking of setting up another.

Im getting a bigger tank for xmas for my tropcial fish

 

[SkiFletch]

You put the rock in, and fill the tank with saltwater that you allready have in a bucket and up to temperature. Then you add your powerheads, heater, sand, and any other hardware pieces. At this point the tank will get cloudy, relax and let things settle. Monitor ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Lets say on day 4 ammonia and nitrite reach 0. Then on day 6, do a BIG water change (say 50%), again with pre-mixed and pre-heated water. On day 7 you're ready for A fish. DO NOT fully stock right away, if you go too quickly you risk the lives of everything in your tank. Patience is a virtue.

 

[Chac]

As stated in another thread of yours

You need to wait for your Ammonia & NitrIte reading to be Nil - near Nil isnt good enough it must be NIL

 

[connorsbala]

YOu know it says that the live rock does the filtering, do you still need a filter?

 

[SkiFletch]

No you do not. Some people use small HOB's for chemical media like carbon, rowaphos, etc for the convenience of it.

 

[connorsbala]

So just heater, live rock and live sand?

Would this one be alright???

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1

 

[SkiFletch]

You need to have a powerhead to create flowrate inside the tank both to help the LR work and to keep the oxygen content of the water up and the fish alive . Most "cube" setups come with at least one powerhead, but another small one might not be a bad idea. Unfortunately I have no experience with the tnak you listed so I can't offer an oppinion regarding it.