Cycling A Brackish Tank

[zephi]

Would the cycling process be faster if I collected the water from the brackish river instead of mixing my own? I also read that river mud contains a lot of beneficial bacteria, would this contain some denitrifying bacteria which will speed up the cycling proccess?
My tank will hold some of the natural organisms found from that river.

 

[Colin_T]

it is preferable to use clean water rather than river water, however if the river is reasonably clean it should be fine. Particularly if the animals are coming from there.

Dentrifying bacteria don't help with the filter cycle as such. They are anaerobic bacteria that break down nitrates into nitrogen gas and other substances that are then released back into the environment.
The filter bacteria you want a nitrifying bacteria. These are aerobic (requiring oxygen) bacteria that break down ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate.

I wouldn't use mud from a river unless I was 100% certain it was clean and free of chemicals. Quite often the mud traps toxic chemicals and holds them there. If you disturb it you potentially release the harmful substances back into the environment.

 

[zephi]

thanks for the tips, would the cycling process be a little faster compared to making my own brackish water?

So far I've got sand as a substrate in my tank, and had filled the tank to about 2/3 full of the river water. I also placed a few mossy rocks, driftwood and some sea grass in there. (all were collected from the river). I have left my filter to run as well. To add some ammonia into the water, I added a handful of rotting mangrove leaves in.
I'm assuming that the cycling process has already begun, so roughly how long will it take before I can add anything live in there?

 

[Colin_T]

the river water is unlikely to help speed the filter development along. Rocks, wood and plants might help a bit but only by a few days or so.

The rotting mangrove leaves should break down and produce ammonia that will start the filter bacteria developing. It will probably take 3-4 weeks at 26C. A cooler temperautre will take a bit longer. Warmer water will speed the process up.

You can add fish once there has been an ammonia reading and then a nitrite reading. Once they have both gone up and come back down to 0 you can add fish or crabs.

 

[zephi]

okay great, thanks for the info.