Cycling Questions

[kilgore33]

Whats the quickest way to cycle a new tank. Have a 90 Gallon Tank w 110 gallon sump and a Wet/Dry filter. Bought "Live Sand." Question #1: Does anyone advise adding artificial Bacteria to hasten the process? Anyone against it? Question #2: When should I add live rocks? Right away? Cured or Uncured. the "aquarium Specialist" Recommended putting "Hardy Fish" in during this process, then removing when finished. Is this correct or a scam to get me to buy fish I dont want only to return them? Seems cumbersome. Question #3: What would a "Normal" curing process from start to finish entail? I'm looking to eventually creat a Fish Only tank w live Rock, using a Wet Dry Filter. Do I need a Protein Skimmer? Will it impede the Cycling Process? Should I add a Protein skimmer after the process is finished and I add fish?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Welcome to the forum

If you are going fish only with Liverock then everything is done with your liverock.

Basically what you need to do is get your tank filled up and the salinity and heat up to the right levels. Then you add your liverock. As you do not have livestock already it doesnt matter if it is cured or uncured. Uncured will take longer to cycle and may smell a bit but you may also get more life on it.

Basically once you put your liverock in it is like adding an instantly matured biological filter. Even if you get Cured liverock there is likely to be some die off so there will most likely be an ammonia and nitrite spike. So, after you add your liverock test for ammonia and nitrite, once these are at zero you can start adding your livestock.

The other thing to note with using liverock as your filtration is that you need a good amount of water flow. You need at least X10 the tank volume in water flow in the tank (I would recommend looking more towards X15-20 tank volume from 2 or three powerheads).

You dont need the wet/dry filter with liverock but it wont hurt to leave it on. You definetly do not need to put in fish to cycle the tank with.

With regards to the skimmer it wont do much until you get some livestock in there (as there will be nothing for it to skim) so you can leave it out for the moment.

 

[ben1987]

Yep what barney said!

 

[Don Trinko]

In answer to Question #1; Don't waste your money. The products that I have tryed have not helped in any way to cycle or shorten the cycle.
Don T.

 

[seffieuk]

Whats the quickest way to cycle a new tank.

Using LR from an established tank

Have a 90 Gallon Tank w 110 gallon sump and a Wet/Dry filter. Bought "Live Sand." Question #1: Does anyone advise adding artificial Bacteria to hasten the process? Anyone against it?

If you buy good quality LR from an established tank, transport it in water for a short period of time then the cycling will be quick

Question #2: When should I add live rocks? Right away? Cured or Uncured.

After you have put your water in, heated it up and brought it up to the correct SG

the "aquarium Specialist" Recommended putting "Hardy Fish" in during this process, then removing when finished. Is this correct or a scam to get me to buy fish I dont want only to return them? Seems cumbersome.

There is no need to do a live cycle with fish, please don't do this

Question #3: What would a "Normal" curing process from start to finish entail? I'm looking to eventually creat a Fish Only tank w live Rock, using a Wet Dry Filter. Do I need a Protein Skimmer? Will it impede the Cycling Process? Should I add a Protein skimmer after the process is finished and I add fish?

Buying uncured rock, keeping it in a tank or container with a power head and heat

Your lr is your filter - but you can use an external if you wish.

I would add a Protein skimmer

Seffie x

 

[kilgore33]

Thank you soo much!!!!!

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

You have been given good advice. I do advise the skimmer, but as Barney said, you do not need it right away. That is the one piece of equipment I wish I was told I needed sooner than I figured it out.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

That is the one piece of equipment I wish I was told I needed sooner than I figured it out.

Very true. I started off running without a skimmer and it was fine for over a year. However after putting one on and seeing how much junk it pulls out the water I wish I had gone with one from the start and wouldnt run without one again.