Cycle

zacg

zacg

Member
Anybody On Here Ever Tried That 24 Hr Cycle Stuff That You Can Buy I Was Just Wonderin If It Actually Works Or Now I Have A 75 Gallon Tank That I Am Setting Up And I'm Putting 50lbs Of Live Rock That Has Been In A Tank For 5 Years But I Put New Sand And A New Filter So Info Would Be Greatly Appreciated.
 
salt life

salt life

Active Member
Originally Posted by ZacG
http:///forum/post/3069301
Anybody On Here Ever Tried That 24 Hr Cycle Stuff That You Can Buy I Was Just Wonderin If It Actually Works Or Now I Have A 75 Gallon Tank That I Am Setting Up And I'm Putting 50lbs Of Live Rock That Has Been In A Tank For 5 Years But I Put New Sand And A New Filter So Info Would Be Greatly Appreciated.
IMO you should let it happen naturally.
 
salt life

salt life

Active Member
Originally Posted by ZacG
http:///forum/post/3069310
How Long Do You Think It Would Take It To Cycle With The Live Rock Being In There?
It's really never the same amount of time, it can happen in days to weeks.
did you use the bagged live sand or dried out sand?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I have two questions. what do you meant that the rock has been in a tank for 5 years. Was it a up and running tank? If so you may have enough nitrifying bacteria on it to never show an ammonia or nitrate spike.
 
zacg

zacg

Member
yeah florida joe it has been in an up and running tank for 5 years i bought the whole system i just put a new filter and i put new sand thats it. i'm using the same live rock both power heads and the protein skimmer.
 
brokendeck

brokendeck

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3069426
I have two questions. what do you meant that the rock has been in a tank for 5 years. Was it a up and running tank? If so you may have enough nitrifying bacteria on it to never show an ammonia or nitrate spike.
+1
You also may wanna look into getting a sump system with a skimmer instead of a filter. A sump with a skimmer is much better for the tank IMO.
 
zacg

zacg

Member
yeah i'm going to get a sump on down the road just right now its gettin a little expensive so i'm goin to run the filter for awhile. i have a protein skimmer that goes on the back of the tank. i'm just wonderin how much of a cycle i'm goin to have or if i will have one. and how will i know if i'm goin to have one?
 
brokendeck

brokendeck

Active Member
Originally Posted by ZacG
http:///forum/post/3069505
yeah i'm going to get a sump on down the road just right now its gettin a little expensive so i'm goin to run the filter for awhile. i have a protein skimmer that goes on the back of the tank. i'm just wonderin how much of a cycle i'm goin to have or if i will have one. and how will i know if i'm goin to have one?
Yea its expensive. Gotta buy a little at a time. You might show one and you might not. Alot depends on what Joe said in the post above.
 
brokendeck

brokendeck

Active Member
Just test your water. Another sign of cycling and finshing the cycle is brown algae will show up called diatoms.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
You can shock your system add a small piece of cocktail shrimp if you read ammonia and in a few days your readings are good it means you have nitrifying bacteria and it has grown to handing the added bio load if you read ammonia for over a week and then nitrites you are cycling just wait it out
 
zacg

zacg

Member
do you have to read ammonia first florida joe before you put the cocktail shrimp in?
and do you put the cocktail shrimp in anything or just drop it in ?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
No If your readings are normal (no ammonia or nitrites) just add a piece of shrimp (drop it in your tank) and after a day or two monitor. If you read ammonia and nitrites and they quickly disappear you have nitrifying bacteria already established. If not just let your tank cycle at its own pace
 
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