Cycling Questions

gliderjohn

gliderjohn

Member
I'm just getting my 46 gl. BF started. Today I added 45 lbs of LR to the tank (1/2 Tonga, 1/2 Fiji). 1/2 of it is cured, the other 1/2 not cured. Nothing else in the water yet. Water temp. 78; sg 1.024.
LFS said the uncured rock will start the cycle with nothing else needed. Your thoughts? If this is correct, when should I begin testing the water and how often should I monitor it?
Also, LFS suggested not to add the aragonite substrate until the die off is complete. His reasoning is that I would want to vacuum out all the junk before I put the sand in. Again your thoughts?
Lastly, in topping off the water lost due to evaporation, how do I know how much to put in? Would I test the SG? I'm assuming that as the water evaporates, the SG would go up and I would need to add enough water to bring it back to the original reading.
Thanks for your input.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
First off, even your cured rock is not cured unless you moved it from wherever you got it underwater. Once live rock is removed from the water for more than a few minutes, it needs to be re-cured.
Yes, the uncured rock should start your cycle. IMO live rock produces a very strange cycle... hard to track. Some people see a big ammonia spike, some don't. I believe that it's because the rock already contains a very good bacterial population, and unless there is a LOT of dieoff, the existing bacteria takes care of the ammonia as it's produced. You may need to add something like a table shrimp, etc to see the spike.
The advice on the aragonite is valid. Curing live rock sloughs off lots of gunk. Hermit crabs will pick through this too, so you can always add them when the cycle is complete.
To top off, you simply mark your level. If you have a sump, mark the water level in the sump when you are at your desired S.G., then top it off to that level every time. Your SG will stay pretty constant, requiring a check only after your bi-weekly water changes. If you don't have a sump, then just fill the tank to about the same level every time. It's easier than you think.
 
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