Cycling

[adobesky]

Hey everyone....i am a complete and utter newbie. I have been reading this BB for a couple of weeks now because I really love the beauty of SW fish and would love to build my own tank. I don't even have a tank yet, well if you don't consider my 20gal freshie tank. I consider myself to be in the research phase of a tank, lol . I hear everyone talking about "cycling" a tank. Does this just mean you run the tank with your equipment with LR and LS and then add fish l8tr? What fish are best to add first? My LFS recommends damsels, and they offer full store credit for them when you bring them back. Please help. Although I am not in a postion to go out and spend $$ on the tank yet, I want to know as much as possible b4 I even buy anything!!!!

 

[thomas712]

Welcome to the board Glad your here.
Many ways to cycle a tank, with a dead shrimp, with live fish, with live shrimp, with live rock & live sand, any combination of the above.
Personally I use dry baserock, dry sand, and cycle with a raw dead shrimp. Seed with some live rock after cycle. then add a small fish or two depending on size of tank after the cycle is complete.
Your choice if you decide to cycle with live fish, I would rather not do it that way though. After your cycle if you still want damsals you should have the blue/green Chromis they are about the only good damsal IMO.
Thomas

 

[adobesky]

ok, so let me get this right. so i go and buy a tank from the LFS. I am currently looking at a 90-110gal. I get it home. I know I should have a protein skimmer, and they told me i should also have 1 pound of rock/gal. Does this all need to be LR? what else do i also need to make my fish happy? what do i add to the water when i fill the tank? I have a household RO system. Is this good enough water to use in the tank?

 

[slick]

Welcome to the bb. Cycling your tank is a process of building up the nitrogen cycle. I won't make it to complicated. You need something to either decay in your tank or something that is live that will create waste. This causes ammonia to rise in your water. Benifical bacteria are born to use the amn to live. Then the amn breack down into nitrite. The nitrite is then broken down into nitrate. The final phase is the nitrate being broken down into nitrogen gas. Once this process is done you can add fish slowly. Look for some hardy fish to add to your tank. Make sure you keep reading and doing reasearch before you go set up your tank.

 

[adobesky]

In one way this all sounds very complicated....do i have to be a chemist to do this ....lol

 

[thomas712]

A chemist? well...depends on how technical you want to be with it.
Ammonia breaks down into nitrites, nitrites break down into nitrates.
Ammonia is the most leathal, followed by Nitrites, the least is Nitrates. There are certain bacteria that grow to be able to break these down durning the cycle and after.
It is important that you know how this cycle works. Nitrates can even break down to complete the cycle in a Deep Sand Bed leaving your aquarium as a harmless gas.
Other things you may need to worry about or at least be informed about are
Phosphates
Calcium
alkalinity
Magnisium
I think at this point as you do further research is to purchase a book on reef tanks, or other if you are going to have a fish only or fish with live rock. Let us know what type of aquarium you want and we will be able to suggest a book that might be apropriate to you. A book can be a good start for general information.
Thomas

 

[adobesky]

i think i am going to start with a FOWLR but then later upgrade to a reef tank with corals and maybe an anenome or two if i get good at managing my tank

 

[adobesky]

ok, so let me get this right. so i go and buy a tank from the LFS. I am currently looking at a 90-110gal. I get it home. What equipment do you all recommend to start so I know the cost to start this tank. I know I should also have 1 pound of rock/gal. Does this all need to be LR? what else do i also need to make my fish happy? what do i add to the water when i fill the tank? I have a household RO system. Is this good enough water to use in the tank?

 

[birdy]

As far as equipment there are many different ways and you will get several different opinions. I prefer a more natural approach. I would start with a DSB that is around 4". Then you will want at least 1lb of LR per gallon of water. You can get some of this as base rock, which is dry(especially the part that is buried in the sand) but I would get mainly LR.
You will want a heater, a good protein skimmer, and I would recommend a sump under the tank, this can house your heater, skimmer, and can be a place to run carbon or phosphate sponge as needed. you can also set up a refugium in your sump that will house caulerpa, it will help reduce nitrates and nuisance algae. You will also want several powerheads to circulate the water in your tank.
You can use your home RO unit but be sure the filters have been replaced recently, you can use a meter called a TDS to test your RO water for impurities, also test it for phosphates.
A good book for a FOWLR tank that explains things fairly simply is:
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S Paletta.