Day 1
- Thread starter geoffer
- Start date
1journeyman
Active Member
Has the tank cycled?
The live rock looks good, but you might need more. That one branching piece looks unstable, you might want to secure it or rearrange it.
The live rock looks good, but you might need more. That one branching piece looks unstable, you might want to secure it or rearrange it.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by Geoffer
All the weight of the branching piece is on the bottom. I don't think its going anywhere. How would you secure it? LFS recommended adding a couple of chromis to help with the cycling. The LR has been cured for a while and one piece even has some polyps on it.
Ahh... good old pet stores...
Do a search on here for "cycling". Much better ways to do it than to add fish that could die.
All the weight of the branching piece is on the bottom. I don't think its going anywhere. How would you secure it? LFS recommended adding a couple of chromis to help with the cycling. The LR has been cured for a while and one piece even has some polyps on it.
Ahh... good old pet stores...
Do a search on here for "cycling". Much better ways to do it than to add fish that could die.
cgrant
Active Member
Originally Posted by Geoffer
All the weight of the branching piece is on the bottom. I don't think its going anywhere. How would you secure it? LFS recommended adding a couple of chromis to help with the cycling. The LR has been cured for a while and one piece even has some polyps on it.
Just about only thing that can survive a cycle are damsels, but dont use them cause you wont be able to get them out of the tank...and eventually you will want them out.
Use a raw shrimp!
Dont listen to the LFS!
All the weight of the branching piece is on the bottom. I don't think its going anywhere. How would you secure it? LFS recommended adding a couple of chromis to help with the cycling. The LR has been cured for a while and one piece even has some polyps on it.
Just about only thing that can survive a cycle are damsels, but dont use them cause you wont be able to get them out of the tank...and eventually you will want them out.
Use a raw shrimp!
Dont listen to the LFS!
1journeyman
Active Member
Chromis are a type of damsel.
hatessushi
Active Member
Just get a bottle of "Cycle" that way you will have the bacteria you need and then add a dead shrimp or not. ***)
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by HatesSushi
Just get a bottle of "Cycle" that way you will have the bacteria you need and then add a dead shrimp or not. ***)
No, no...
"Miracles in a bottle" don't work. Think through the nitrogen cycle and you'll quickly see why. The bacteria has to grow in 3 stages: Ammonia fixing, then Nitrite fixing, then Nitrate fixing (third step occurs in anearobic locations throughout tank).
If you add bacteria at the wrong stage it will just starve... tha's why a cocktail shrimp or uncured live rock works best; it provides a steady production of ammonia that allows for the cycle to naturally begin and be maintained.
Just get a bottle of "Cycle" that way you will have the bacteria you need and then add a dead shrimp or not. ***)
No, no...
"Miracles in a bottle" don't work. Think through the nitrogen cycle and you'll quickly see why. The bacteria has to grow in 3 stages: Ammonia fixing, then Nitrite fixing, then Nitrate fixing (third step occurs in anearobic locations throughout tank).
If you add bacteria at the wrong stage it will just starve... tha's why a cocktail shrimp or uncured live rock works best; it provides a steady production of ammonia that allows for the cycle to naturally begin and be maintained.
hatessushi
Active Member
yes yes,
Cycle does not eleminate cycling your tank. All it does is reinforce the bacteria for the cycle. My LFS which is a salt water only store which sells fish, inverts, corals uses it but they haven't sold it from their shelves until recently after testing with it for about a year. I am no way saying that this is a shortcut. I also use this weekly to reinforce the bacteria after minor cleaning also after adding a new fish to the QT or DT.
I never said it was a miracle in a bottle. If you have never used "Cycle" or don't know anything about it then don't condemn it until you know.
Cycle does not eleminate cycling your tank. All it does is reinforce the bacteria for the cycle. My LFS which is a salt water only store which sells fish, inverts, corals uses it but they haven't sold it from their shelves until recently after testing with it for about a year. I am no way saying that this is a shortcut. I also use this weekly to reinforce the bacteria after minor cleaning also after adding a new fish to the QT or DT.
I never said it was a miracle in a bottle. If you have never used "Cycle" or don't know anything about it then don't condemn it until you know.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by HatesSushi
yes yes,
Cycle does not eleminate cycling your tank. All it does is reinforce the bacteria for the cycle. My LFS which is a salt water only store which sells fish, inverts, corals uses it but they haven't sold it from their shelves until recently after testing with it for about a year. I am no way saying that this is a shortcut. I also use this weekly to reinforce the bacteria after minor cleaning also after adding a new fish to the QT or DT.
I never said it was a miracle in a bottle. If you have never used "Cycle" or don't know anything about it then don't condemn it until you know.
Unless you live in a hospital clean room then the air will provide all the bacteria you need.
I haven't used it, nor will I. Why pay for something that nature provides free? you don't need to Reinforce bacteria. It reproduces rapidly under the proper circumstances.
yes yes,
Cycle does not eleminate cycling your tank. All it does is reinforce the bacteria for the cycle. My LFS which is a salt water only store which sells fish, inverts, corals uses it but they haven't sold it from their shelves until recently after testing with it for about a year. I am no way saying that this is a shortcut. I also use this weekly to reinforce the bacteria after minor cleaning also after adding a new fish to the QT or DT.
I never said it was a miracle in a bottle. If you have never used "Cycle" or don't know anything about it then don't condemn it until you know.
Unless you live in a hospital clean room then the air will provide all the bacteria you need.
I haven't used it, nor will I. Why pay for something that nature provides free? you don't need to Reinforce bacteria. It reproduces rapidly under the proper circumstances.
drewissett
Member
My 2 cents:
•DO NOT use any chemicals or bottled bacteria colonies to "jump start" your tank...
•Don't put any species of damsel into your tank, unless you want it to be there till the day it dies, or the day you remove every scrap of live rock and chase it with a net for two hours.... they will become very territorial and attack anything else you place in your tank.
Cycleing your tank takes time, don't rush it or you will regret it later...
Lastly, do LOTS of reasearch before buying anything, books, this forum etc.
(PS- The Local Fish Stores are notorious for faulty advice no matter how nice and well intentioned they are)
ask all the really experienced hobbiests on this site for the real scoop...
Good Luck!
•DO NOT use any chemicals or bottled bacteria colonies to "jump start" your tank...
•Don't put any species of damsel into your tank, unless you want it to be there till the day it dies, or the day you remove every scrap of live rock and chase it with a net for two hours.... they will become very territorial and attack anything else you place in your tank.
Cycleing your tank takes time, don't rush it or you will regret it later...
Lastly, do LOTS of reasearch before buying anything, books, this forum etc.
(PS- The Local Fish Stores are notorious for faulty advice no matter how nice and well intentioned they are)
ask all the really experienced hobbiests on this site for the real scoop...
Good Luck!
geoffer
Member
Question: What actually starts the cycle? I've had the salt water sitting in my tank for two weeks before actually running the filter because of a problem with one of the powerheads. Once I got this resolved I started running the protien skimmer, filter (wet/dry rain tray), and added the LR and LS. Does adding the LR and LS trigger the cycle to begin or is it possible that the cycle would have started while the water was just simply sitting in the tank?
sign guy
Active Member
the cycle is just when your levels spike due to somthing decomposing. To trigger a small cycle add lr and ls. To trigger a large cycle throw some uncooked shrimp in to the tank. The larger the spike the larger the bio load is.
This means if you had a big spike in the startup cycle, somthing that may come down the road (ie two dead fish at a time) will not affect your prams as much
This means if you had a big spike in the startup cycle, somthing that may come down the road (ie two dead fish at a time) will not affect your prams as much