Few Questions About Live Rock and Cycling

woody189

woody189

Member
Hi.
I'm restarting a 46 Gal tank. I have 45lbs of base rock and 20 lbs of LS and I would like to begin my cycle. I need to cycle it, but don't have any LR yet. So I have 2 quesitons:
1) It's not possible to begin a cycle w/o any LR is it? I would like to get it started now so by the time I get some LR the cycle has a head start, but I don't see how any of the biological processes can occur w/o any LR (or beneficial bacteria). Should I start ghost feeding, or wait till I get some LR?
2) I have 45 lbs base rock, so what is the minimum amount of LR I can buy to get a cycle going? I plan on moving slow, and waiting until all levels are stabilized and ready for a new addition. I just want to know what's the minimum LR i can get a way w/ purchasing to seed my tank. I also don't want my tank to be overfilled w/ LR
Thanks.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Technically, you could put in 0.001 pounds of live rock if your only concerned about the bacteria.
You can put a small piece of shrimp in the tank to go ahead and start cycling your tank because you said you purchased live sand. Live sand does contain some amount of beneficial bacteria which helps process ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. Your tank has to have an ammonia source... the shrimp... or ghost feeding to keep the bacteria fed. Once there is a significant source of bacteria, ammonia and nitrite will no longer be present on a test kit.
I recommend you getting at least ten pounds of live rock so that you can get some of the organisms that live on and within the rock into your tank... such as asterina starfish, brittle stars, coralline algae, cryptic sponges, bristle worms, fan worms, microstars, and a wide variety of life that helps break down waste into more manageable forms.
It also depends on your setup - and what you want. Give it some real thought. Sometimes adding live rock to a tank can come with consequences such as introducing glass anemones, majano anemones, diseases, hair algae, bryopsis, and other pests. Usually the benefits of adding live rock outweigh the risks.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Thanks bang.
1st, I lied, it's not LS, it's just sand. It's aragonite that has been sitting in EXTREMELY salty water for 2+ years in the tank. I rinsed the sand real well and mixed it up about 7 times and siphoned whatever junk there was. It's pretty clean now.
I'm a little confused with what you said. Beneficial bacteria will begin to grow even though there was no starter (actual LIVE rock or LIVE sand)? I know it needs surface area (which there's plenty), but I thought you need to have at least a little beneficial bacteria from LR to get stuff started.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Let me start over. First, sorry Snake, I didn't mean LS, I meant sand.
I had a tank running for about 18 months and then I took it down about 2 years ago. I'm now restarting it. The sand has been sitting in the tank the whole time. The rock as well, but I took it out, rinsed it real well, and now it's back in the tank. I took out all the water, and now I have fresh RO water, and I'm trying to get the SG perfect.
I plan on buying some snails/hermits etc once the cycle is complete, so I'm not too worried about not getting hitchhikers. 10 lbs sounds pretty good to me, and was what I was hoping for. I'm going to buy my LR from C-list, so it's a little iffy, but I can't afford LFS LR right now.
I have skimmer and I'm going to be setting up my 10 Gal sump (again).
I will start a build thread once I get stuff rolling.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by woody189 http:///t/391967/few-questions-about-live-rock-and-cycling#post_3478447
Hi.
I'm restarting a 46 Gal tank. I have 45lbs of base rock and 20 lbs of LS and I would like to begin my cycle. I need to cycle it, but don't have any LR yet. So I have 2 quesitons:
1) It's not possible to begin a cycle w/o any LR is it? I would like to get it started now so by the time I get some LR the cycle has a head start, but I don't see how any of the biological processes can occur w/o any LR (or beneficial bacteria). Should I start ghost feeding, or wait till I get some LR?
2) I have 45 lbs base rock, so what is the minimum amount of LR I can buy to get a cycle going? I plan on moving slow, and waiting until all levels are stabilized and ready for a new addition. I just want to know what's the minimum LR i can get a way w/ purchasing to seed my tank. I also don't want my tank to be overfilled w/ LR
Thanks.
FWIW
It is entirely possible to cycle a tank with 0 live rock in it. One very good way it so use macro algaes which will consume the ammonia directly preventing spikes. Then as bacteria build up the macro algaes will eventually consume the resulting nitrates.
my .02
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by beaslbob http:///t/391967/few-questions-about-live-rock-and-cycling#post_3478455
FWIW
It is entirely possible to cycle a tank with 0 live rock in it. One very good way it so uss macro algaes which will consume the ammonia directly preventing spikes. Then as bacteria build up the macro algaes will eventually consume the resulting nitrates.
my .02
good to know. But I'm not trying to avoid buying anything at all costs. I just wasn't sure if there's anything I could do in the mean time while I look for some LR.
I think I will just buy 10-15 lbs of LR and then begin my cycle. Thanks for the help.
 
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