???? for a 90 gal cycling tank

silencio530

Member
the question is not how long its how much time am i looking at .....i know untill i have my boilogical process nitrates nitrite and amonia but ...how long am i looking at?
 

rotarymagic

Active Member
Buy established rock and sand like I did and the cycle will be less than a week. If you buy cheap rotting uncured crap it could take months.
 

silencio530

Member
can i buy some live sand from ***** the ones in a bag and mix it up with my regular sand ? all the live rock has been in an established tnak for months ...
so im looking decent right now ...
atleast 2 1/2 weeks
 

deejeff442

Active Member
***** ls is fine.i believe it was the same as i bought at my lfs.
i used 1/3 ls and 2/3 aragonite sand in mine.
dont need to be all live just some to seed the rest.
 

spanko

Active Member
IMO the bagged live sand is mostly dead stuff. It will help to kick start your cycle though. I base this opinion on having a bare bottom tank running for 1.5 years, then I wanted to add a sandbed. So I figured I would get the bagged live sand. Mistake, it caused ammonia spike that killed a few inhabitants.
just my experience
 

aztec reef

Active Member
Dont waste money on the LS. Just get dry aragonite and give it a couple of rinses before adding it.. and whala!
The lr will seed the sand and sustain the inicial cycle + the starting of tank..
If u get spikes, its a plus..that means your cycle process was triggered.
All u need is .5ppm of ammonia. Any higher levels will demand a dilution (via waterchange).
 

maryg

Member
Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
http:///forum/post/2875588
Dont waste money on the LS. Just get dry aragonite and give it a couple of rinses before adding it.. and whala!
The lr will seed the sand and sustain the inicial cycle + the starting of tank..
If u get spikes, its a plus..that means your cycle process was triggered.
All u need is .5ppm of ammonia. Any higher levels will demand a dilution (via waterchange).
1+
My 90 gallon took just over a week. I had bought new 60lbs of Aragonite and used my LR from my 29 gallon plus the LR I got from the seller.
 

silencio530

Member
see this is it right here i have about 50lbs plus of lr plus about 30 lbs of laced rock that probly has been seeded by the lr ...
i might go and buy a bag of live sand to trigger my amonia and have my tank start my cycle the sooner the better i know its all in time but if its possible without a mistake im up for it ,...
ima take precaution im not gonna try to do something that will make me start my cycle all over ..
 

aztec reef

Active Member
Dont waste money on the LS. Just get dry aragonite and give it a couple of rinses before adding it.. and whala!
The lr will seed the sand and sustain the inicial cycle + the starting of tank..
If u get spikes, its a plus..that means your cycle process was triggered.
All u need is .5ppm of ammonia. Any higher levels will require a dilution (via waterchange).
 

aztec reef

Active Member
Good move on taking precautions.. But if i were u, i would
Use the moolah on test kits or something worth while..
The live sand that u plan on buying is a waste, u might as well use dollar bills to roll-up doobies..
The only thing that makes that bag of dirt 'live', its the microbial colonies..
its the same thing u have On and inside lr.
Lr offers more beneficial microbial processes and energy cycling processes,(at this stage). of which are ideal for deminishing initial nutrient overload..
I can pretty much assure u that the lr will give u a little spike.(enough to start cycle). if that doesn't work, u can take the raw shrimp aproach...
IMO, Ls will only give u undesirable organic levels.. which may eventually turn into nitrogeous compounds resulting in algea growth or the accumulation of excess nutrients in sandbed..
 

deejeff442

Active Member
deffinitly.i just used a 20 lb bag of ls and 100 lbs of argonite sand to cycle since my lr was in another tank .
once the tank cycled i moved the lr and livestock.
the tank didnt cycle again after the lr was added.
 
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