Hows the cycling work with the reef tanks compared to fish

[newbietanker]

I know how the cycling works for fish tanks but is it different than reef tanks? Im gonna put live sand and Live rock at first. My question is this... Do I have to make the water cycle before I put this in or no? It sounds a little stupid but since the sand is "live" I dont want to make it dead.. Should I put the live sand in and the live rock at the same time?

 

[blueberryboomer]

You can put your sand and rock in, it will help cycle your tank...What are you using for the cycle? damsels, shrimp? We used 8 uncooked jumbo shrimp when we cycled our 200 gal, it work really good,we got a good hard cycle, and it didn't seem to take as long as with damsels the first time when we cycled our 72gal...And then we didn't need to chase the little buggers down to get them out.. Later Lisa
P.S Your cycle on the reef will be pretty much the same as with a fish only setup...
[ July 22, 2001: Message edited by: BLUEBERRYBOOMER ]

 

[kenneth crowe]

I have been in the business for 20 years. I put the live sand in at the same time I put my live rock in. If some of it starts dying off it will help the tank cycle faster.

 

[burnnspy]

Add the LS,LR and dead shrimp and spare the fish until the cycle is complete.
BurnNSpy