live rock and cycling

[ekclark]

Hey there,
Perhaps I am just a boob, but I am about to start a reef tank and I haven't really heard a clear answer here...should I cycle my tank with the live rock or without it? I plan to use one of those bacteria kits and was hoping to add the rock shortly thereafter. Thanks a lot.

 

[ak_reefer]

There is absolutly nothing wrong with cycling your tank with live rock. It will actually help the process. You can start the cycle with a piece of raw shrimp as well. This is recommended over using damsels. HTH

 

[jakob4001]

yep, but you would still have to go through all that & still decide for yourself...
IMO you if your budget allows, buy all/most of your LR up front & use it to help cycle your tank; having all of your substrate & LS available now too would be good as well

 

[ruaround]

Indeed start your cycle with the LR!!! instead of the kit, just buy a couple shrimp (dead ones) from a seafood department in your local grocery store. Just throw em in and let nature take its course. Or you can get a couple damsel fish and get your cycle goin that way. The LR will cure while the cycle is goin on.

 

[bob the builder]

YUP. LR is one of the best ways to cycle. There are also other methods such as cycling with damsels, "cycle", raw shrimp, and LR. Also, the only bacterial kit you need/should need to use is "cicle". That will cycle your tank much faster Than without it. Hope i helped!

 

[zack schwartz]

I would cycle my tank with lr. Its a good idea

 

[heavenly damsel]

I have cycled 4 tanks in the last 6 months with LR and the bottled bacteria. Cycles took right at 3 weeks on all 4 of them. I used the same damsels to cycle all the tanks, however, I do not think they are a good idea. You have to take all the LR out of the tank to catch them. Try the uncooked shrimp from the grocery store. I think you only leave it in the tank 3-4 days though. If you do a search there are many posts about cycling with shrimp. Good luck and welcome to the hobby.

 

[lnarobbins]

the correct answer is if you can affor it cycle with the live rock you can't go wrong
JMO
Alan

 

[schreff]

Make sure to keep your lights off during the cycle.

 

[pyro383]

thats the first I heard about keeping the lights off. Can anyone else verify this? I have mine on a timer for 8-10 hours, also have the live rock and live sand with damsels, could I add a piece of shrimp also as a boost or is it over kill?

 

[salvatore]

Our lights are on 8 hours a day as well, from day one of the cycle.
The LR, sand, and damsels are a sufficient source of ammonia, you shouldnt need to add shrimp as well.

 

[jakob4001]

the light suggestion is probably meant as a algae bloom preventative; however to get good coraline growth, you should have some lighting going even during cycling period; just maybe a short time period

 

[insguy]

I am cycling my third tank now and have used live rock each time, with lighting. If the live rock is not cured, the dead animals and materials on and in the live rock may be sufficient to cycle the tank without damsels or shrimp in the same period. In my third tank, I took some bioballs, substrate, and water from an established tank to speed the process!

 

[bcarp]

I am cycling my 72 bow tank right now. It is going on its 11th day. I am starting to get brown alagae on top of the live sand. Is this from to much lighting? Will those phos-zorbs pillows help with that problem? I have been leaving my lights on atleast 12 hours a day. I have 2 55 watt Pc and 2 40 watt blue actinic.

 

[karlas]

sounds like you could use some reading that is one of the best things you could do before doing anythin in this hobby. dont try to speed up anything because it wont work check these out
<a href="http://www.expat.or.id/info/aquarium.html" target="_blank">creating, maintaing, and understanding</a>
<a href="http://www.reefcorner.com/reef%20keeping_101.htm" target="_blank">reef keeping 101</a>
<a href="http://home.gardenet.co.za/landman/Starting%20with%20Marines.htm" target="_blank">starting with marines</a>
<a href="http://sps.reefkeepers.org/LiveRockFAQ.htm" target="_blank">lr faq</a>

 

[memnoch]

Karla gave good advice Bcarp, not only is it smarter to research ahead of time it is also much cheaper and not near so cruel on the creatures. Take it from someone who learned the hard way. I'm now 6 months into this and still don't have a fish in the tank because i got overzealous too quickly and had an ich outbreak. Trust me, it does not pay to be impatient with this hobby <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />

 

[pstanley]

I cycled with live rock and the lights on. With the addition of a freshwater filter I completely skipped the ammonia/nitrite spikes plus I have large amounts of macroalgae growing on the live rocks. I would assume leaving the lights off suspends/kills the growth of the light loving creatures and plants on the rock but I could be wrong.

 

[bcarp]

Thanks Karlas & Memnoch. This is great Message Board to read from. I have been doing a lot of studying on reefs. I am being patient now. I have about 25 to 30 lbs. of live rock in my tank. I cant afford to put all the live rock in at once that I want. So I have been buying a little every weekend. I hope this doesn't mess with the cycling period. I am going on my 5th week. I put two dead shrimp from the grocery store in last week. My ammonia level is starting to go up. My NI and NA are 0. Ph is perfect 8.2. Brown algae is very little now. Should I leave that shrimp in there till it dissolves or take it out? It has been in there for a week!?! Thanks for the info!