Thank you guys!! Cycle time

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I've done it. Not always successfully.
Keep in mind some corals like star polyps or Xenia, even mushrooms can spread like the plague if they are happy.

General rule, never rush.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Safe that depends on how stable your parameters are. Wise not so. This is not a hobby to get into if you do not have patients. Take your time enjoy the journey. BTW salt creep will also affect your salinity when in doubt test.
 

Shilpan

Member
That's enough for me to wait 6 months before corals. I'll see if I can keep water parameters stable for a month as a "test".

Yes I'll keep an eye on that. I was wondering if the effect of salt creep would be significant over time.

I'm enjoying the large tank volume actually. Sprung a leak a few days ago, lost some water, topped up with RODI only (was curious to see salinity change) and no change to salinity! Great for newbs.
 
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jay0705

Well-Known Member
That's enough for me to wait 6 months before corals. I'll see if I can keep water parameters stable for a month as a "test".

Yes I'll keep an eye on that. I was wondering if the effect of salt creep would be significant over time.

I'm enjoying the large tank volume actually. Sprung a leak a few days ago, lost some water, topped up with RODI only (was curious to see salinity change) and no change to salinity! Great for newbs.
With large tanks it's amazing how much fresh it actually takes to drop salinity. Lol I add 3-4 gallons every few days. Rises much easier
 

Shilpan

Member
I want to add some liverck for biodiversity to my cycling tank.

It's rock from lfs tank, in a bucket of water, 10min drive to house, no die off.

Now my ammonia is 1.0ppm, safe to add live rock? Or will everything die and I'll be adding dead rock effectively?
 

bang guy

Moderator
Can you do a 50% water change? Adding that rock isn't going to add much to the ammonia level but it does have the potential to take care of some of that ammonia.

If it were me I would add the rock right away and then do a 50% water change.
 

Shilpan

Member
I could

So 1ppm will kill all microfauna on rocks? Even if a little survives that's alright. Just want a bit in there to start reproducing.
Plenty of rock debris to feast on.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
I've added live rock durring the first cycle a couple of times now and it's always turned out fine. You will have some die off regardless. But what's left over will re-populate fairly quickly.

You'll be giving a boost to the beneficial bacteria by adding a few pieces now. Then you could always add another piece or two after the cycle to give microfauna a boost.
 

Shilpan

Member
Thanks!

Got some live rock rubble. It has these worm shells on it. The "shells" are made up of little pieces of rubble and sand. And there are black worms inside.

Does anyone know if these worms are problematic?
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
A picture would speak a thousand words.

If they are bristle worms they're fine and I'd leave em alone. If they are bobbit worms I'd probably remove them.
 

Shilpan

Member
two picture of the worm's den's or shells on a rock and a shell
One picture of the worm itself after I dug it out.

Th black body has a white thread from it which is sticky.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
I'm really not sure. It appears to have a segmented body from what I can tell so that could be a clue.

One of the cool things about the hobby is finding interesting stuff like that.

One of the not so cool things about the hobby is finding interesting stuff like that
 

Shilpan

Member
Thank you :)

Cycle is going well. Nitrite's starting to go up to 1ppm. Interesting thing is ammonia actually went a little higher from 0.5ppm to 1.0ppm. I guess the live rock die off is a constant ammonia source.

Will diatoms only start once I start getting nitrates?
 
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