Someone said something about being able to totally start a cycle and a new tank using all dry rock but it just takes longer said:I just did this... Dead rock and sand is a new tank, dosing ammonia. I gave the rocks a bleach bath followed by a muriatic acid bath before they went in the tank. There was no seeding of the tank with any live rock or sand whatsoever. It took my tank an excruciating 65 days to cycle this way, but it did finally finish the cycle. You can get more details in my build thread (link in signature).
That 65 day wait had to have sucked. What kind of sand were you using? I have some "live" sand but i'm not sure how its live as it has been in the bag for at least a month since I got it and god knows only how long before at the store. said:Yep... it sucked big time. The sand I used was dry fine sand from Marco Rocks that I rinsed several times in RODI water.
Someone said something about being able to totally start a cycle and a new tank using all dry rock but it just takes longer said:You'll have to add appropriate bacteria and a source of food for anything to "cycle". The smaller the food/bacteria input the smaller the cycle will be and the more likely you'll go through a secondary cycle when you start stocking your tank which makes the whole process just take longer. I really don't see an advantage to artificial cycles. Use a hardy fish and feed it. Maybe I'm just old school. [smilie=lol.gif]
Live rock cycles are really the best, IME. They get you there faster and the result seems to be better in regard to aspects of water quality that we don't really understand much less measure--aka, the mature tank phenomenon. As far as pests--yeah, I can relate, but I think it's generally well worth the risk. Sort of like driving a car in our society. Whichever way you go, a totally clean tank isn't going to happen. It's incredibly easy to infect your tank with any addition you make no mater how careful you are. It's just the nature of the beast.
"live sand" as you see on bag labels in an LFS means "probably has some bacteria on it"--maybe even a species that will survive in saltwater. Maybe not. I wouldn't count on it to do anything biologically significant, but it might.
[quote="Someone said something about being able to totally start a cycle and a new tank using all dry rock but it just takes longer said:You'll have to add appropriate bacteria and a source of food for anything to "cycle". The smaller the food/bacteria input the smaller the cycle will be and the more likely you'll go through a secondary cycle when you start stocking your tank which makes the whole process just take longer. I really don't see an advantage to artificial cycles. Use a hardy fish and feed it. Maybe I'm just old school. [smilie=lol.gif]
Live rock cycles are really the best, IME. They get you there faster and the result seems to be better in regard to aspects of water quality that we don't really understand much less measure--aka, the mature tank phenomenon. As far as pests--yeah, I can relate, but I think it's generally well worth the risk. Sort of like driving a car in our society. Whichever way you go, a totally clean tank isn't going to happen. It's incredibly easy to infect your tank with any addition you make no mater how careful you are. It's just the nature of the beast.
"live sand" as you see on bag labels in an LFS means "probably has some bacteria on it"--maybe even a species that will survive in saltwater. Maybe not. I wouldn't count on it to do anything biologically significant, but it might."]
+1
This is generally the best advice and I am a follower of this belief however I'm not truely "old school". The best approach in my opinion is to get some great dry rock(such as marcorock's etc) and seed it with actual live rock along with Dr. Tim's nitrifying bacteria with a deli shrimp also thrown in there. Using a true nitrifying bacteria product is not about trying to speed up nature, it's about creating the best possible foundation for your new tank. Totally understand about not bringing pest into the tank and that is admirable but..... unless you QT, dip or pretreat every single fish, coral, frag and grain of sand that will ever go into your tank, then it's a big unnecessary waste of time. I dip every single thing with 2 or more product's before it get's into my tank and I have still brought pest in, it's just the nature of the beast. Here's a good read by Dr. Tim, althought he does sell a product, every word he say's is pretty much dead on. http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/nitrifying-bacteria-mixtures-work-provided
Cheers,
I used Fritz turbo start and its worked like a champ every time I've used it. Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2 said:Did you use any live rock or was it all dry rock and sand? Just trying to figure out what route I want to take. I should be able to get something going in the next week or so. Have to finish building and painting my canopy and stand and finish mounting and wiring my DIY led build.
I have cycled a couple ways: When I set up my solana I used live rock from an online vendor and live sand it was expensive but the cycle was done in about a month. Problem was it was expensive and I had a hard time scaping bc I did not pick it. I just got done upgrading to a 40gal and this time I used bulk reef supply dry rock due to nuiscance algae on my existing. I used live sand and tried to seed with couple pieces of my live rock that not have any algae. The result was a small cycle after 2 weeks said:Yea, I started my cycle with dry rock using one shrimp on Tuesday. I didn't do a test yesterday but I am going to do one around 11 AM after I get home. I am doing it in a rubbermaid tank cause I am not yet ready with my lighting and tank fully as I have to finish sealing my stand and creating my canopy. I kinda hope it takes more than one week with the shrimp cause I am not sure if I can be totally ready by that time with everything.