Almost ready to cycle...questions?

JammyBirch

Aquaria Engineering
I have a 25 g with dry rock and aragalive sand, going to seed it with a rock from an established tank. Light coming soon so I have a few preparation questions...

Since I'm seeding the dry rock I know it will take time to grow coralline algae, but will it spread without fish in the tank? I'd really like to have some help with the fish waste...and would like to get as much algae as possible.

I have ~20lbs of rock how long do you think the cycle will take and how soon could I add a fish?
 
It'll spread. Watch your chemistry and give it time. As long as your tank is in at least decent running condition you should be good to grow coralline. It'll just take a while to get started, then when you have a good amount dropping spores it'll go all over the place. I'm at the point of getting a bunch of pencil-eraser sized spots in new places.

Regarding cycling, plan on needing a minimum of 6 weeks before fish (consider this QT time and you can start buying fish now). It was about 8 weeks for me. Once I quit seeing ammonia and nitrite I added my cleanup guys, then it was about a month before I tentatively added my first fish. Which was doing fine til it carpet surfed a week later.

How much LR seed you put in will also have an effect on how fast your tank cycles. More biology to start means you reach a sufficient level faster. If your 20 pounds is all dry and you only seed with a pound or 2 of live stuff it'll take longer than if it's 10 DR and 10 LR.
 
Since I'm seeding the dry rock I know it will take time to grow coralline algae, but will it spread without fish in the tank? I'd really like to have some help with the fish waste...and would like to get as much algae as possible.

You DON'T want to get as much algae as possible, unelss you are doing a planted tank.

Also, coralline doesn't help with fish waste.
 
Ok so bacteria does all of the work the algae just looks cool...how long do I have once the cycle is over before I can add something and what would you recommend adding? CUC?
 
after your ammonia , nitrites and nitrates have peaked and come back down to 0. Then its safe to add fish.
 
Macro algae is the algae your probably (hopefully) referring too. That will help with the bio filtration. Micro algae that looks like little hairs usually isn't what you're aiming for with a reef.
 
after your ammonia , nitrites and nitrates have peaked and come back down to 0. Then its safe to add fish.

+1 on ammonia and nitrites, but not nitrates. You need to make some water changes in order to lower nitrates, if needed.
 
Back
Top