Caribsea life rock cycling
- Thread starter MyFirst
- Start date
anthonys51
New member
what do you want to see. nitrogen cycle cant be seen by the human eye
anthonys51
New member
i would add your cuc now. but personally i always wait 3 months before adding fish to a tank, so i never really even test during the cycle. not saying you cant test, just done this already 25 times. i also wouldnt add a source of ammonia using all live rock, there really is no reason to dose,
scooter31707
New member
You shouldn't be seeing nothing, but the water moving around in the tank. For real, those how did you jump start the cycle, Shrimp or pure ammonia? Just sit back and start checking ammonia at least every other day to see the spike, then you should see you nitrites spike and then your nitrate spike. Once that happens take some pure ammonia and put in the tank bringing it up to 2ppm. It should convert and be gone within 24 hours.
anthonys51
New member
i never ghost feed my tank, plus thats the reason you over paid basically for your rock and sand. you didnt want to go the dry rock method, save money but add more time to your cycle. plus the rock itself will have die off and feed the bacteria. there is no reason to add a shrimp after 30 days of live rock being in your tank.
you can add your cuc, if your going to add corals to your tank, you can do it now also add soft corals first, then lps. you dont have to worry about ammonia, nitrite or even nitrates since you dont have fish and arent feeding your tank. dont add fish for 90 days and you will be fine. i cycled 25 tanks this was and currently cycling my 265 gallon tank and 600 plus gallon total system, no reason to test everyday or add **** to your tank
but if you add lps you need to watch alk, mag,cal and possiable dose but depending on your water change routine
you can add your cuc, if your going to add corals to your tank, you can do it now also add soft corals first, then lps. you dont have to worry about ammonia, nitrite or even nitrates since you dont have fish and arent feeding your tank. dont add fish for 90 days and you will be fine. i cycled 25 tanks this was and currently cycling my 265 gallon tank and 600 plus gallon total system, no reason to test everyday or add **** to your tank
but if you add lps you need to watch alk, mag,cal and possiable dose but depending on your water change routine
Last edited:
CafeReef
New member
I agree, the liferock really is not necessary from a benefits perspective, I went with it personally because I liked the look and there were not really flaking paint off into the system.
I didnt see if he mentioned that he'd already cycled for some time already, unless i missed it, which is possible, thats the only reason I mentioned the shrimp method. Im not a massive fan of ghost feeding either but depending on the tank size I have had success with this method. I've read both ways that you need to feed to your future bioload size and what not but that's an argument for another day
You bring up great points, I completely agree with not adding things to the tank at this point.
anthonys51
New member
sorry i misread a week for a month. no idea why. i agree dont add anything until a month
