Confused about cycling

[Bishopsnet]

So I am 5 days into the cycle. I have a JBJ 28g nano with 20lbs of cured live rock and 9 lbs of dry rock. I have Arag alive live sand. I haven't tested yet for ammonia. Test kit is enroute from Amazon. Because I have cured live rock, how does it work? Do I ghost feed? Is there a long 4-6 week cycle. The LFS said I could add fish after 48 hours but everything I read says don't do that. I have not seen diatoms yet. Do diatoms appear after a week when nitrite spikes?

 

[anthonys51]

i dont like ghost feeding. feels it adds phosphates and nitrates to a tank. i would add a cuc (snails, hermits) dont add much you wont need it in a 28 gallons. just start adding corals . easy ones like gsp , mushrooms, leathers. wont have to dose much with these. after 3 months add fish. i feel this slow and steady way is the best way. no need to add ammonia source, test, add more and test again. just go slow and let the live rock do its thing. i bet if you do it this way you wont get diatoms or cryno outbreak thats associated with new tanks

 

[Bishopsnet]

i dont like ghost feeding. feels it adds phosphates and nitrates to a tank. i would add a cuc (snails, hermits) dont add much you wont need it in a 28 gallons. just start adding corals . easy ones like gsp , mushrooms, leathers. wont have to dose much with these. after 3 months add fish. i feel this slow and steady way is the best way. no need to add ammonia source, test, add more and test again. just go slow and let the live rock do its thing. i bet if you do it this way you wont get diatoms or cryno outbreak thats associated with new tanks

Ok. Now I'm really confused. I was told fish first. Also doesn't the CUC need food. My tank has no algae. Also, don't my tank parameters have to be dialed in pretty well before I add coral?

 

[anthonys51]

your live rock does have algae on it and detritus for them to eat. dont worry a few snails will find enough food to eat off those live rocks. algae will grow in your tank as long as you have lights on. your water should be ok. lots of people dont dose with corals. i was talking about easy to keep corals. if you dont feed your tank you wont get an ammonia spike, nitrite spike, reason people pay more for live sand and live rock is to make cycle qicker. plus if you arent putting fish, you will be ok. fish are the biggest waste machines your tank will have thats why i said wait 3 months before adding them. give your corals and rock time to settle in

 

[Bishopsnet]

So what if I start adding a fish a month and a coral or 2. Will that be ok?

 

[anthonys51]

before you add fish you really have to make sure you have enough bacteria to handle the fish bioload. fish add alot more bioload than corals and cuc do

 

[AK707]

as im sure you know already im new to the hobby as well but from all my research this is what i would do....
you have to test for more than just ammonia, you need to test nitrite and nitrate as well. Ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic to fish, low levels of nitrate are okay (0 is better). theres a good chance your tank is already cycled with all the live rock and sand.
you don't have to ghost feed but a little bit of fish food won't hurt.
once your ammonia and nitrite is at 0 and if your nitrates arnt sky high you could add 1-2 hardy fish like damsels or clowns. if your nitrates are high then wait another week and test again, if they dropped down you can do a water change to lower them more before you add fish.
wait a month while your bacteria catches up to the bigger bio load with the new fish. monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the whole time. after a month, if your ammonia and nitrite is still at 0 it means your bacteria has caught up and is doing its job so you can add another fish, wait another month or so and add another fish.
you have to let the bacteria catch up to the new bio load of each fish. you can add a small CUC a week or so after the first 2 fish.
as far as corals go i would wait 2-3 months before adding any, corals like stable water parameters and a new tank just isn't going to be stable, its going to fluctuate a little bit while everything is being established.

 

[Bishopsnet]

My ammonia test is enroute. I have to test strip for nitrite and nitrate. Both were at 0. So I'm assuming with no nitrate I'm not ready

 

[anthonys51]

you dont have to wait 2 months to add corals. your tank wont be unstable becuase your going slow and arent adding fish, arent feeding your tank. fish food and fish cuase your tank to be unstable. waiting 3 months will give your rock time to build the good stuff on the rock instead of bad algae. bacteria isnt the only thing you want on that live rock. wait 3 months to add fish. do not start with a damisil they are very territorial and a 28 gallon tank isnt enough space if you want to add any other fish afterwards. ding fish for 3 months you can have corals. corals and snails simple wont make enough waste to cause your water to be unstable. thats why you can add them.

 

[CStrickland]

I think whether the CUC has enough to eat will depend a lot on the rock. People sell "cured live rock" that runs the gamut from dosed with a bottle of bacteria spores, to covered in life.

Diatoms will come pretty quickly but won't last too long if your water source is good.

There's a million ways to cycle a tank. I like to start with fish as they are more fun to look at. You may get lucky. If your live sand and rock have a decent amount of bacteria, it could be that you won't see any cycle at all. That's hard to predict though, it can go either way.

When you get the test you might want to dose the tank with 2ppm ammonia and see how long it takes to clear, before you add anything alive. If the ammonia is gone in 24 hours you are clear to add a fish IMO.

 

[MHG]

whenever i hear someone new say they have "cured" love rock my antenna goes up. meaning it was in another thank and you purchased and transported it wet? because if you purchased it in any way that could have "die off" then YOU need to cure it and thus you must test it. depending on where you got it and how it was shipped would help decide how long you should wait to look for a spike. now if you got it from someone else and transported it when, they you are good to go. probably only see some diatoms on the dry rock...



I prefer to add a small CUC at the beginning. then add the fish slowly over months and test weekly.

 

[Mad_Reefer]

Lots of different methods will work. You might want to find someone who has a tank like yours, that you like, and find out what they do, and if you can do that, do it.
Just to toss out another method idea. Find a local hobbyist who is tossing out Caulerpa or super hardy corals. Put them in your tank. As soon as they show signs of growth, you might be ready for fish. Only do this method if you are okay with removing this algae or coral from time to time as these can grow really fast.

 

[Bishopsnet]

whenever i hear someone new say they have "cured" love rock my antenna goes up. meaning it was in another thank and you purchased and transported it wet? because if you purchased it in any way that could have "die off" then YOU need to cure it and thus you must test it. depending on where you got it and how it was shipped would help decide how long you should wait to look for a spike. now if you got it from someone else and transported it when, they you are good to go. probably only see some diatoms on the dry rock...

Yeah the LFS cures it. I got it out of his tank. I'm new but it has some stuff hanging off it. Also, first day I saw a astrina and brittle start fish. Haven't seen them since.

 

[Bishopsnet]

I think whether the CUC has enough to eat will depend a lot on the rock. People sell "cured live rock" that runs the gamut from dosed with a bottle of bacteria spores, to covered in life.

Diatoms will come pretty quickly but won't last too long if your water source is good.

There's a million ways to cycle a tank. I like to start with fish as they are more fun to look at. You may get lucky. If your live sand and rock have a decent amount of bacteria, it could be that you won't see any cycle at all. That's hard to predict though, it can go either way.

When you get the test you might want to dose the tank with 2ppm ammonia and see how long it takes to clear, before you add anything alive. If the ammonia is gone in 24 hours you are clear to add a fish IMO.

The test comes with ammonia? Should I do the raw shrimp thing?

 

[CStrickland]

No you buy the ammonia, if you search around in sure you'll find instructions. I wouldn't do it at the same time as food or dead shrimp, which are just diff sources of ammonia. The point of dosing ammonia is to add a specific amount and see how long it takes to disappear.