Setting up the new 75 i was wondering if there was any "quicker" way to cylce a new tank, i dont want to add fish to cycle it beacuse its to much stress on them. When i cycled my first 75 i used a piece of raw shrimp and let it rot in the tank and cycle from there; but i was wondering if anyone could share there experiences with cycling.:fun2:
Cycling A new Tank
- Thread starter aaronlp
- Start date
Capt_Cully
Active member
I did it with ammonia. All the info you might need should be found here:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042983
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042983
cameron0611
New member
There is a new chemical out called start smart complete . It cycles your tank for you and with only a 75 one 15 dollar bottle will do. I haven't tested it myself but have only heard good things from lfs. I am upgrading in 3 weeks and I'm going to use it just to be safe.
hey didnt get a pm
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I would caution anyone trying to speed up a new tank to be sure they are correctly monitoring and interpreting important parameters. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.
That said, I haven't done a traditional cycle process in probably 8 or 10 years. My approach is to load a tank with properly cured live rock - rock that has a strong population of beneficial life, but little or no detritus or die-off.
The goal of a typical cycling process is basically to match the nutrient processing capabilities to the nutrient load on the tank. IME the typical process of filling a new tank up with fresh or dirty rock results in not only an insufficient bacteria population, but an abundance of "gunk" that's decomposing and needs to be processed. If you can instead start a tank with a large bacteria population and a low volume of "gunk" you can skip the long and drawn-out cycling process.
Like I said above though, take this or any scheme aimed at speeding the cycle with a grain of salt, and make sure you're correctly interpreting the signs in your own tank before you add any livestock. Keep in mind that there's a lot more going on in a new tank than just nitrogen-processing bacteria. It might be typical for a diatom bloom to occur thanks to excessive silica, and various zooplankton, worms, etc. are all establishing themselves. This stuff can't be monitored by testing for ammonia - you just have to know what to look for, and add livestock at a rate the tank can handle.
That said, I haven't done a traditional cycle process in probably 8 or 10 years. My approach is to load a tank with properly cured live rock - rock that has a strong population of beneficial life, but little or no detritus or die-off.
The goal of a typical cycling process is basically to match the nutrient processing capabilities to the nutrient load on the tank. IME the typical process of filling a new tank up with fresh or dirty rock results in not only an insufficient bacteria population, but an abundance of "gunk" that's decomposing and needs to be processed. If you can instead start a tank with a large bacteria population and a low volume of "gunk" you can skip the long and drawn-out cycling process.
Like I said above though, take this or any scheme aimed at speeding the cycle with a grain of salt, and make sure you're correctly interpreting the signs in your own tank before you add any livestock. Keep in mind that there's a lot more going on in a new tank than just nitrogen-processing bacteria. It might be typical for a diatom bloom to occur thanks to excessive silica, and various zooplankton, worms, etc. are all establishing themselves. This stuff can't be monitored by testing for ammonia - you just have to know what to look for, and add livestock at a rate the tank can handle.
