Cycling my 90 gal

[BeginnerReefer]

Ok, so I'm cycling my new 90 gal right now, and I'm using tap water ( There is no LR or Live Sand in the tank, just working on the water right now) waited a couple of days for the chlorine to evap. Now I've got a sponge and power head in the tank moving the water around...

I heard someone mention to just toss an unbreaded cocktail shrimp in the tank and let it rot to get the cycle going faster. Is this true?

 

[Chago09]

ok ok ok

some more details on your set up, do you have a sump? skimmer?

Heres you instructions

1.) Remove the sponge filter, absolutly useless in SW

2.) Add more flow to your system, I'm assuming you only have the one power head. You need about 25x turnover

3.) Buy a skimmer

4.) Stop using Tap water

5.) You need live rock if you want any bio filter. If you had a shrimp yes it does add ammonia to the water but if you have no rock for the bio bacteria to grow on, then there is no point.

6.) At the top of this forum there is a article by a guy named waterkeeper. Read it.

I've literally just saved you thousands of dollars and perhaps a marriage. Don't worry, no charge

 

[JDL]

sure that will work. But i would start over and get rid of the tap water. I was one that always used tap, but until i got my own ro/di unit i had no idea how much of a difference DI water makes.

Some people put the shrimp in a nylon bag/sock so they can take it out after a few days. They sometimes stink up the room.

 

[Michael]

i wouldnt use a shrimp myself, basically id re-fill the tank with salted ro-di water, when its up to temperature and clear id add in some cured rock, lets say 75 pounds for now, id make a reef wall or an aquascape of your choice with it and when totally satisfied your 100% happy with the look of it i would then add in a 1" of medium grade aragonite sand around the rock just to cover the exposed glass, this is how i did it and it worked well for me, you will get a bit of sand blowing about but it will soon settle, id also suggest 2 tunze 6025s in the tank, 1 each side and a decent skimmer, which is rated for about 150-200 gallons and your good to go, as the rock is cured you may not even see a cycle. if you dont want to use cured rock and use just ordinary rock then id still do the same but you will get a cycle and need to monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, you will see the ammonia and nitrite rise then fall and whilst this is happening the nitrate will rise and stay high, when the ammonia and nitrite have been 0 for 2-3 days do a 20% water change to dilute the nitrate and add some cuc, id suggest 6-8 snails to start.

the rock quantity you need will depend on your livestock plans, my 75 pounds is hypothetical and you may need a lot more or a lot less.

so basically whats your longterm plans for livestock in the tank?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What are your goals with this tank? What are your long term plans for livestock and equipment?

What are you hoping to accomplish with this cycle process?

 

[BeginnerReefer]

Here's the setup... I want to be able to see through both the front and the back. So the plan was to make a sort of island with LR in the middle.. kind of. I don't really have the money for an Ro/DI unit right now, and actually am broke period. So all there is in the tank is a sponge, and power head- Tap water is the only choice limiting the fact that I don't have an RO/DI think right now.

Also, we're currently working on building the sump/fuge. Actually making the trip sometime hopefully this weekend to pick up acrylic. (How thick should we get?)

Livestock Here's My Idea- Not in necessarily this order, or even these fish..

I currently have
-2 Baby Clowns (Both are less than an inch long)
-1 Baby Yellow tang (about an inch and a half)
These are in my ten gallon basically QT while I'm working on setting up the 90

What else I would like to add-

Clean-up Crew
~10 Hermits
~ 10-15 Snails

Fish
- 2 McCosker's Flasher Wrasse- both male and female
- 2-3 cardinal fish
- 1 One spot Foxface
- 2 Domino Damsel's (I've heard they're agressive, haven't found much info on them)
- 1-2 Spotted Mandarin
- Any Ideas?

Feel free to add or subtract-
Here's what kind of attracts me, contrasting colors (Yellow tang, orange clowns, purple Chromi's stufff like that) I also want them to be reef safe as eventually I would like to add corals and anem's

 

[BeginnerReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792358#post14792358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by der_wille_zur_macht
What are your goals with this tank? What are your long term plans for livestock and equipment?

What are you hoping to accomplish with this cycle process?

I'm mostly trying to get the chlorine stuff out, and some bacteria in I guess?

 

[stingythingy45]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792565#post14792565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeginnerReefer
I'm mostly trying to get the chlorine stuff out, and some bacteria in I guess?

You have me a bit confused.
When I clicked on your (red house) build thread I could swear there's a picture of a Clown fish already in the tank.

*Ok I see,that's a 10 gallon you have.

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

Your Cuc will need to grow...considerably Something closer to 100 snails/crabs.

 

[stingythingy45]

If you have chlorine in your tap water you're definitely going to want to purchase an ro/di.......asap.
Agree with Chago09.You really need the LR in the tank before getting the cycle going.You need a place for the bacteria to inhabit.

 

[BeginnerReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792587#post14792587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 1DeR9_3Hy
Your Cuc will need to grow...considerably Something closer to 100 snails/crabs.

haha, ok. See I really had no clue how many I would need. Thanks!

Also- I don't know that we have chlorine, but assuming the worse, it will evaporate- Correct? I mean.. I don't taste it when I drink the water.. lol

And I use Ro/Di H2O bought from the LFS for my ten gallon water changes, and the first fill up, just filling the 90 is a bit pricey.

-Sorry if this comes across itchy, I don't mean it to, I'm just asking questions. lol

 

[Michael]

i have 2 dozen snails in my 92, anymore would starve, if you eventually have 7-8 fish and lots of waste then maybe 100 then, id recommend 6-8 to start and add more as you need them

 

[BeginnerReefer]

Just checked with the LFS and the cheapest RO/DI thing they have is 180.82 unfortunately thats not in my budget.

 

[Michael]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792845#post14792845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeginnerReefer
Just checked with the LFS and the cheapest RO/DI thing they have is 180.82 unfortunately thats not in my budget.

well can you buy ro-di from the lfs?

 

[stingythingy45]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792886#post14792886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Michael
well can you buy ro-di from the lfs?

^^^

I have a LFS that was selling it for 50 cents a gallon.

Should have seen the first time I filled my 55 gallon back a few years ago.I wheeled a cart up to the checkout at the local super store with 20 gallons of water.Then went back to get another 10 gallons,same checkout lady.:lol:
But that's not as funny as the look I got when I prchase just 2 uncooked cocktail shrimp.
I have only like maybe a dozen snails in my 90 gallon.

4 nassarius
3 large Zebra Trocus
4 cerith
A couple margarita's and Astria
Loads of bristle and mini-brittle stars

 

[BeginnerReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792886#post14792886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Michael
well can you buy ro-di from the lfs?

Yea. But I was under the impression that tap water is fine. Thats why I started with it in the first Place.. lol Ok.. I'm breaking down. Will talk to the boy to convince him of buying At least RO water.... lol

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792955#post14792955 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stingythingy45
^^^

But that's not as funny as the look I got when I prchase just 2 uncooked cocktail shrimp.

Same thing happened to me!!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792565#post14792565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeginnerReefer
I'm mostly trying to get the chlorine stuff out, and some bacteria in I guess?

Chlorine will come out on it's own over time. There's really no point in "cycling" a totally empty tank (save water) for bacterial colonization, as the majority of bacteria in a reef environment will live on solid surfaces (rock and sand) rather than freely in the water.

Tap water is a crapshoot. It'll be totally fine for one person one day, and totally terrible for someone else - or for that same person on a different day.

 

[BeginnerReefer]

well right now I have a sponge in there that I was considering keeping in my sump/fuge. But From everyone's reactions it seems that sponges are a no no?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

A sponge filter is fine, but you have to realize what it'll do to your tank.

If you use it in an area of high flow (i.e. a sponge covering the intake of your return pump, or between baffles in the sump) it'll act as a mechanical filter and help trap debris. This is great, provided you rinse/replace the sponge frequently enough (like more than once or twice a week) to keep it from establishing a hearty bacterial colony.

If you leave the sponge undisturbed for long periods of time, it'll become populated by bacteria. This isn't a terrible thing, but it'll basically just break down harmful chemicals into slightly less harmful chemicals. It'll do nothing to actually remove those chemicals from your tank.

Any reef tank needs some form of biological filtration to act as a cushion for changing conditions and to break down nutrients not removable by other means, but the current way to provide this in reef tanks is to use lots of live rock (and in many cases sand or another substrate). The bacteria that colonize these materials provide enough processing ability (and in theory, more thorough processing) that a sponge filter isn't necessary.

Many people leap to the conclusion that sponges, bio-balls, and other traditional biological filters are evil nitrate factories that will ruin your whole life, but IMHO that's a bit of a stretch and is a dangerous statement to make out of the context of some form of explanation.

 

[abulgin]

First, don't buy your equipment from a LFS. Buy it from an on-line vendor--and this goes for RO/DI units. You save thousands of dollars over the life of your hobby. Second, if you don't have $180 available to spend on this hobby, you're in the wrong hobby. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you really need to go into this knowing that you are going to spend thousands of dollars on a 90 gallon tank. If you only have money for a sponge filter and a power head, your animals are in trouble.