fish-less cycle process

[3rdimension]

this will be the first time I've attempted to cycle an aquarium without fish. I bought Dr. Tim's bottled ammonia chloride, placed the correct dose in, followed by nite out II and special blend nitrifying bacteria. My question is, will running the protein skimmer reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria? Also does it matter if the lights are on or off during the cycle process? will light help the nitrifying bacteria grow quicker or not?

Thanks.

 

[geaux xman]

i've done it a couple of times now using pure ammonia(10%) from Ace hardware and a 5lb piece of LR. it would do a complete cycle in less than 2 weeks. (Amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ++). thats dosing 4-5ppm of ammonia.

 

[Gandolfe]

I cycled my 45 in less than 3 weeks using about 15lbs of rock, a couple of bags of Live sand and a piece of shrimp from the super market, just picked the shrimp out when it cycled..no fish

 

[3rdimension]

is it ok to run the protein skimmer during the cycle process? will that take any free floating bacteria out of the system?

 

[obaptista]

I would not run the skimmer during the addition of bacteria but it is OK after. Frankly, it does little good if you are using dead rock and sand. If you are using anything that has dying stuff like live rock, I would run it after the bacteria settles. How long to wait? I'm sure someone has an opinion. The bacteria is not in the water column in significant amounts. The work is happening on and in the substrate. You are directly adding ammonia so the skimmer will not pull that. My tank cycled with ambient light only cause I used dead rock and there was no need for lighting. If I were to use live rock, I would keep the lights on for a normal daylight cycle to prevent photosynthetic creatures from dying-off. My $.02

 

[3rdimension]

Thanks obaptista. that helps.

 

[Gandolfe]

If you are not feeding anything in the tank why run the skimmer and waste electricty. might as well wait until your cylce is over to use it!..well that's my 2 cents anyway

 

[billsreef]

With those bottled bacteria, you don't run to run a skimmer, ozone, or UV for the first couple of days. Need to give those bacteria a chance to wake up and colonize the substrate

 

[3rdimension]

Thanks guys, much appreciated