Filled my 125 up with RODI water Monday. Today I put Dr. Tims in it. Do I need to add anything to kick start the cycle? I have 120 pounds of live sand from Billy Hay, plus 120 pounds of his dry rock in there. I didn't test the water when I filled it beyond the TDS of 0. Today I did everything and have 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate, pH 8.0, kH 2.14, SG 1.024, Tank Temp is 73. My heater is supposed to be here today. I would have thought the sand would have kicked off a cycle...but It did sit outside and freeze. What do I need to do to kick start the cycle...will the Dr. Tims work to do that?
Starting Cycle for 125 gallon
- Thread starter my5girls
- Start date
mcgyvr
New member
A "cycle" is the process of establishing sufficient bacteria to allow the system to process ammonia into the lesser toxic nitrite then nitrate forms (then even nitrate to nitrogen gas and out of the tank - export)
Its entirely possible that your addition of Dr. Tims bacteria combined with the "live sand" is sufficient to not have a cycle as there is enough bacteria already there..
But... Having said that.. I doubt it..
You can either "ghost feed" where you add some (a pinch or two) flake or pellet food to the tank each day or you can even add a regular table shrimp from your local grocery store to provide sufficient "death/ammonia" to get it started..
1 day though is a bit quick to expect anything.. I'd bet there is sufficient "death" in the "live sand" to get it going and in a day or 2 you should certainly see some results on your test kits without doing anything..
You can also add Dr Tims ammonia chloride or bottled ammonia (with no surfactants.. shake it and if you see bubbles you don't want it)... To dose the tank up to 1ppm or so (many say 2ppm but even 1 should be more than sufficient and won't leave you with as high of a nitrate level after to clean up).. Don't dose to more than that though and you only need to dose it up once and then wait until ammonia and nitrites are back down to zero then the tank is cycled..
Many will also say to dose it again just to verify that they tank is cycled and ammonia/nitrites should be back to zero again in 24 hours or less..
Personally I don't even waste money on ammonia/nitrite test kits anymore and I would just suggest ghost feeding or a shrimp for a week then waiting 3+ more weeks then call it good..
Its entirely possible that your addition of Dr. Tims bacteria combined with the "live sand" is sufficient to not have a cycle as there is enough bacteria already there..
But... Having said that.. I doubt it..
You can either "ghost feed" where you add some (a pinch or two) flake or pellet food to the tank each day or you can even add a regular table shrimp from your local grocery store to provide sufficient "death/ammonia" to get it started..
1 day though is a bit quick to expect anything.. I'd bet there is sufficient "death" in the "live sand" to get it going and in a day or 2 you should certainly see some results on your test kits without doing anything..
You can also add Dr Tims ammonia chloride or bottled ammonia (with no surfactants.. shake it and if you see bubbles you don't want it)... To dose the tank up to 1ppm or so (many say 2ppm but even 1 should be more than sufficient and won't leave you with as high of a nitrate level after to clean up).. Don't dose to more than that though and you only need to dose it up once and then wait until ammonia and nitrites are back down to zero then the tank is cycled..
Many will also say to dose it again just to verify that they tank is cycled and ammonia/nitrites should be back to zero again in 24 hours or less..
Personally I don't even waste money on ammonia/nitrite test kits anymore and I would just suggest ghost feeding or a shrimp for a week then waiting 3+ more weeks then call it good..
mcgyvr
New member
mbublitz01
New member
you won't see too much of a spike if the sand and live rock have been in a good tank before yours. Make sure its a week or two and you can introduce a clean up crew to start.
I would add enough pure ammonia to raise the ammonia level to 2ppm, then simply wait for the tank to eliminate the ammonia and the subsequent nitrites. When both your ammonia and nitrites are at zero for a couple of days the cycle is complete and you can begin to slowly add livestock. You do not need to continue to add ammonia or flake food to feed the bacteria; once present the bacteria will live over a year without food (ammonia and nitrites). Use pure ammonia without surfactants (available at most hardware stores, I got mine at Ace Hardware) or perfumes. To be sure the ammonia does not contain surfactants shake the bottle and if it bubbles up like dish soap it has surfactants in it, pure ammonia will not have bubbles. To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 2 ppm ammonia you would need to add 0.8 grams (8 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia.
