Starting out

[iamchris27]

Hey All,

I am completely new to the hobby. Just ordered a 45 Gallon Red Sea E-170 and waiting for it to arrive. I have been doing a lot of reading and extremely excited to get things "GROWING"!!

I have decided to buy Dry Rock (Marco Rocks 42lbs) and use Carib Sea Ocean Live Direct sand (40lbs). I have been reading quite a bit on the cycling process and there is so many different options, recommendations and processes to complete. No one does it exactly the same!!

Just looking for some advise on how to proceed!

Thanks,

 

[Buddy55]

I bought a cheap bottle of ammonia from ace hardware and kept the ammonia 2-4 ppm. Go fishless cycle though. It's the best imo, safest.

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[ReefsandGeeks]

+1 on fishless cycle. how you do it is up to you, whether you add pure ammonia, or add a piece of dead shrimp, or ghost feeding. Get yourself some quality test kits and check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate every few days or so, that way you know how your cycle is coming along and when it's safe to add fish.

Remember to take it slow! nothing good happens fast in this hobby, and if you're impatient than it will be a frustrating downward spiral.

Don't forget between all of the work and maintenance to enjoy the tank you've worked so hard for.

 

[iamchris27]

Thanks Guys. I think i will try the Ammonia or dead shrimp route. I will definitely take my time.

 

[gone fishin]

+1 on fishless cycle. how you do it is up to you, whether you add pure ammonia, or add a piece of dead shrimp, or ghost feeding. Get yourself some quality test kits and check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate every few days or so, that way you know how your cycle is coming along and when it's safe to add fish.

Remember to take it slow! nothing good happens fast in this hobby, and if you're impatient than it will be a frustrating downward spiral.

Don't forget between all of the work and maintenance to enjoy the tank you've worked so hard for.

I agree, it purely personal preference on how you get the ammonia into your tank.

 

[scooter31707]

I agree with the above statements. I used 2 raw shrimp in my tank along with stability to get the bacteria going. Took about 3.5 weeks to get through the cycle.

 

[BlackTracet]

I am a beginner but this is how I did it:
1. Dumped 60 lbs of Carib sea Fuji pink in.
2. Added 40 lbs of cured live rock from Lfs.
3. Added 65 gals mixed ro water (their water my salt) from the lfs at 1.025 Sg. Added a mesh bag of phosphate minus and a mesh bag of carbon to the sump.
4. Added 3 drops of bio-s every day. Still adding it until the bottle is gone.
5. After 2 weeks added 7.5 ml of ace hardware 10% ammonia to feed the bacteria.
6. After 4 days the ammonia was gone. Nitrite was 0. Nitrate was 3.
7. Added 12 snails and 12 hermits and a cleaner shrimp.
8. Started my skimmer.
9. 2 days later added a yellow tang, 2 clowns, and a royal grammar and 12 more snails and 12 more hermits.
10. All are happy and eating well a week and a half later.
11. Ammonia, Nitrite both are 0 and nitrate holding at 3 or 4.
12. Some coralline growing.

May be a rookie but it worked for me.

 

[tanksfishtank]

I am sure someone has already mentioned this, but if not...throw a piece of raw shrimp in the tanks and that will speed up the cycle. Good choice with dry rock. Less pests!!!

 

[homer1475]

While I've done both methods(raw shrimp or pure ammonia), I find the pure ammonia route much faster. With the raw shrimp you have to wait several days for it to start to breakdown before it turns into an ammonia source. With pure ammonia, your obviously adding ammonia to start with.

The raw shrimp method works well, but typically takes a week or 2 longer while your waiting for the shrimp to breakdown into ammonia.

 

[ssick92]

While I've done both methods(raw shrimp or pure ammonia), I find the pure ammonia route much faster. With the raw shrimp you have to wait several days for it to start to breakdown before it turns into an ammonia source. With pure ammonia, your obviously adding ammonia to start with.

The raw shrimp method works well, but typically takes a week or 2 longer while your waiting for the shrimp to breakdown into ammonia.

Exactly. If you are using dry rock (sounds like you are) then just add pure ammonia to the system and it will eventually grow the necessary bacteria to turn harmful ammonia into less harmful nitrite into harmless nitrate.

Good luck, and remember to be patient!