Ok well i set up a 20l tank to house a pair of perc i got. (Thank you boogie) I have them in my sump right now as i have other clowns in my main tank. I was trying to get the 20l set up ASAP as i dont want to stress them out very much. (skimmer and pump noises in the sump). so i cleaned the tank spotless using 2gal of vingear. I put in about 30 pounds of what the bag said was "live sand". I was hoping for not much of a cycle but of course my amonnia this morning was around 2ppm nitrates were 5ppm and nitrite was 0ppm. So my question is do i need to add some shrimp or maube some frozen brine to make it go faster? I also plane on adding LR will this help speed up the cycle? I have some in my sump but the clowns are using it for shelter at the moment. oh and i am using a HOB with just filter floss at the moment which i am either going to eventually plumb it into my stock tank sump or i am going to set up a 10g sump for it. but also befor i get into doing that ill probably run filter floss in one side of the HOB and maybe bioballs in the other. let me know your thoughts thanks!
Tank cycling
- Thread starter tlsrcs
- Start date
I do not like the the ol stinky shrimp method personally...its just not natural...its like adding a bottle of bacteria to speed up the cycle...not my thing. I wouldnt do bio balls either....their just a nitrate factory -
Just get your LR in there and sand and your cycle will move forward. If the rock is already cured your cycle will most likely go by pretty fast. Do it the natural way...let nature run its course. But dont rush it. I would run your floss, LR and a bag of carbon...actually I used Purigen as well a week into my cycle and it really kept the bad levels low! I did a Soft Cycle with daily or every other day water changes and now that the tank is aging it has paid off....lots of beneficial critters. Just my 2 cents
GL!
Just get your LR in there and sand and your cycle will move forward. If the rock is already cured your cycle will most likely go by pretty fast. Do it the natural way...let nature run its course. But dont rush it. I would run your floss, LR and a bag of carbon...actually I used Purigen as well a week into my cycle and it really kept the bad levels low! I did a Soft Cycle with daily or every other day water changes and now that the tank is aging it has paid off....lots of beneficial critters. Just my 2 cents
GL!okay well the LR will be coming out of my sump or from a already established system. so I dont exspect much of a cycle from the rock really its just the sand and i have a feeling the "live" sand might have been jus dead sand in disguis lol. do you thik if i put in a cup of sand from my Main tank it would help it along also??
Yep a cup of sand from a healthy aged tank will also help you jump start a new tank. Did you buy that Argonite Live Sand in a 10/20lb bag..if so its good stuff but the live aspect of it is suspect but its a quality product. Just seed it with sand from your other tank and get those pods jump started! Use whatever LR is the healthiest...pest free in your new setup. but I would get that in their asap dont wait because it will boost your cycle...more surface area for bacteria to break down )
)so i picked up a few peices of LR from wicked last night and put them in the tank. I also tested the water and the ammonia was down but not at 0 yet. i think with the LR and a cup or two of sand from my tank i will cycle here pretty quickly. i also added a 2nd HOB filter running more floss and carbon to try and clear up the water a little. The sand is very soft feeling i think it is just full of dust.
Sounds like you got some cured rock, your cycle should go quick. Your ammonia level is already at 0, just get your nitrites to 0. You could do a soft cycle, and start reducing your nitrates, but it will take longer to finish the cycle. How much longer? Depends on your rock and other filtration you have going. HTH
yea it was out of his sump and i have some more i am taking out of my sump....Do you guys think if i remove the 10lbs or so that is in my sump i am going to spike my nitrates in my tank? and as far as a soft does that mean start doing water changes? If so i think i will ride out the cycle as if my amonia is on its way down now i just have to let the nitrits do its thing and should be done here pretty quickly....is there a way to kind of put your bio filter through a test like maybe throw a formula 1 cube in there and make sure no ammonia spike happens?? I have never had to cycle a tank before so i just wanna make sure i dont harm the perc or stress them as i am hoping to get some eggs out of them.
I bought that live aragonite sand for my 90 and lived with a cloud for a couple days. Believe me, it will settle down. I even posted a couple times on the forum freaking out, because I was sure I was going to have to syphon it out. It didn't hurt anything and it's not dusty anymore even with my diamond goby rifling through it constantly.