‘cycling’ question ... I’m confused

[itsCHEL]

Hi, It’s my first saltwater aquarium and I’m kind of confused about cycling. I have a fluval evo 13.5. I have saltwater, live sand and live rock in it (that was bought from a LFS). I was told:
1. It was enough to start cycling my aquarium,
2. It could take 4-6 weeks to be fully cycled
3. To monitor my ammonia levels (it’s only been a week & my ammonia level is 0.25ppm)
I’ve been reading different articles & posts and it seems like an ammonia source is needed. If so, which is the best source, ammonia tablets/drops?
I’ve also read that ‘Dr Tim’s one and only’ can help speed the process. Has anyone tried this? If so, what’s the process like?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[boacvh]

Yes. Dr Tim's ammonia drops will introduce the ammonia to your tank and then you can add Dr tim's one and only or biospira or similar to seed the bacteria. Then measure until ammonia is 0 but also nitrites are 0 as well.
Have you gone through this one? It was really useful to me when I started. Basically instead of putting a rotting shrimp you are adding some ammonia drops directly

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Quietman]

If you bought actual cycled live rock from the LFS you could be done. Check though...people sell lots of things. Any how yes, you need to source of ammonia to feed bacteria to keep it cycled until you add your first fish (or CUC). That can be some ghost feeding food every few days or a some ammonia (1 ppm every few days).

You probably won't need Dr Tim's if that was cycled rock (and not just cured rock).

 

[brandon429]

yes agreed
the live bottle bac industry is overselling us bigtime for their benefit

live rock true live rock has living animals and plants attached, bugs, and if so it needs no help it shows up ready. post a pic of it pls a good detailed one

someone trying to sell you bottle bac just to be sure is the whole point of an article on cycling Im writing, where we're getting ripped off by people for profit. Your tank and rock might be a prime candidate for a system that needs no help cycling, then after we work a bit you can show the lfs this post

 

[Lizbeli]

If you used live rock that came from an existing tank usually the die off is enough to jump start a cycle. Better yet, you will probably have a pretty quick cycle if it is quality rock. However, you still need to take it slow when adding livestock.

 

[shoelaceike]

You can just dump a bottle of biospira just to be sure and skip the cycle completely. Or add some ammonia and test the next day, if its 0, you should be good to go. FYI. The API ammonia test will usually read .25 no matter what.

 

[W1ngz]

Lots of good info in the posts above. Here's what I suggest for a new reefer, with a new tank who has never done this before:

-Live rock and sand can shorten your cycle time. No one can say by how much for your specific case, so you have to test the water.

-Get used to testing your water, you're going to be doing it a lot, for a lot of different things.

-Bottled bacteria can shorten the process, and most of them work, but you may as well learn now that trying to rush anything in the biology of a reef is bad. Try and avoid the trap of buying bottles of "stuff" to fix problems. There is literally a bottle of something that claims to fix everything. Most don't. Care, maintenance and testing is what fixes problems.

-You need an ammonia source. This could be die-off from live rock from another tank that was left exposed to air, it could be from a small piece of rotting fish food or shrimp, and it could be by dosing exactly 1.1ml of 10% plain household ammonia.

If you want to know where the 1.1ml of ammonia comes from, I used this calculator to bring 13.5 gallons up to a 2PPM concentration of ammonia.

You know your cycle is complete when you can add 2ppm of household ammonia, and tests for ammonia and nitrite are 0 within 48 hours, and you can do a water change to bring down your nitrates. You can repeat that 48 hour confirmation test as often as you want.

 

[brandon429]

We can always with total accuracy state if a cycle is completed from merely seeing live rock and checking for animals.

We wouldn't ever dose ammonia to verify since this burns live rock creatures. Barren rocks can be tested, living ones are always ready. Testing without using Seneye or mind steam is guess testing and full of false readings

Live rock skip cycle by visuals

Brand new, could use some help with cycling Info!

So I just got my fluval 13.5 nano tank setup with instant ocean salt (perfect salinity). I have live sand and live rock also. Yesterday I put the correct dose of Bio-spira to help the cycle start. And today I added some of Dr.Tims ammonium chloride solution to my tank. I have my temperature set...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[itsCHEL]

Yes. Dr Tim's ammonia drops will introduce the ammonia to your tank and then you can add Dr tim's one and only or biospira or similar to seed the bacteria. Then measure until ammonia is 0 but also nitrites are 0 as well.
Have you gone through this one? It was really useful to me when I started. Basically instead of putting a rotting shrimp you are adding some ammonia drops directly

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks, that article was helpful. I guess I’ll be stopping by the LFS to get some ammonia drops

 

[itsCHEL]

If you bought actual cycled live rock from the LFS you could be done. Check though...people sell lots of things. Any how yes, you need to source of ammonia to feed bacteria to keep it cycled until you add your first fish (or CUC). That can be some ghost feeding food every few days or a some ammonia (1 ppm every few days).

You probably won't need Dr Tim's if that was cycled rock (and not just cured rock).

Thanks. This may sound like a dumb question but what’s the difference between cycled rock and cured rock? And how can I tell which one I got? The guy at the LFS store didn’t really specify. I think I may need to find a new LFS.

 

[Iamjeff6]

Thanks. This may sound like a dumb question but what’s the difference between cycled rock and cured rock? And how can I tell which one I got? The guy at the LFS store didn’t really specify. I think I may need to find a new LFS.

how did you get the rock, was it dry or did you pick it out of water?

 

[itsCHEL]

yes agreed
the live bottle bac industry is overselling us bigtime for their benefit

live rock true live rock has living animals and plants attached, bugs, and if so it needs no help it shows up ready. post a pic of it pls a good detailed one

someone trying to sell you bottle bac just to be sure is the whole point of an article on cycling Im writing, where we're getting ripped off by people for profit. Your tank and rock might be a prime candidate for a system that needs no help cycling, then after we work a bit you can show the lfs this post

thanks, I’ll try to post a pic

yes agreed
the live bottle bac industry is overselling us bigtime for their benefit

live rock true live rock has living animals and plants attached, bugs, and if so it needs no help it shows up ready. post a pic of it pls a good detailed one

someone trying to sell you bottle bac just to be sure is the whole point of an article on cycling Im writing, where we're getting ripped off by people for profit. Your tank and rock might be a prime candidate for a system that needs no help cycling, then after we work a bit you can show the lfs this post

I have some feather dusters on some of the rocks. I’m also noticing more algae too.

 

[itsCHEL]

how did you get the rock, was it dry or did you pick it out of water?

I picked it out of the water. It was basically in big tank just filled with rocks.

 

[itsCHEL]

You can just dump a bottle of biospira just to be sure and skip the cycle completely. Or add some ammonia and test the next day, if its 0, you should be good to go. FYI. The API ammonia test will usually read .25 no matter what.

Thanks, if the API ammonia test usually reads .25, is there a better ammonia test kit I should be using or is 0.25 reading okay?

 

[brandon429]

hey well done. Im seeing these benthic attachments that verify the cycle:

fanworm, awesome macro shot of him totally alive and extended. they will not extend in free ammonia water. Those take way longer than nitrifiers do to adhere to a surface. dont kill me with ammonia, it's squeaking ever so silently lol

algae. any rock with algae on it has been underwater well past nitrification gain date. confirmed, Ill add this to a thread on no test cycling and not being ripped off by bottle bac sellers. your tank needs no bottle bac. seneye ammonia would render accurate testing, no others will.

your cycle is complete.

 

[Malifry97]

As @brandon429, your tank is cycled! Live rock has critters, plants and more than enough nitrifying bacteria!

 

[brandon429]

This is very rulebreaking stuff but things always change, rules change and have to always adapt and this is 100% how MACNA tanks are setup to skip cycle, and all of them begin on an agreed upon Friday start date

its that reliable. *sometimes they do dose bottle bac I saw a dry rock + clown fish + bottle bac setup at Aquashella, for proofing bottle bac.

but this one is old school live rock transfer skip cycles. Bottle bac sellers should state: using our product to boost live rock isn't needed, when animals are attached that's your signal the rock has a full complement of bacteria"

but that would sell less bac, so Im not looking for that label update anytime soon. no ammonia source is needed because the system is ready for fish or corals, that's where ammonia will come from. no ramping up, no extra bac are required. The testers you use tend to read .25 for lots of people, that measure isn't significant here

this thread is very relevant to our cycling article, its an example of skipping one. anything that shows up wet vectors in the bacteria, so if the sand was wet-pack that's like dosing a whole bottle of bottle bac already.

 

[itsCHEL]

hey well done. Im seeing these benthic attachments that verify the cycle:

fanworm, awesome macro shot of him totally alive and extended. they will not extend in free ammonia water. Those take way longer than nitrifiers do to adhere to a surface. dont kill me with ammonia, it's squeaking ever so silently lol

algae. any rock with algae on it has been underwater well past nitrification gain date. confirmed, Ill add this to a thread on no test cycling and not being ripped off by bottle bac sellers. your tank needs no bottle bac. seneye ammonia would render accurate testing, no others will.

your cycle is complete.

This is very rulebreaking stuff but things always change, rules change and have to always adapt and this is 100% how MACNA tanks are setup to skip cycle, and all of them begin on an agreed upon Friday start date

its that reliable. *sometimes they do dose bottle bac I saw a dry rock + clown fish + bottle bac setup at Aquashella, for proofing bottle bac.

but this one is old school live rock transfer skip cycles. Bottle bac sellers should state: using our product to boost live rock isn't needed, when animals are attached that's your signal the rock has a full complement of bacteria"

but that would sell less bac, so Im not looking for that label update anytime soon. no ammonia source is needed because the system is ready for fish or corals, that's where ammonia will come from. no ramping up, no extra bac are required. The testers you use tend to read .25 for lots of people, that measure isn't significant here

this thread is very relevant to our cycling article, its an example of skipping one. anything that shows up wet vectors in the bacteria, so if the sand was wet-pack that's like dosing a whole bottle of bottle bac already.

Thanks! That’s awesome news. I’m so glad I joined R2R. My LFS wasn’t much help.

 

[brandon429]

I do not think the LFS was trying to do anything wrong, testing for rocks is common in the hobby, and what to do with test readings does vary site to site. I assure you Id be banned for typing this stuff on any other site yay to post freedom. welcome to our site~~

*regarding stocking fish: more controversy.

your rocks can handle fish, and if one clown is all you ever wanted a healthy specimen might live. but to do it right, nowadays people do fallow/quarantine to really ensure fish health. thats all explained in the fish disease forum here, you'll have to decide how you want to go.

your tank is ready for starter corals though, and shrimp and cool stuff outside of fish
you can actually start using it/that's really neat.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Thanks! That’s awesome news. I’m so glad I joined R2R. My LFS wasn’t much help.

I agree with @brandon429, your tank is ready for fish.