Question on cycling All in one tank system

[minireef]

Hello from South Florida. After 25 years of wanting, it’s starting to come to fruition. We purchased a used 210 gal setup last year but held off setup due to renovations in the house. My itch got me and since my birthday is around the corner, I sweet talked my hubby into a 13.5 gal Nano Aquatop. I needed to start without spending too much money and feel like I needed to get it out of my system, you know? I needed too see water in a tank after staring at the empty 210 being moved from one side of the house to the other.
Any who, I do have a question. This Aquatop All in one system came with a little carbon pack and filter media, do I cycle with or without them? I will be following Dr Tim’s fishless cycling. I have dry rock and live sand. Powerhead and heater running.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I’d leave the carbon out.

 

[Idech]

You don’t need either. The rocks will be your biomedia.

 

[jrill]

Filter media in is fine. Mechanical filtration no.

 

[Miniyork]

Same. No carbon

 

[Jaymzha]

Tip. Do the normal cycling process.
But on the side you can consider doing this!

I soaked bio spheres tied in a filter bag in a separate medium-large tupperware sized container with bacteria (ie. fritz 9/dr.tims) and high ammonia saltwater. I made sure to mix it around a 2-3 times a day and kept in the dark. I did this for about 3-4 days. Your left with highly 'cycled' media. Test alongside the main tank water and the results will show so much faster. Then I added the media only (toss the water because it'll be filled with high nitrates) to the rear chamber and waited a day. This drastically sped up the cycling process and in my opinion made it a lot more stable for the long run! Good luck!

 

[minireef]

You don’t need either. The rocks will be your biomedia.

Thank you

 

[minireef]

Tip. Do the normal cycling process.
But on the side you can consider doing this!

I soaked bio spheres tied in a filter bag in a separate medium-large tupperware sized container with bacteria (ie. fritz 9/dr.tims) and high ammonia saltwater. I made sure to mix it around a 2-3 times a day and kept in the dark. I did this for about 3-4 days. Your left with highly 'cycled' media. Test alongside the main tank water and the results will show so much faster. Then I added the media only (toss the water because it'll be filled with high nitrates) to the rear chamber and waited a day. This drastically sped up the cycling process and in my opinion made it a lot more stable for the long run! Good luck!

Ah. This is good stuff. Thank you

 

[minireef]

Thank you everyone.

 

[olonmv]

You don’t need either. The rocks will be your biomedia.

Agreed but, it’s nice to have a removable bio media source if you ever have to startup a hospital/quarantine tank on the go. Just drop the bag in the AIO and forget about it until you need it.

 

[Idech]

Agreed but, it’s nice to have a removable bio media source if you ever have to startup a hospital/quarantine tank on the go. Just drop the bag in the AIO and forget about it until you need it.

Yes, that’s a very good point.