Newbie Tank Cycling- Is Purigen Ok to Add?

[Adam Houston]

So this is my 1st time setting up a saltwater aquarium and I was wondering if it’s too soon to add a bag of Purigen to my sump??
—Currently on day #7 of a fishless cycle with Fritz Turbostart and Fishless Fuel. Wasn’t too sure if I should wait another week to start adding chemical filtration or if I can go ahead and add it now?

 

[Fish Fan]

I would suggest that you don't use Puragen at all. For most of us, we want the rock and sand to be our biofilters and to process nitrogenous waste naturally. Using something like Puragen is a bit of a band aid. Sure, it's removing ammonia, but someday it will deplete, and then you'll have ammonia building faster than your natural biofilter (your rock and sand) can handle it. I would say that the majority of reefers here do not use Puragen, though there's always an exception. But most of us want our rock and sand doing the biofiltration in our tanks.

Good luck!

 

[Adam Houston]

I would suggest that you don't use Puragen at all. For most of us, we want the rock and sand to be our biofilters and to process nitrogenous waste naturally. Using something like Puragen is a bit of a band aid. Sure, it's removing ammonia, but someday it will deplete, and then you'll have ammonia building faster than your natural biofilter (your rock and sand) can handle it. I would say that the majority of reefers here do not use Puragen, though there's always an exception. But most of us want our rock and sand doing the biofiltration in our tanks.

Good luck!

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback! Wasn’t sure if it was commonly used in saltwater or not. Crossing over from African cichlids so there’s definitely a bit of a learning curve Lol

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback! Wasn’t sure if it was commonly used in saltwater or not. Crossing over from African cichlids so there’s definitely a bit of a learning curve Lol

Friend, I have had freshwater tanks all my life, and I've been dabbling in marine tanks off and on for more years than I care to state here. Generally, most reefers here at R2R would tell you that reef tanks and freshwater tanks are night and day. I'd argue they are more similar than dissimilar, but reef tanks are just different, and I think the word that sums this up best is that marine tanks are just "slower". Everything happens more slowly.

@Cichlid Dad
@PharmrJohn

I think will back me up, and would have their own advice, and I'd trust both these reefers over my advice for sure

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Friend, I have had freshwater tanks all my life, and I've been dabbling in marine tanks off and on for more years than I care to state here. Generally, most reefers here at R2R would tell you that reef tanks and freshwater tanks are night and day. I'd argue they are more similar than dissimilar, but reef tanks are just different, and I think the word that sums this up best is that marine tanks are just "slower". Everything happens more slowly.

@Cichlid Dad
@PharmrJohn

I think will back me up, and would have their own advice, and I'd trust both these reefers over my advice for sure

Agreed with everything. One thing you have to wrap your head around is filtration. In a reef your rock is the biological filtration. No chemical filtration, no bio balls, or most " added bio filtration" that is used in fresh water. I literally have just rock, protein skimmer and algae as my filtration. Nothing else.

 

[Fish Fan]

@Cichlid Dad Thanks for your input!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

 

[Spare time]

Just use quality activated carbon instead of purigen.

 

[Fish Fan]

You simply can't argue with your results. Beautiful tank @Cichlid Dad!

 

[PharmrJohn]

I would suggest that you don't use Puragen at all. For most of us, we want the rock and sand to be our biofilters and to process nitrogenous waste naturally. Using something like Puragen is a bit of a band aid. Sure, it's removing ammonia, but someday it will deplete, and then you'll have ammonia building faster than your natural biofilter (your rock and sand) can handle it. I would say that the majority of reefers here do not use Puragen, though there's always an exception. But most of us want our rock and sand doing the biofiltration in our tanks.

Good luck!

Agreed with everything. One thing you have to wrap your head around is filtration. In a reef your rock is the biological filtration. No chemical filtration, no bio balls, or most " added bio filtration" that is used in fresh water. I literally have just rock, protein skimmer and algae as my filtration. Nothing else.

As stated above, I wouldn't use it. Not unless the ammonia levels have gotten so high that your cycle has stalled out. Then bring it down and keep it at about 2ppm. The whole idea of cycling is to actually HAVE ammonia in your system so that nitrifying bacteria have something to eat and thus multiply. In my old 90, my filtration was just a skimmer, live rock and live sand. I'll be adding an algae scrubber to the mix with my upcoming build, Also, a skimmer should be.off for the first week. Just as an FYI if you start another tank. You.can keep it running at this point if you have it running currently. When your tank shows nitrates, and is handling the breakdown of ammonia at 2ppm to zero in 24 hours (for about 4 or 5 days in a row), then you are cycled.

In terms of lighting, you have an opportunity here to minimize your ugly phase. I'd keep my lights off for 2 months (or a bit longer) to give your bacteria a chance to maximize it's proliferation and subsequent Colonization. The ugly phase is mediated primarily by photosynthesis. If you keep them off, algae, diatom and Dino growth is minimized. And fish do not need light. Once that 2 month window has passed, go ahead and ramp up your lighting and THEN add corals if all is stable. As your waiting this period out, maintain Ca, Mg, ALK, pH, PO4 and NO3 to levels you want when it's time to put corals in. After a time, when corals finally go in, you'll see drops in your Ca and ALK primarily. Mg is utilized at about 1/10th that of Ca. So be aware of this. In my next build, I'll be keeping my Ca around 465, Mg around 1400, ALK between 10 and 12, pH at 8.2 to 8.4 (hopefully), PO4 around 0.05 and NO3 around 5 to 10. These are just the numbers I'm gonna keep. It differs depending on who you talk to.

So. I've rambled. Again!

 

[Adam Houston]

Very nice! The color on those corals is stunning Hoping I can eventually add some zoas to my rock structures and keep it as low-maintenance as possible Lol What kind of algae can I add to my sump is chaeto a good one? I have a pretty basic sump with only 2 sections so my filter socks run right into the main section where I have some left over rocks and will soon be adding a protein skimmer.

 

[Adam Houston]

Very nice! The color on those corals is stunning Hoping I can eventually add some zoas to my rock structures and keep it as low-maintenance as possible Lol What kind of algae can I add to my sump is chaeto a good one? I have a pretty basic sump with only 2 sections so my filter socks run right into the main section where I have some left over rocks and will soon be adding a protein skimmer.

 

[Adam Houston]

I tried attaching a picture of my sump as a reply but not sure if there’s a delay or glitch in uploading it:

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Chaeto is the standard. It's easy, grows like a weed. Also, pictures don't always tell a true story.

Same coral under my normal T5 lights. Other photo is just a blade 30 inch set on blue only and an orange filter on the cell phone. My point is until you see a tank in person, don't trust a picture. I hope you achieve your dream Reef!

 

[Adam Houston]

Chaeto is the standard. It's easy, grows like a weed. Also, pictures don't always tell a true story.

Same coral under my normal T5 lights. Other photo is just a blade 30 inch set on blue only and an orange filter on the cell phone. My point is until you see a tank in person, don't trust a picture. I hope you achieve your dream Reef!

I was about to say it almost looked photoshopped hehe Looks great under those T5s as well!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I tried attaching a picture of my sump as a reply but not sure if there’s a delay or glitch in uploading it:

You will likely want quite a bit more rock in the tank... as mentioned, it is the main filtration.

 

[Adam Houston]

As stated above, I wouldn't use it. Not unless the ammonia levels have gotten so high that your cycle has stalled out. Then bring it down and keep it at about 2ppm. The whole idea of cycling is to actually HAVE ammonia in your system so that nitrifying bacteria have something to eat and thus multiply. In my old 90, my filtration was just a skimmer, live rock and live sand. I'll be adding an algae scrubber to the mix with my upcoming build, Also, a skimmer should be.off for the first week. Just as an FYI if you start another tank. You.can keep it running at this point if you have it running currently. When your tank shows nitrates, and is handling the breakdown of ammonia at 2ppm to zero in 24 hours (for about 4 or 5 days in a row), then you are cycled.

In terms of lighting, you have an opportunity here to minimize your ugly phase. I'd keep my lights off for 2 months (or a bit longer) to give your bacteria a chance to maximize it's proliferation and subsequent Colonization. The ugly phase is mediated primarily by photosynthesis. If you keep them off, algae, diatom and Dino growth is minimized. And fish do not need light. Once that 2 month window has passed, go ahead and ramp up your lighting and THEN add corals if all is stable. As your waiting this period out, maintain Ca, Mg, ALK, pH, PO4 and NO3 to levels you want when it's time to put corals in. After a time, when corals finally go in, you'll see drops in your Ca and ALK primarily. Mg is utilized at about 1/10th that of Ca. So be aware of this. In my next build, I'll be keeping my Ca around 465, Mg around 1400, ALK between 10 and 12, pH at 8.2 to 8.4 (hopefully), PO4 around 0.05 and NO3 around 5 to 10. These are just the numbers I'm gonna keep. It differs depending on who you talk to.

So. I've rambled. Again!

I appreciate the ramble! lol I definitely have a lot to learn so I appreciate all the advice I can get for sure. Ran my first water tests yesterday with my API test kit: Ammonia at 0 and both nitrite and nitrate at about 5ppm. pH looks like 8.0-8.2. I have a protein skimmer but don’t have it running yet and just got some MicroBacter7 plus some bio blocks I’m gonna add to the sump in a few after work. I’ll definitely keep the lights off for a while but I was wondering: Am I supposed to be adding more ammonia to the tank since I’m doing a fishless cycle? I added the right dosage just once before adding Fritz turbo start but wasn’t sure if I’m supposed to add more and keep testing on a regular basis to see if my nitrifying bacteria’s working?

 

[Adam Houston]

You will likely want quite a bit more rock in the tank... as mentioned, it is the main filtration.

How many pounds should I add? I have about 40-50 in the display and probably 20 in the sump

 

[PharmrJohn]

I would dose ammonia daily TO 2ppm. So, if at the end of 24 hours from your last dose and it's, say, at 1.0, I'd add enough to bring that number back up to 2.0. The bacteria need food!!!! Once your bacteria are processing 2.0 to 0 in a 24 hour period, keep at it for 4 more days or so. If you go from 2.0 to 0 four or five days running, you're good to go. If you want to add one more round of Fritz, feel free.

Just saw the new post and your query. The general rule of thumb is 1 to 1.25 lbs of rock per gallon.

 

[Adam Houston]

Copy that! I just dosed ammonia and added some more bacteria. Looks like I’ll be buying some rocks this weekend and maybe some rad looking bubble tip anemone. Just playing about the anemone of course Lol