cycling water change

knoxtnreef · 07/31/2007, 01:56 PM

do i need to do a 25% water change while i cycle for the next 4 weeks or do i just need to top of with ro/di? i currently have 75 pounds of base rock in the tank....which if bought "live" would be around 100 to 110 pounds of rock.

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 01:58 PM

That "base" rock was totally dead when you started the cycle, right?

What do you have in there to provide some biological load? Without a source of biological load, no cycle will happen - or at least it'll be so small that it'll be meaningless.

knoxtnreef · 07/31/2007, 02:01 PM

yes it was totally dead...marco rock....i have nothing except aragonite and base rock in the tank now. it's been circulating with my tunze and asm for three day's now...what do you suggest to start the cycle?

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 02:05 PM

Get your hands on a few pieces of "real" live rock.

Besides establishing your base of nitrifying bacteria, the cycle is important to allow the spread of other beneficial organisms in the tank. The only way to get those critters in there is to add them, and putting "real" live rock in is by far the best/cheapest way to do that.

knoxtnreef · 07/31/2007, 02:08 PM

sounds good. how far in to the live rock cycle should i add a small cleaner crew? I can get a couple scoops of LS from a friend.

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 02:11 PM

Whenever you want, as long as important parameters are stable and in the right range.

Without a HUGE bioload (i.e. a billion pounds of fresh love rock covered in rotting decay), you won't see much of a cycle at all. That's good news from a nutrient loading perspective, but bad news from the perspective that your tank won't have a huge biological buffer when you do start adding livestock, so you'll want to take that stage slowly.

WhiskeyReefer · 07/31/2007, 02:24 PM

Some people throw in a piece of raw shrimp to help decompose in the water and help the cycle process. But i would totally go with the LIVE rock it seems that the bioload off the live rock works wonders!

bertoni · 07/31/2007, 03:56 PM

You could also add some tiny pieces of fish food, but the live rock idea is better, in my opinion.

07/31/2007, 01:56 PM	#1
knoxtnreef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 524	cycling water change do i need to do a 25% water change while i cycle for the next 4 weeks or do i just need to top of with ro/di? i currently have 75 pounds of base rock in the tank....which if bought "live" would be around 100 to 110 pounds of rock.

07/31/2007, 01:58 PM	#2
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	That "base" rock was totally dead when you started the cycle, right? What do you have in there to provide some biological load? Without a source of biological load, no cycle will happen - or at least it'll be so small that it'll be meaningless. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 02:05 PM	#4
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Get your hands on a few pieces of "real" live rock. Besides establishing your base of nitrifying bacteria, the cycle is important to allow the spread of other beneficial organisms in the tank. The only way to get those critters in there is to add them, and putting "real" live rock in is by far the best/cheapest way to do that. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 02:11 PM	#6
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Whenever you want, as long as important parameters are stable and in the right range. Without a HUGE bioload (i.e. a billion pounds of fresh love rock covered in rotting decay), you won't see much of a cycle at all. That's good news from a nutrient loading perspective, but bad news from the perspective that your tank won't have a huge biological buffer when you do start adding livestock, so you'll want to take that stage slowly. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 02:24 PM	#7
WhiskeyReefer Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chicago/ Niles, IL Posts: 231	Some people throw in a piece of raw shrimp to help decompose in the water and help the cycle process. But i would totally go with the LIVE rock it seems that the bioload off the live rock works wonders! __________________ Beerlinguistic Definition: A person that only speaks one language, but is knowledgeable enough to order a beer in several languages.

07/31/2007, 02:01 PM	#3
knoxtnreef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 524	yes it was totally dead...marco rock....i have nothing except aragonite and base rock in the tank now. it's been circulating with my tunze and asm for three day's now...what do you suggest to start the cycle?

07/31/2007, 02:08 PM	#5
knoxtnreef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 524	sounds good. how far in to the live rock cycle should i add a small cleaner crew? I can get a couple scoops of LS from a friend.

07/31/2007, 03:56 PM	#8
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	You could also add some tiny pieces of fish food, but the live rock idea is better, in my opinion. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni