Dry Rock Cycling Without Seed Rock

I MD · 05/07/2015, 08:56 PM

Starting a 55 gallon FOWLR with Marco Dry Rock only and am planning on NOT seeding with any live rock (really want to start off pristine with no risk of pesty hitchhikers). I did buy the CaribSea live sand in a bag, but that has been in the tank with H2O and filter/powerhead running for about 3 weeks while I was waiting to get my rock and have the time to aquascape it. Assuming all my "live" sand is now dead, with none of that beneficial bacteria left.

I am going to now throw in a couple shrimp with the dry rock to get the cycle started. Most of the info I see is using live rock or seeding with live rock. My questions are:

(1) Is the shrimp all I need? Do I need to ghost feed with flake food...if so, how often and when do I start doing this?
(2) What should I expect in terms of my water parameters? When do I expect to get ammonia levels to register and rise after adding the shrimp?
(3) How long will my cycle take to be completely done?
(4) I was advised to add a clean up crew of snails, crabs, etc in a couple weeks no matter what my ammonia, etc levels are. Does that sound like an OK thing to do? What is the purpose of that?
(5) Any other suggestions on how to make this "dry rock only without live rock seeding" work well?

Thanks for the help.

cryptic_grower · 05/07/2015, 09:15 PM

There's no hard and fast rule as far as a time line for your cycle. It's over when your reading 0 ammo 0 nitrites and low nitrates.

I don't think adding a CUC while you still have detectable ammonia lvl is smart at all but I could be wrong. You want the CUC to have "food" to eat. I'd wait till you start having a algae bloom before adding them.

Ghost feeding would depend on the amount of bio load your planning on having in your tank. I started ghost feeding once my ammo lvl was 0. That's just me though

with all that said I'm no reef master there is a sticky up top that will help with your search for knowledge.

jminick2 · 05/07/2015, 09:21 PM

Your live sand should still be live. It takes a long time to starve bacteria

ZeeSparrow · 05/07/2015, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I MD

(1) Is the shrimp all I need? Do I need to ghost feed with flake food...if so, how often and when do I start doing this?
(2) What should I expect in terms of my water parameters? When do I expect to get ammonia levels to register and rise after adding the shrimp?
(3) How long will my cycle take to be completely done?
(4) I was advised to add a clean up crew of snails, crabs, etc in a couple weeks no matter what my ammonia, etc levels are. Does that sound like an OK thing to do? What is the purpose of that?
(5) Any other suggestions on how to make this "dry rock only without live rock seeding" work well?

Thanks for the help.

(1) The shrimp is enough, though you can ghost feed in addition (or instead of).
(2) Ammonia will rise, then it will start to drop and nitrite will rise, then IT will start to drop and nitrate will rise.
(3) Can't predict that. Could be weeks or months.
(4) As cryptic_grower said, I'd wait until you have some food for them and NO ammonia/nitrite. That'd be a death sentence.
(5) Read the stickies at the top of this forum. Loads of knowledge there.

Best of luck!

gone fishin · 05/08/2015, 04:52 AM

I agree with zeeSparrow. Whoever gave you the advice in the CUC is misleading you. While a CUC is not expensive tossing them in during a cycle is basically a waste of money, chances are they would die.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

While your cycling you can read the link it is really a book with multiple topics. It is found at the top of this forum.Good luck with your cycle.

mitchrapp · 05/08/2015, 05:05 AM

I started with dry sand and dry rock. I used Dr. Tim's One and Only as my bacteria source and dosed with 2 ppm ammonium chloride. I could get 0 ppm ammonia within 24 hours right away, but am at 12 weeks now and still can't clear nitirites within 24 hours of dosing ammonium chloride. I'm close, as I can clear it within 48 hours.

05/07/2015, 08:56 PM	#1
I MD Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 23	Dry Rock Cycling Without Seed Rock Starting a 55 gallon FOWLR with Marco Dry Rock only and am planning on NOT seeding with any live rock (really want to start off pristine with no risk of pesty hitchhikers). I did buy the CaribSea live sand in a bag, but that has been in the tank with H2O and filter/powerhead running for about 3 weeks while I was waiting to get my rock and have the time to aquascape it. Assuming all my "live" sand is now dead, with none of that beneficial bacteria left. I am going to now throw in a couple shrimp with the dry rock to get the cycle started. Most of the info I see is using live rock or seeding with live rock. My questions are: (1) Is the shrimp all I need? Do I need to ghost feed with flake food...if so, how often and when do I start doing this? (2) What should I expect in terms of my water parameters? When do I expect to get ammonia levels to register and rise after adding the shrimp? (3) How long will my cycle take to be completely done? (4) I was advised to add a clean up crew of snails, crabs, etc in a couple weeks no matter what my ammonia, etc levels are. Does that sound like an OK thing to do? What is the purpose of that? (5) Any other suggestions on how to make this "dry rock only without live rock seeding" work well? Thanks for the help.

05/07/2015, 09:21 PM	#3
jminick2 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 1,226	Your live sand should still be live. It takes a long time to starve bacteria __________________ “Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” Current Tank Info: 300g sps tank

05/08/2015, 04:52 AM	#5
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	I agree with zeeSparrow. Whoever gave you the advice in the CUC is misleading you. While a CUC is not expensive tossing them in during a cycle is basically a waste of money, chances are they would die. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074 While your cycling you can read the link it is really a book with multiple topics. It is found at the top of this forum.Good luck with your cycle. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

05/07/2015, 09:15 PM	#2
cryptic_grower Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: burbs,Arizona Posts: 93	There's no hard and fast rule as far as a time line for your cycle. It's over when your reading 0 ammo 0 nitrites and low nitrates. I don't think adding a CUC while you still have detectable ammonia lvl is smart at all but I could be wrong. You want the CUC to have "food" to eat. I'd wait till you start having a algae bloom before adding them. Ghost feeding would depend on the amount of bio load your planning on having in your tank. I started ghost feeding once my ammo lvl was 0. That's just me though with all that said I'm no reef master there is a sticky up top that will help with your search for knowledge.

05/08/2015, 05:05 AM	#6
mitchrapp Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 297	I started with dry sand and dry rock. I used Dr. Tim's One and Only as my bacteria source and dosed with 2 ppm ammonium chloride. I could get 0 ppm ammonia within 24 hours right away, but am at 12 weeks now and still can't clear nitirites within 24 hours of dosing ammonium chloride. I'm close, as I can clear it within 48 hours.