Question about starting cycle

RL321 · 02/09/2016, 05:26 AM

Added water to the system this past weekend, ordering reef flakes today, if I add live sand (from local lfs) to the refugium and one piece of live rock to the DT will it be enough bacteria for the cycle? Then, when my sand I ordered arrives just add that during the cycle? I also will be adding more live rock in a few weeks.

Aero175 · 02/09/2016, 06:10 AM

Your tank will begin its cycle by adding the sand and the one piece of live rock. However, when you start to add the other live rock to the tank it is going to probably go through another cycle. What will happen is all the die off from the newly added rock will cause the ammonia to spike again. Odds are the one rock in your tank will not have a sufficient amount of bacteria to handle the amount of die off. My suggestion is to to get as much rock as you can to start with.

WaReefer458 · 02/09/2016, 06:12 AM

That will speed it along but it's not really a "cycle". You need rock and add a piece of cocktail shrimp or some food to decay and create ammonia. When ammonia and nitrite is back to zero, the cycle is done.

02/09/2016, 05:26 AM	#1
RL321 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: east central florida Posts: 352	Question about starting cycle Added water to the system this past weekend, ordering reef flakes today, if I add live sand (from local lfs) to the refugium and one piece of live rock to the DT will it be enough bacteria for the cycle? Then, when my sand I ordered arrives just add that during the cycle? I also will be adding more live rock in a few weeks.

02/09/2016, 06:10 AM	#2
Aero175 Registered Member Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 59	Your tank will begin its cycle by adding the sand and the one piece of live rock. However, when you start to add the other live rock to the tank it is going to probably go through another cycle. What will happen is all the die off from the newly added rock will cause the ammonia to spike again. Odds are the one rock in your tank will not have a sufficient amount of bacteria to handle the amount of die off. My suggestion is to to get as much rock as you can to start with. __________________ Current Tank Info: 90g w/30g sump/NYOS 160 Skimmer/2 MP40QD/Vectra M1/2 AI Hydra 52 LEDs

02/09/2016, 06:12 AM	#3
WaReefer458 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 333	That will speed it along but it's not really a "cycle". You need rock and add a piece of cocktail shrimp or some food to decay and create ammonia. When ammonia and nitrite is back to zero, the cycle is done.