Questions on Cycling

dustin323 · 11/07/2006, 06:38 PM

Hey all I've got a couple questions on cycling. Now I know all of the in & outs basically. I've been having my tank cycled for a couple of months. I did so by adding un-cured live rock in there. Herew is my question though. What if you were to start a 20 gallon tank & added 20+ lbs of live rock & around 30lbs of live sand. Would this tank even go through a cycle? Or should a raw shrimp be thrown in there to cycle it. I know of a couple of LFS stores that advise this & know two people that have done it. They have had great sucess so far, of course only adding 1 small fish first & waiting it out a while for another. So here is my conclusion; it is basically cycled if you added all that LR & LS it just could be very weak. So be careful with adding things. What are ya'lls takes on this?

sir_dudeguy · 11/07/2006, 07:53 PM

You're not cycling the tank. You're cycling the bacteria on the live rock, or if you dont have any then on the filter medias/bioballs/biowheels.

Uncured rock is un-cycled rock.

Cured rock is already cycled rock.

So if you start a tank with completely cured live rock, then there will be no cycle. You may see a small spike in something for a few days, but no true cycle...but the tank is still ready and a raw shrimp or anything else should not be added.

If you have any type of live rock for that matter nothing should be added to start a cycle as it will do it on its own.

sean48183 · 11/07/2006, 08:52 PM

Depends on the filtration your using. If you are just using the cured live rock and a skimmer you are ready to go. Just add things slowly. If you are using a hang on the back I would run it for a few weeks to let some bacteria build up before adding something. No shrimp necessary.

dustin323 · 11/07/2006, 11:16 PM

Ok cool, as I said I'm not doing this myself as I cycled mine with un-cured LR. My older brother did this & his tank is doing great levels all lower than mine & his is newer. I just wanted to get a sure opinon on doing this. On another forum people act like this is not true.

11/07/2006, 06:38 PM	#1
dustin323 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: USA Posts: 389	Questions on Cycling Hey all I've got a couple questions on cycling. Now I know all of the in & outs basically. I've been having my tank cycled for a couple of months. I did so by adding un-cured live rock in there. Herew is my question though. What if you were to start a 20 gallon tank & added 20+ lbs of live rock & around 30lbs of live sand. Would this tank even go through a cycle? Or should a raw shrimp be thrown in there to cycle it. I know of a couple of LFS stores that advise this & know two people that have done it. They have had great sucess so far, of course only adding 1 small fish first & waiting it out a while for another. So here is my conclusion; it is basically cycled if you added all that LR & LS it just could be very weak. So be careful with adding things. What are ya'lls takes on this?

11/07/2006, 07:53 PM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	You're not cycling the tank. You're cycling the bacteria on the live rock, or if you dont have any then on the filter medias/bioballs/biowheels. Uncured rock is un-cycled rock. Cured rock is already cycled rock. So if you start a tank with completely cured live rock, then there will be no cycle. You may see a small spike in something for a few days, but no true cycle...but the tank is still ready and a raw shrimp or anything else should not be added. If you have any type of live rock for that matter nothing should be added to start a cycle as it will do it on its own. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

11/07/2006, 08:52 PM	#3
sean48183 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: michigan Posts: 1,577	Depends on the filtration your using. If you are just using the cured live rock and a skimmer you are ready to go. Just add things slowly. If you are using a hang on the back I would run it for a few weeks to let some bacteria build up before adding something. No shrimp necessary.

11/07/2006, 11:16 PM	#4
dustin323 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: USA Posts: 389	Ok cool, as I said I'm not doing this myself as I cycled mine with un-cured LR. My older brother did this & his tank is doing great levels all lower than mine & his is newer. I just wanted to get a sure opinon on doing this. On another forum people act like this is not true.