Cycling in asump only?

[javi78503]

So im piecing together my tank one bit at a time and am waiting for my income to arrive in order to purchase my main 95g tank from glasscages. So then my question is... is it feasible to set up a sump with a refuge, skimmer and pump (with the pump circulating water from the return side of the sump back to the pour in side) and cycle it. then once my main tank arrives simply connect the two and use the sump as a jump start the main tank? I'd want to put a good cuc in the sump too...

Would there be any cons to doing this? or maybe any changes like using a skimmer as a circulation pump in the time being?

[djtuzik]

Originally Posted by javi78503

So im piecing together my tank one bit at a time and am waiting for my income to arrive in order to purchase my main 95g tank from glasscages. So then my question is... is it feasible to set up a sump with a refuge, skimmer and pump (with the pump circulating water from the return side of the sump back to the pour in side) and cycle it. then once my main tank arrives simply connect the two and use the sump as a jump start the main tank? I'd want to put a good cuc in the sump too...

Would there be any cons to doing this?

when you cycle the tank, a lot of the bacteria lives in the sand/rock. Since you will add it at a later time, I think you will be wasting your time "cycling" the sump

[Cymonous]

Unless you have most of the rock you are using for the 95g DT in the sump while cycling, there is no point. The point of cycling is to start and populate the good bacteria needed for a saltwater tank. The bacteria mostly populates on rocks and some on the top layer of a sandbed.

You would be better off with a large tub with heated/circulated saltwater and the rock you want to cycle.

Or, just wait for the new tank and cycle the complete setup.

[djtuzik]

There is also no point of running a skimmer during the cycle. If you want to get started quick, Dr tims one and only is pretty good

[Sk8r]

So is a pinch of fishfood daily until the cycle.

Re your original question: if your sump were an 'old' sump with rock and sandbed, you might do it. I've set up a tank that way, with some live rock, etc, and due to various circumstances had to have it carrying fish immediately. It did that. It was hard on the corals and I lost a few.

A sump can also carry your main tank through a sandbed kickup and various other calamities.

A newly cycled sandbed will indeed cycle your main tank, but it has a lot of work to do. I'd say expect it to be iffy for at least a week, and don't risk coral yet. But I'd say you'll likely never see ammonia, if you do it right. Start your fish one at a time in qt, and NOT in with rock and sand (ich lives between fish in rock and sand) but then once your new tank arrives, you can start setting up and pretty confidently put your qt'd fish in, while putting another fish in qt. After about 8 weeks, under these circumstances, you might start adding hardy corals.

[javi78503]

I was thinking more along the lines of using rubble and sand in the fuge to build a base for the bacteria to start up. Then oncethr main tank is connected just letting the bacteria flow up into the main tank and start colonizing there without having to do the dead shrimp (hoping to speed things up and kind of seed it myself from the fuge) but if it wont speed anything up then there is no point to it.

And the sump would be just as a sort of pump to push water from one side of the tank to the other so it isnt just standing water. Since I was thinking a full pump to push water around may be too much for a 20g sump tank

[Zooxanthus]

I think thats a good idea, Cycling is all about culturing the bacteria, as much as you can get....after you hook it up to the main tank it will still need to cycle more but you will already have a source of bacteria and will probably spread through your tank much faster.