Cycling with ammonium chloride?

[ecoman001]

Is it important to do a major water change, using ammonium chloride, once ammonia and nitrite levels drop to 0ppm? Also can anyone recommend a type of( bacteria in a bottle) or does it even work? My tank is a 300gal w/live rock.

 

[danmhippo]

Test your NO3 after cycle. If it is high, a water change is very helpful. Otherwise, not necessary.

 

[jdamon]

I don't know if this really needs to be said, but patience is what you need the most of in the reef aquarium hobby. Rushing things along usually sets you up for disaster. Live rock is the natural bacteria containing clean up item on the reef, and livestock is the natural amonia->nitrite->nitrate producer. If you just put in the live rock and maybe a couple fish to start everything works just beautifully. Good luck.

 

[MattM]

What dan said.

As far as bacteria products, you don't need them if you started the tank with live rock, ditto for the ammonium chloride. But if you must, Fritz-Zyme #9 is the only one that actually contains living bacteria according to a review done several years ago.

[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: MattM ]</p>

 

[bashcraft]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by sarcophyton:
<strong>If you just put in the live rock and maybe a couple fish to start everything works just beautifully. Good luck.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Are you suggesting to add fish while the rock is cycling??

Bob

 

[MattM]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bashcraft:
<strong>Are you suggesting to add fish while the rock is cycling??</strong><hr></blockquote>

Cycling is getting bacteria colonized on the bio-filter. So, if you really mean cycling, then it doesn't happen, since a good chuck of the "live" in "live rock" is those bacteria - they are already on and in the rock when you buy it.

On the other hand, if you meant curing, then no, you should not add fish until curing is completed. Curing is allowing sufficient time for any die-off on raw live rock to complete the decay process and be gone.

 

[rayjay]

It's my opinion that curing live rock, as well as adding ammonium chloride to a tank with maybe only substrate, is a cycling of a tank.
I agree the rock has the bacteria already, BUT it does not have enough bacteria present automatically to be able to handle the load of the die off in the rock from transit. As the levels of ammonia and nitrite can many times be measured when curing live rock, depending on the amount of die off, you are completing a cycle.
I use ammonium chloride to cycle a new tank as it can be added in sufficient quantity to produce large bacteria quantities for a heavier stocking when the cycle is completed. It's also fishless, causing no stress to any fish or animal as no critters are added until cycle is complete.