How to speed up cycle process?

[mr_X]

what makes live rock live is simply bacteria. all the plant life and hitch hikers you may or may not have is something completely different, and completely unnecessary to the health of your tank.
rock is just rock. it's always dead. are you asking about the bacteria colony that lives on it? where did it come from? the lfs? did they tell you it was cured? was it submerged in the bag the few hours?

 

[silverfox]

I don't see any hitch hikers. I bought it from an aquarium store. Not sure if it's cured or not.

 

[mr_X]

then it will most likely need to be cured. it will take a few weeks to a month. put it in the tank, and wait...start checking your parameters after 3 weeks. as soon as you have no detectable ammonia or nitrite, you can start slowly adding livestock.

 

["Shottaz"]

this is a very interesting thread lol

 

[Imbarrie]

This is the initial cycle. There will be other cycles down the road.

Consider, someone buys live sand live rock and RODI with premium salt, sets up the tank as per the advise in this thread. Maybe through a dead shrimp or food to get the cycle going.

The bacteria develops to process this nutrient source, once that has been consumed, the bacteria will start to die. Without a constant source of nutrients it will decompose itself. Right?

 

[mr_X]

i don't think you are going to see any other cycles if you add livestock slowly and reasonably. i'm under the impression that the OP will want to add fish and inverts, corals and the like. these inhabitants will keep the algae colony fed.
yes, it's true that without a food source, eventually, everything dies.
the bacteria colony will also grow and shrink with the bio load.

 

[Bob 1000]

Pick up some good bacteria from my denitrifier and add fish the next day.. They do sell this stuff for like $100.. Ive been using my bacteria on new set ups for a couple months now..

 

[Imbarrie]

the bacteria colony will also grow and shrink with the bio load.[/QUOTE]

This is the cycling I was speaking of. Our tanks are constantly cycling albeit to a much smaller degree.

Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[Bob 1000]

the bacteria colony will also grow and shrink with the bio load. Our tanks are constantly cycling albeit to a much smaller degree..

Not if your tank get's a constant every 4 hour dosing of good bacteria that is fed by methanol or a similiar carbon dosing like vodka, zeo, brightwell.. Which can stabilize a systems bacteria levels but is also much harder to maintain for newbs.:tongue1:...

 

[canitolindo]

paint your face and dance around the tank in your underwear. it will speed things up

This I like lol. Just be patient check your parameters and just be patient this site is very helpful resourceful and full of knowledgable and experienced people that can assist you. As for a quick cycle you can try the methods stated above but takes atleast 1 month

 

[oonycxwilloo]

You can also try to get some established live rock/live sand from some members on the board to seed your tank, that can speed it up a little bit.

 

[jrobbins]

Not if your tank get's a constant every 4 hour dosing of good bacteria that is fed by methanol or a similiar carbon dosing like vodka, zeo, brightwell.. Which can stabilize a systems bacteria levels but is also much harder to maintain for newbs.:tongue1:...

how long have you been running your tank this way? i have yet to see a zeo, brightwell, or similar tank that has been up for more than a year or so. they all seem to crash...

 

[Bob 1000]

I do maintanace and fish tank builds for a living.. I set up tanks all the time like this as long as my denitrifier as a good supplky of good bacteria.. My system,, Put it like this I've been in the game a long time.. Le sps dominated system for about a year and a half now.. Never had a crash in my whole time in this hobby and yes I've done plenty of things that crash most peoples system.. I kept all my sps alive and colored up when I switched from a 180 to a 300.. Kept my corals in my 125 sump/refugium while running my denitrifier on that sump and didn't lose one piece only a pinch of color that came back in a week even after adding 300 ngallons of new water... Would I suggest someone do what I did?? No way, I've been doing this a long time and have seen people who taught me a thing or two crash their systems during a upgrade.. My denitrifier is a beast and the only real denitrifier as far as I'm concerned,,,lol..

 

[loneracer05]

hey bob can you pm me some details on your denitrifier ?

 

[loneracer05]

ive had pretty good results from fresh dr tims live bacteria culture ... not next day but between that and live sand and rock it took about 2 weeks give or take. this was in 4 tanks and ill be doing the same in the 5th

 

[bizarrecorals]

adding "cured" live rock is the biggest scam that pet shops offer, if you don't see fish swimming in the system, they're not cured. Live sand is another scam

+1 let nature take its course.

 

[jhart]

I have done systems were we added fish right away , and some soft corals , and these systems are still up after 4 years and the original fish and corals are still alive.. I strongly recommend weekly water changes , and most important good rock cured or agrocrete that is seeded, .. Making your own rock is the way to go..save the reef.

 

[jimidalock]

I do maintanace and fish tank builds for a living.. I set up tanks all the time like this as long as my denitrifier as a good supplky of good bacteria.. My system,, Put it like this I've been in the game a long time.. Le sps dominated system for about a year and a half now.. Never had a crash in my whole time in this hobby and yes I've done plenty of things that crash most peoples system.. I kept all my sps alive and colored up when I switched from a 180 to a 300.. Kept my corals in my 125 sump/refugium while running my denitrifier on that sump and didn't lose one piece only a pinch of color that came back in a week even after adding 300 ngallons of new water... Would I suggest someone do what I did?? No way, I've been doing this a long time and have seen people who taught me a thing or two crash their systems during a upgrade.. My denitrifier is a beast and the only real denitrifier as far as I'm concerned,,,lol..

Bob, can you post some pic's of the denitrofier please.

 

[Bob 1000]

Bob, can you post some pic's of the denitrofier please.

Look in my tank thread..

 

[Bob 1000]

hey bob can you pm me some details on your denitrifier ?

Look in my tank thread..