Instant Recycling idea

[Harry H]

Dear Reefers

One of the most "painful" experience in saltwater fish keeping is the cycling period. You bought the tank and you have to cycle for 4 weeks and wait for the ammonia to come down. I have tested several instant cycling products and even if it works, you put a single hardy fish or max two which is no different from fish cycling which is deemed cruel. I know the standard mantra.. this is about patience and it is good for the tank... etc etc.

But with ALL THE SCIENCE on this planet why cant we have instant gratification. So hear this crazy idea out. Maybe many have tried it and succeeded. If you have a canister filter that has been used for months with all the required bacteria inside, why cant you rent it out for instant recycling? If I run a fish store and I have 5 canisters that are constantly running and the customer approach me wishing to start a tank, I can rent the canister to him and there should be enough bacteria to run the tank immediately. And he uses live rocks and new sand or better still, sell him sand with bacteria. Is that possible? I know there are instances when you take the filter medium of matured tank and place it in yours to accelerate the bacteria build up but WHY NOT go for the whole canister? And the canister is transportable.

I am sure there are some obvious flaws in the process but as a thought experiment, I think it is workable. Think about it. Why wait 4 weeks lol :-)

WARNING: For new reefers, PLEASE DO NOT TRY THE ABOVE METHOD. The above is just speculation and I am hoping the senior reefers here can give this a thought.

Harry

 

 

 

[kenyee]

Imho, its not a bad idea..the issue will b what is the bioload of the 5 canister filters handling..actually if ur rocks is live, u can straight away start stocking after transfer in from a running tank..of coz must watch the stocking rate..there are no guarantee in after cycling a tank n sure successful too..good luck reefers

[JMW]

My guess is.. the challenge will be keeping the bacteria medium hydrated & oxgenated; be it live rock, live sand or canister filter media. This is to sustain majority of the bacteria population during the 'rent & transfer'.

hydration cos bacteria once dried out will die off.

oxgenation cos bacteria need to breathe too, & in our tanks they get oxygen via water flow. So if you have a viable solution for hydration, the next thing is to have the water continue circulating, which should be achievable with battery-operated power heads.

however, upon reaching the new tank, I'm not sure how hardy bacteria is when it comes to acclimitizing to new water conditions. Would be interesting to hear more inputs from the rest of the community!

[reefbuilder]

Problem is the bacteria die off can be quite fast during the transportation process unless you can devise a way of circulating (aerating the media) in the canister.

[tuajia]

As a lazy reefer, I actually regularly use my live rock to seed other rock, media and sand and use as backup for the few times that I set up new tanks or transfered tanks. So far I haven't had any disasters EXCEPT nitrate spikes due to disturbance of the sand bed. The anaerobic bacteria will die immediately upon being exposed to oxygen.


Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

[tuajia]

Another thing to note, I do all my seeding/transfers etc with rock fully submerged in current tank water to minimise die off of bacteria. I try to use minimal new water in the new tank as I'm unsure of the change in water chemistry will shock the bacteria. Also I do it as fast as possible. I have 2 battery operated air pumps in my car at all times to circulate water in such events.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

[DottyClown]

I feel the issue is more towards matching the bioload, about establishing the correct balance between bacteria and livestocks.

The idea of using a "matured" canister, live rocks and live sand will shorten the cycling process.  If the amount of bacteria is sufficient to handle the amount of livestock added, everything should be ok.  Question is you don't know how much bacteria you have and thus if you have added too much livestock all at once.

But then you mention the canister is on a "rent" basis.  Which means when the canister is returned, you lose a significant amount of bacteria.  So your tank will go through a cycle in order to generate sufficient bacteria to replenish those lost from the removal of the canister.

Above just my noob thoughts.

[Harry H]

Thanks all! I knew the seniors here will have some insights on this. Much appreciated!!!


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app