Cycling tank

[jonanaz]

Finally got my 1 feet IOS , going to cycle tank soon while waiting for circuit breaker to end I have a few questions that I need help in:

 

1. When to switch on lights during cycling?

2. When to do first water change ?

 

Thanks in advance everyone

 

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[Tabungrahim]

During cycling no need light....

What do you use for cycling?

Dr tim with ammonia or

ATM colony

Or fish

 

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[soggycookies]

1. not necessary at all
2. imo, when nitrate reading is in the 20~40ppm range


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[jonanaz]

During cycling no need light....
What do you use for cycling?
Dr tim with ammonia or
ATM colony
Or fish
 
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I'm planning to use API Quickstart

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[jonanaz]

1. not necessary at all
2. imo, when nitrate reading is in the 20~40ppm range


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Thank you:) do I need to top up water during cycling?

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[soggycookies]

Thank you:) do I need to top up water during cycling?

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ideally yes. best to get an ato and run the salinity in the system as you would when established


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[jonanaz]

ideally yes. best to get an ato and run the salinity in the system as you would when established


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Thank you for the advice I also read that there will be an "ugly phase" after the cycling is done, what does that mean ?

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[Snoopyhamburger]

Simply means that your run of the mill algaes will start to pop up, but they do go away as your tank matures. 

[soggycookies]

Thank you for the advice I also read that there will be an "ugly phase" after the cycling is done, what does that mean ?

 

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like snoopy hamburger said- preliminary algae like diatoms(brown and film/sheet-like) will likey grow on your rock(especially if other algae like green turf or coralline algae isn’t already established on it). depending on the light and flow in your tank it might grow on the glass and sandbed too, hence the ‘ugly phase’ moniker.

 

unless they’re cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates(the former red and slime-like, the latter brownish like diatoms but create little stringy bubbles especially in low-flow conditions) diatoms usually aren’t harmful at all, just unsightly. they are food for a lot of creatures too.

 

cyano and dinos on the contrary may be very annoying to get rid of once they gain a foothold in your tank, as not many things eat them. A particularly large population of them may be toxic in a smaller system, and some that are parasitic in nature(like velvet) are even more dangerous.

 

green turf algae is usually what grows after the common brown film algae IME, and then if you keep tabs on overall system stability, coralline.

 

just gotta get past that ugly phase first, particularly if you run longer lighting periods or more intense lighting. having really clean rock will probably make it look worse, but as long as it’s not a green hair algae, bryopsis or god forbid dino or cyano infestation- it should be fine. brown film algae is not a bad thing for the tank, just for your eyes maybe hahahaha.

 

 

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[jonanaz]

On 4/23/2020 at 2:13 AM, soggycookies said:

like snoopy hamburger said- preliminary algae like diatoms(brown and film/sheet-like) will likey grow on your rock(especially if other algae like green turf or coralline algae isn’t already established on it). depending on the light and flow in your tank it might grow on the glass and sandbed too, hence the ‘ugly phase’ moniker.

 

unless they’re cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates(the former red and slime-like, the latter brownish like diatoms but create little stringy bubbles especially in low-flow conditions) diatoms usually aren’t harmful at all, just unsightly. they are food for a lot of creatures too.

 

cyano and dinos on the contrary may be very annoying to get rid of once they gain a foothold in your tank, as not many things eat them. A particularly large population of them may be toxic in a smaller system, and some that are parasitic in nature(like velvet) are even more dangerous.

 

green turf algae is usually what grows after the common brown film algae IME, and then if you keep tabs on overall system stability, coralline.

 

just gotta get past that ugly phase first, particularly if you run longer lighting periods or more intense lighting. having really clean rock will probably make it look worse, but as long as it’s not a green hair algae, bryopsis or god forbid dino or cyano infestation- it should be fine. brown film algae is not a bad thing for the tank, just for your eyes maybe hahahaha.

 

 

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Wow! Thank you soggycookies for the detailed explanation! Really appreciate you taking time to explain to me. Can i also ask whether it will be better to have a refugium in one of the sections of my tank or would it be better to get a mini skimmer? 

[soggycookies]

Wow! Thank you soggycookies for the detailed explanation! Really appreciate you taking time to explain to me. Can i also ask whether it will be better to have a refugium in one of the sections of my tank or would it be better to get a mini skimmer? 

always happy to help! if you don’t already have a skimmer installed, getting a good one suited for your overall system volume will definitely help a lot in the long run.

if you already have a skimmer and have the space for a refugium, it wouldn’t hurt to have a section for it that is appropriately lit. if you have space constraints i’d say an algae turf scrubber or a macroalgae reactor would be more efficient.


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[R0B]

A skimmer and an ATS (in my humble opinion) make a perfect pairing. Turf scrubbers are great to pulling out nutrients, whilst a skimmer is excellent at waste removal as well as air exchange (which helps the co2 escape, increasing your ph). If shopping for a skimmer get one that is sized for the tank (and not one too big or too small). I made the mistake of getting one way to big for my system. I run a filter roller and have an ATS so by the time the water got to the skimmer there wasn't enough nutrients in the water to maintain the bubbles, so no matter what I did I ended up with loads of micro air bubbles in my tank (not great). As soon as I switched to a smaller skimmer I got perfect skimmate and no bubbles. Personslly I would recommend an ATS and Skimmer pairing. BRSTV just did a little segment on the clear water scrubber, worth checking out, and they also did one on the benefits of an ATS.. always good watching. Good luck on the cycle.

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[jonanaz]

always happy to help! if you don’t already have a skimmer installed, getting a good one suited for your overall system volume will definitely help a lot in the long run.

if you already have a skimmer and have the space for a refugium, it wouldn’t hurt to have a section for it that is appropriately lit. if you have space constraints i’d say an algae turf scrubber or a macroalgae reactor would be more efficient.


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I'm planning to get one after cycling cos I realised a refugium is quite difficult since I dont have much space. Will a simple air driven skimmer by dymax with a replacement air block be good enough ?

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[soggycookies]

I'm planning to get one after cycling cos I realised a refugium is quite difficult since I dont have much space. Will a simple air driven skimmer by dymax with a replacement air block be good enough ?

 

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i think investing in a better skimmer would be more ideal. the ones with the wooden blocks are less reliable. you could go for one of those HOB options or smaller skimmer models that operate with their own internal pump. the better skimmer types generally have a needle-wheel impeller. Bubble Magus and eshopps are some of the brands you could try. more affordable imo

 

cheers

 

 

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[jonanaz]

A skimmer and an ATS (in my humble opinion) make a perfect pairing. Turf scrubbers are great to pulling out nutrients, whilst a skimmer is excellent at waste removal as well as air exchange (which helps the co2 escape, increasing your ph). If shopping for a skimmer get one that is sized for the tank (and not one too big or too small). I made the mistake of getting one way to big for my system. I run a filter roller and have an ATS so by the time the water got to the skimmer there wasn't enough nutrients in the water to maintain the bubbles, so no matter what I did I ended up with loads of micro air bubbles in my tank (not great). As soon as I switched to a smaller skimmer I got perfect skimmate and no bubbles. Personslly I would recommend an ATS and Skimmer pairing. BRSTV just did a little segment on the clear water scrubber, worth checking out, and they also did one on the benefits of an ATS.. always good watching. Good luck on the cycle.

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Thank you for the recommendations! I was thinking of an ATS but my tank is only a 1 feet cube so I'm not sure if it can fit into the filter section I'm thinking about the dymax iq skimmer or the bubble magus qq1 but even the bm qq1 might be too big for my tank

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[jonanaz]

i think investing in a better skimmer would be more ideal. the ones with the wooden blocks are less reliable. you could go for one of those HOB options or smaller skimmer models that operate with their own internal pump. the better skimmer types generally have a needle-wheel impeller. Bubble Magus and eshopps are some of the brands you could try. more affordable imo
 
cheers
 
 
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I might get the bubble magus qq1 since its HOB and it wont take up that much space

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[Rilakkuma]

Thank you for the recommendations! I was thinking of an ATS but my tank is only a 1 feet cube so I'm not sure if it can fit into the filter section I'm thinking about the dymax iq skimmer or the bubble magus qq1 but even the bm qq1 might be too big for my tank

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Can I know what is ATS? Sorry newbie here


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[jonanaz]

Can I know what is ATS? Sorry newbie here


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Hello:) newbie myself too! ATF is algae turf scrubber. I think it's used to remove excess nutrients if I'm not wrong:) maybe someone else with more experience would be able to give you a more detailed explanation!

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[soggycookies]

Can I know what is ATS? Sorry newbie here

 

 

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An algae turf scrubber. works in a similar way to a refugium growing macroalgae with a light source except it grows algae on a piece of plastic with a light shining directly at it. the plastic sheet is submerged in the water to uptake nutrients and every now and then you’ll have to remove the ATS to manually remove the algae that grows on it to remove the nutrients it absorbed from your system permanently.

 

great option for those without the space for a typical refugium

 

 

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[Rilakkuma]

Oh thank

11 hours ago, soggycookies said:

An algae turf scrubber. works in a similar way to a refugium growing macroalgae with a light source except it grows algae on a piece of plastic with a light shining directly at it. the plastic sheet is submerged in the water to uptake nutrients and every now and then you’ll have to remove the ATS to manually remove the algae that grows on it to remove the nutrients it absorbed from your system permanently.

 

great option for those without the space for a typical refugium

 

 

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Oh thank u

[jonanaz]

An algae turf scrubber. works in a similar way to a refugium growing macroalgae with a light source except it grows algae on a piece of plastic with a light shining directly at it. the plastic sheet is submerged in the water to uptake nutrients and every now and then you’ll have to remove the ATS to manually remove the algae that grows on it to remove the nutrients it absorbed from your system permanently. 
great option for those without the space for a typical refugium
 
 
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But other than ATS, is it possible to use purigen and phosban ? And should I only run these after cycling ?

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[soggycookies]

But other than ATS, is it possible to use purigen and phosban ? And should I only run these after cycling ?

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personally i’d run them after cycling as soon as i get my livestock. the nitrates and phospates during cycling ideally you’d wanna remove them via staggered waterchanges


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[jonanaz]

personally i’d run them after cycling as soon as i get my livestock. the nitrates and phospates during cycling ideally you’d wanna remove them via staggered waterchanges


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I see! Also, can I ask if it's possible to cycle my tank using API quick start and phantom feeding ?

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[soggycookies]

I see! Also, can I ask if it's possible to cycle my tank using API quick start and phantom feeding ?

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i don’t have experience with API quickstart but from what i’ve heard it’s not as effective as some other bacteria implementations for cycling new tanks like microbacter-7 or Dr. Tim’s One and Only. personally i would roll with either or those instead. but yeah phantom feeding consistently and testing for ammonia nitrite and nitrate should work fine for cycling your tank


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[jonanaz]

i don’t have experience with API quickstart but from what i’ve heard it’s not as effective as some other bacteria implementations for cycling new tanks like microbacter-7 or Dr. Tim’s One and Only. personally i would roll with either or those instead. but yeah phantom feeding consistently and testing for ammonia nitrite and nitrate should work fine for cycling your tank


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Thank you I've finally started the cycle added some food and bacteria! Just need to wait now!

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