cycling ..

[rogerboi]

hey guys .. can i skip the process of adding the dead prawn in my tank ? and instead of doing that .. i use the process of nitrifying bacteria. Where can i get the nitrifying bacteria ? my tank now have 2 LR. only put in on monday. thank you guys. kindly guide me along.

[dumdum]

hey guys .. can i skip the process of adding the dead prawn in my tank ? and instead of doing that .. i use the process of nitrifying bacteria. Where can i get  the nitrifying bacteria ? my tank now have 2 LR. only put in on monday. thank you guys. kindly guide me along.

Adding "dead market pawn" is one of the ways to speed up

the cycling of your tank. adding "nitrifying bacteria" is also one

of the ways.

My advice is to cycling your tank for at least 1 month to complete

the cycling, no point in rushing which may cause your tank to crash

in the future.

[cdckjn]

I agree. What I did was to add those "bacteria starters" tablets that can be found in the aquarium shops. This can speed up the cycling process a little faster. But I still would wait 1 week before putting in the cheaper hardier fishes for about 1 week before putting in your desired beautiful fishes.

[rogerboi]

so cdckjn ... i jus go to the LFS and ask for the bacteria starter ?? yeah .. i wont be rushing .. jus that the dead prawn method will be very smelly .. so i wouldn't want that .. thanks guy

[drato11]

hi rogerboi,

I used aquaPharm Instant Bacter (Bacteria Starter). So far so good, really speeded up the cycling of my new set up.

I got it at AquaMarine. U can try it

[rogerboi]

sure .. how much is it ?

[Qxnviolet]

Adding live rocks to your new setup will kick off the ANN cycle too. No need to use a dead prawn. Adding live nitrifying bacteria will speed up the process. Mine took almost 3 weeks to cycle. I used FRITZ ZYME #9 Saltwater Nitrifying Bacteria. Its in a 946ml bottle, able to treat approx 40 gallons of water. I got mine at $31.00.

[drato11]

sure .. how much is it ?

I got the AquaPharm Instant Bacter from AquaMarin at $9.80. 1 bottle contains 20 tablets. Each tablet for 13gal or 50L of water for initial cycling.

[mUAr_cHEe]

But I still would wait 1 week before putting in the cheaper hardier fishes for about 1 week before putting in your desired beautiful fishes.

I would wait 1 month before putting any fishes inside.

No point putting in fishes that you do not really want in the first place.

[mUAr_cHEe]

As for the bacteria thing, well, nothing beats natural stuff.

I rather wait one month or two, than to use this bacteria stuff. IMO, they do not work. They are just ways to earn your money.

The real thing is always much better than the fake thing.

I mean, have you ever felt the differences between a real boobie and a fake boobie??

[jd_n]

Well said,

The prob with newbie is believin too much wat they read frm the bottles, boxes, labels.....they see in shops.

Cost of prawn = Few cents = no satisfaction.

Satisfaction comes frm spendin $10, 20, 30....

Coz spendin money reassure them it will work?

Patience will pay off.

[May&Bruce]

How about this...when I set up my second tank (5 footer) a 'pro' advised me how to kick start the tank by adding ammonium hydroxide and then those bacteria tablet things - the whole ANN process took only about 10 days!

But, I still waited a month - just didn't want to take an uneccessary risk with my new big baby

[May&Bruce]

oh, by the way, I would NOT recommend adding ammonium hydroxide unless you really know what you are doing, e.g. add too much and you might kill your LR???

Best to let nature take its course - lots of live rock, one or two market prawns (there is no smell as they rot underneath the water) and wait a MINIMUM of a month.......

[Ah-lim]

oh, by the way, I would NOT recommend adding ammonium hydroxide unless you really know what you are doing, e.g. add too much and you might kill your LR???

Best to let nature take its course - lots of live rock, one or two market prawns (there is no smell as they rot underneath the water) and wait a MINIMUM of a month.......

Agree.

The longer ya wait, the more stable ya water will be.

And please test the water parameter with the necessary testkits.

[rogerboi]

alrite man .. so i can start rock scaping and then after a month .. i shall add in fishes and test the water parameters before i add in waters. Is that the way ?

[dumdum]

Cycling of the tank should be done together with live rocks,

meaning do your rockscaping and let the tank cycling for at least

one month. then test the water parameters before adding any live stocks.