cycling tank

[takumee]

hi all,

i am totally new to this great hobby and jump into buying a 2ft tank already.

my water has been running for 4 days now.

day 01 - salt mixing

day 02 - tested my hydrometer and proceed with putting live rock.

day 03 - running

day 04 - running

i was told by the seller to pt a market prawn into the tank to increase the nitrate level.

run the water with the prawn for 1 day and let it run for another 6 weeks.

the issue now is, some people say is not necessary to run another 6 weeks and to introduce a market prawn into the tank.

however, some say it is better to run it this way to prevent bad recurrence later.

so what can i do now?

introduce some damsell, crabs, prawn etc or let it run for 4wks,introduce market prawn and run another 6wks?

[yikai]

wow u have so much patience...so many weeks of cycling!! mine was done in 2 weeks >.> ask more ppl for advice. dunno how to help

[takumee]

me still running as of now day 04 now.

thinking of getting some livestock now.

is it advisable base on the following options?

option 1: should i run for another 4wks?

option 2: run for 4wks first, introduce market prawn and run for another 6 wks

option 3: buy some crabs, prawns and damsell now.

[yikai]

what are ur water parameters? this is most important. please dun add damsels. they are very aggressive and next time when u add other livestock, they are going to bully ur livestock. and going to be very hard to catch also. maybe u can try adding clownfish....they are also quite hardy. but please wait until at least a few more weeks first, and make sure ur water para, ammonia nitrite 0.

[hammy]

the best thing right now is to get a reputable ammonia, nitrite, nitrate testkit such as salifert or tropic marine.

read up more on the ANN cycle. easily available online or do a search in SRC, u will get the necessary information.

unsure abt the basic ANN parameter, dun buy any LS first.

[yikai]

yea hammy's advice is great!

[Firestarter]

me still running as of now day 04 now.

thinking of getting some livestock now.

is it advisable base on the following options?

option 1: should i run for another 4wks?

option 2: run for 4wks first, introduce market prawn and run for another 6 wks

option 3: buy some crabs, prawns and damsell now.

Seems like you are still unsure about the whole cycling process. I don't understand why you have to run for 4 wks first, then run for another 6 wks with market prawn. Go get test kits for ANN, and don't put any livestock in. This is very important as you can't do a proper cycle with LS.

What I would preferably do is introduce the market prawn and let it run for 4 wks, then use test kits to test for NH4 and NO2

[takumee]

so better to get a market prawn throw for one day and run for 4 weeks then test for water parameters would it be better?

how about before add market prawn must make sure water parameters ok?

thanks for all feedbacks. its just a little confuse when some yes and some say no.

in fact, i have been reading up every night after work, the interest just grown more. heee

[Firestarter]

so better to get a market prawn throw for one day and run for 4 weeks then test for water parameters would it be better?

how about before add market prawn must make sure water parameters ok?

thanks for all feedbacks. its just a little confuse when some yes and some say no.

in fact, i have been reading up every night after work, the interest just grown more. heee

No, leave the market prawn inside for a few days, until it start to decompose, or your tank start to smell extremely smelly. This will cause ammonia to spike. Then remove the prawn and let the tank run for 4 weeks.

[albinosage]

There is no proven shortcut in cycling a tank. When I cycled my tank for the first time, I tried all kinds of methods to speed up the process. Add bacteria lah, use cured live rocks lah, expensive packaged live sand lah, all kinds of rubbish I read about. Guess what? NO2 only drop to zero exactly on day 28!

Oh any one thing to note, while some may advise you to change water when cycling, please refrain from doing so, cos it will only slow down the process. You need Ammonia to reach the maximum level before it falls and creates Nitrite, and in turn you need Nitrite to max out before falling so the final product Nitrate is produced. When you change water during the process, you are not really allowing the gases to reach their peak, only delaying the process.

Try not to cycle with live stocks either, not that it doesn't work, but it is really cruel. I made that mistake, and it was an emotional rollercoaster day by day, watching the fish gasp and struggle through the toxic gases produced during cycling. It's exactly the same as putting a human in a room with raw sewage for a month

[jyoon]

There is no proven shortcut in cycling a tank. When I cycled my tank for the first time, I tried all kinds of methods to speed up the process. Add bacteria lah, use cured live rocks lah, expensive packaged live sand lah, all kinds of rubbish I read about. Guess what? NO2 only drop to zero exactly on day 28!

Oh any one thing to note, while some may advise you to change water when cycling, please refrain from doing so, cos it will only slow down the process. You need Ammonia to reach the maximum level before it falls and creates Nitrite, and in turn you need Nitrite to max out before falling so the final product Nitrate is produced. When you change water during the process, you are not really allowing the gases to reach their peak, only delaying the process.

Try not to cycle with live stocks either, not that it doesn't work, but it is really cruel. I made that mistake, and it was an emotional rollercoaster day by day, watching the fish gasp and struggle through the toxic gases produced during cycling. It's exactly the same as putting a human in a room with raw sewage for a month

I like you reply. Good advice to starters.

Hi Takumee Bro

Patience is the name of the game. I am also cycling my quarantine tank that newly setup 1 week ago.

All the best to reefing.

[albinosage]

I like you reply. Good advice to starters.

Hi Takumee Bro

Patience is the name of the game. I am also cycling my quarantine tank that newly setup 1 week ago.

All the best to reefing.

Have to share my expensive mistakes so others can save time and money wat...

Anyway, a 4 week waiting period is not that bad either, can use the time to remove crabs and other pests from the live rocks, so you don't have to go through the hassle and ka cheow the rockscape in future when it is fully stocked.

[iskay]

There's all sorts of product that speeds up cycling but nothing beats mother nature. A little bit of patience runs a long way to ensure you start off your livestock in a comfortable home.

Let your tank cycle 4-6 weeks as suggested by seller. Please don't use livestock. You wouldn't live in a house that's in the process of being built, would you?

When you start buying livestock, start with fishes, then move to inverts, then soft corals. Add one at most 2 LS at one time with at least 2 week intervals. This interval will allow your tank to adjust to the new bioload.

Welcome to the world of reefing.

[takumee]

thanks for all valuable feedbacks.

actually, i got this tank from a reputable shop at yishun.

the guy told me to:

1. just mix the sand with water, add some anti chlorine, anti bacteria, and all those bio chemical thingy meant for the sump tank

2. run for a day,

3. add some live rock,

4. run for a week,

5. the day before i getting my LS, throw a market prawn for a day,

6. ready for LS then.

guess, i will follow what all seniors have suggested.

i will get my market prawn first day tomorrow and let it rot till it smells.

one last question: (prawn with shell and head or remove leaving just the meat?) big prawn or small prawn? anyway to calculate base on my 2footer?

i will try to post some pictures along the way.

this thread shall be a witness to the start of my reefing days. get hooked already. hee

[albinosage]

the guy told me to:

1. just mix the sand with water, add some anti chlorine, anti bacteria, and all those bio chemical thingy meant for the sump tank

2. run for a day,

3. add some live rock,

4. run for a week,

5. the day before i getting my LS, throw a market prawn for a day,

6. ready for LS then.

Totally wrong already, from step 4 onwards, that's like a recipe for guaranteed disaster.

Doesn't matter if there's shell or head for the prawn, the idea is to introduce some rotting organism into the water for the bacteria to feed on and grow. This bacteria population will support your biological filtration and consume the waste of your future live stock. That's why some people will cycle with hardy livestock, cos the fish will consume food, and contribute waste to the system which bacteria feeds on. In theory, peeing into the tank would serve the same purpose hahaha, but please don't try that, and if you do, don't tell anyone that it's my idea! LOL!

[takumee]

haha..i just came back from peeing and you suggested this.

should have reserve some ya.

livestock as what you pointed out is rather cruel as end of day you will seen them RIP.

how about get some crabs? any LS that is so hardy that they can survive during this cycling stage?

[albinosage]

I dunno about crabs, but I do know that the nuisance crabs simply refuse to die no matter how dirty the water becomes haha.

[iskay]

haha..i just came back from peeing and you suggested this.

should have reserve some ya.

livestock as what you pointed out is rather cruel as end of day you will seen them RIP.

how about get some crabs? any LS that is so hardy that they can survive during this cycling stage?

The crabs that hitch-hiked on your LR will survive the cycle. I cycled my tank and didn't know that there were 3 of them. They lived through the process with no problems.

[takumee]

hitchhiked on live rock?

care to elaborate that?

[onizukaa]

hitchhiked on live rock?

care to elaborate that?

meaning that when he got the live rock (the crab is already inside the live rock (hiding inside the rock) cannot detect by seeing the live rock on the surface)

[takumee]

mind tell me to put the market prawn inside my sump tank or the main tank?

[Ah-lim]

put in main tank. Btw, i dun think there is any reputable LFS in yishun.

[takumee]

aqua star not reputable meh?

been buying fresh water from them since 5yrs back.

hmm.so really wait till it rots and got smell or just one day?

[takumee]

my market prawn after 12hrs turns red, like cooked.

is it suppose to be like that?

[albinosage]

meaning that when he got the live rock (the crab is already inside the live rock (hiding inside the rock) cannot detect by seeing the live rock on the surface)

And most of these are nuisance crabs, gorilla or stone crabs, not reef safe. They will disturb your corals at night