bahamas tank cycling

[dguest98]

I am currently setting up my 125 and have a quastion about cycling. I live in the bahamas and I am pulling everything straight out of the water and putting it directly in the tank. The longest anything is out of the water is 5 minutes including the sand and rocks. Does this tank need to cycle?

[boxfishpooalot]

Yes it does. Think of it this way. Bacteria are always present. Even when pouring fresh saltwater. But the problem is that as things die they release ammonia. Those bacteria then need to increase in size to keep up with the added ammonia.

So in short your growing the bacteria populations to keep up with a huge load of fish/living things compared to the ocean.

[dguest98]

that makes sense. So just do it like I would inland, water changes and lots of rock and low bioload.

[boxfishpooalot]

you bet :D