Cycling question

[4luvofhrses]

Hi! I have a 30-gal high tank with live rock and sand (live rock about 20lbs- sand about 3-4 inches deep) filter: Emperor biowheel 280 gal/hr.

How long should I cycle this before adding clean-up crew and eventually seahorses?

My research and my gut say 1-2 months, but I'm new, so not completely sure.

Thanks!

[JennyL]

There is no way to put a time limit on cycling a tank. Cycling times vary with individual tanks.

Testing all your water perams will tell you when the cycle is complete and stable, then you are ready to begin slowly adding stock.

[4luvofhrses]

I know what you mean, but I guess then, my real question is after that initial spike in readings and then the drop as the nitrogen cycle take hold, how long should one wait until adding any stock? 3 weeks of stable water readings? 4? I know that there is no prescription, but I don't want to rush into putting stock in. I guess I'm fishing for a general idea as to how long the nitrogen cycle takes to establish (I know this depends upon the readings) and then also how long after the readings are good does one wait? Clean-up crew is first to go in and seahorses are last to go in, right?

[David123]

Cycling is not just having a tank spike once and then thats it, cycling is about having a constant ammonia reading, this ammonia is food for the good bacteria, a large colony will grow and then your right.

I can explain in detail if you want.

[peterpiper]

Think of the good bacteria as seahorses or fish... You need to feed them for them to live.. they need Ammonia to live, so you add Ammonia to the tank once in the morning and once at night so you get a reading of 0.5 to 1.0 untill you are ready to add your seahorses... do a 100% water change before adding the new seahorses as the Ammonia will have dropped your PH, This is how I done our tank, and its running sweet as... thanks to David and Janet too.. They know what they are talking about when it comes to seahorses!

[4luvofhrses]

...I've definitely been "feeding" the tank with fish food morning and night.... could this work? Or should I stick with the cocktail shrimp method? I got my 10gal cycled soooo easily... but, the 30 gal is a little trickier, I fear.

[David123]

I'm sorry, if you are using ded stuff to cycle, I can't help, never dun it, never will.

I know its a popular way to cycle, but personally, I can't bare the thought of letting something rot to nothingness in my tanks.

[4luvofhrses]

....I guess I'm a little confused. I have live rock and live sand, but I've been adding fish food to feed the growing bacteria. How did you do it? As I said, I'm in no hurry, so I'd be definitely willing to switch things up if I still can. (It's only been a week)

[ann83]

It is fine to feed fish food. David uses the ammonia method where he adds pure ammonia to the tank, spikes it up to 1.0ppm twice a day for several weeks... it is a "cleaner" way to go, but IMO you can do either food or the pure ammonia source. You do not want to go the pure ammonia route if you have any sort of livestock in the tank yet like snails, hermits, corals; although again, IMO, you wouldn't want those things in your tank while you're cycling anyway.