How long does it take to cycle a ten gallon?

[aromantis]

It would have a live DSB, and not much LR. Is there anything I could do to speed up the cycle? THX in advance!

[Yankees2519]

get live rock that is already cycled, and buy live sand if your LFS sell's it. You may not have much of a cycle at all

[Agu]

It really depends on the rock/live sand. If it's cured and you transported it in water there could be very little cycle.

Two things I've found help cycle a tank. When you put the rock in the water rotate it and swish it around to eliminate any air pockets. That eliminates any die off inside the rock you wouldn't normally see. I also believe in doing water changes during cycling to avoid an ammonia spike that could also cause excess die off.

jmo,

[aromantis]

THX, is there anything else I need to know?

[ngn8dogg]

Can you get water from someones established tank? that would be a huge plus. I got live rock from someones tank and their water from a waterchange and I added coral the next day and nothing ever died.

[sabazerehi]

them more stuff you can get from an established tank, the shorter your cycle will be. everything in my 24g and 40g basically came from established tanks and both of them had virtually no cycle. all the water in the tank doesn't have to be established though, lr and ls are more important.

[gas4544]

Keep in mind that a deep sand bed is going to take up allot of space in a ten gallon tank. I believe that DSB's need to be at least 4 inches deep to operate as a DSB. You can do a search for some of Ron Shimek's DSB information here at RC.

Another thing you can do is to add some bottled bacteria to the tank while it is cycling. I have used a bacteria additive named Cycle before.

Run a powerhead in the tank while you are cycling. If you are going to be using a skimmer, run the skimmer while cycling.

Do you have test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Gary

[aromantis]

Yes, I do have test kits for all of those, and will start the building tomorrow. THX for the help!:D