Cycle?

[jtgrimes]

My 75 gallon peninsula is finally set up! But before I take everything out of my 30 gal im going to let my 75 finish its cycle. My question is should I put a skimmer on the new tank while it is going through a cycle? Will it help?

Keep in mind I am using sand that I cleaned out and I also have some live rock in the new tank to filter as well.

Your input is greatly appreciated!

[Octoshark]

You WANT waste in the tank for it to cycle.

[jtgrimes]

You WANT waste in the tank for it to cycle.

Ok. That's what I figured. Is there anything I can do to speed the cycle process?

[Octoshark]

Some people add pure ammonia (make sure it is very pure, no additives) for bacteria to "feed on" and some people add BioSpira which is basically bacteria in a bottle which establishes a starter colony.

[sedor]

Either feed the tank a pinch of food every day, use pure ammonia, or my favorite, the raw shrimp method. Basically buy a large raw shrimp from the grocery store and put it in a nylon sock and throw it in the tank. Within a couple days it will start decomposing and pumping ammonia into the system. This will kick start the cycle.

Don't waste your money on miracle additives to help speed the cycle. I believe with freshwater there are ways to speed the cycle, but with salt there simply is not. Its going to take about 6 weeks. For the last 2 weeks you could run the skimmer to get it "broken in", although until you have a bioload it won't be doing much.

[Octoshark]

One benefit of using pure ammonia over the fish food method is that with pure ammonia you are only introducing pure ammonia, but with the fish food you are adding a bunch of DOM as well which could promote algae growth.