Just started my first salt tank - Have some questions!

[Chris in NC]

Really excited to have started my first salt tank today! :celeb1: I have a lot of experience with fresh water, specifically with Cichlids.

I bought a 29 gallon BioCube. Filled it with 20 lbs of live sand, 26 lbs of live rock & RO saltwater.

I asked a ton of questions at my LFS, and I still have a ton more! :fun5:

I know that I need to let the tank cycle before adding anything else... However, I've read WAY to many opinions on what to do while it's cycling & could use some clarification:

-Lights on or off during the cycling process?

-Filtration on off during cycling process?

-OK to let it just run now with the live sand & rock, or do I really need to add a raw shrimp to speed it along?

-Are water changes necessary during the cycling process?

-Any tips that you might want to share?

Thanks, and looking forward to being a productive member here! :wavehand:

-Chris

[bnumair]

Really excited to have started my first salt tank today! :celeb1: I have a lot of experience with fresh water, specifically with Cichlids.

I bought a 29 gallon BioCube. Filled it with 20 lbs of live sand, 26 lbs of live rock & RO saltwater.

I asked a ton of questions at my LFS, and I still have a ton more! :fun5:

I know that I need to let the tank cycle before adding anything else... However, I've read WAY to many opinions on what to do while it's cycling & could use some clarification:

-Lights on or off during the cycling process?

-Filtration on off during cycling process?

-OK to let it just run now with the live sand & rock, or do I really need to add a raw shrimp to speed it along?

-Are water changes necessary during the cycling process?

-Any tips that you might want to share?

Thanks, and looking forward to being a productive member here! :wavehand:

-Chris

1. lights off during cycle.
2. filteration on always.
3. raw shrimp to kick start cycle.
4. dont need to change water during cycle.

[BfishLpond78]

Raw shrimp or pure ammonia works if you don't like looking at a rotting shrimp in your tank

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[Chris in NC]

Thanks for the quick responses!

How much ammonia and how often? Are you talking about ammonia that you can buy at be grocery store?

:fish2:

[Steve175]

Use the raw shrimp. Lights off. Be patient and you will eventually enjoy.

[bebangs]

question on raw shrimp - do you remove the shell and head? like really raw?

[Reef1121]

1. Lights off
2. Filtration on
3. Raw shrimp will work just throwing it in, I would also add a bottle of Dr. Tims to it as well. Should cycle the tank in 1-2 weeks. Just my .02
4. No water changes let it be till theres 0 ammonia and nitrite

Just be patient and let the bacteria do its thing.

[Chris in NC]

Thanks again everyone! I'll post pics as it get populated slowly. :)

[Zappo]

It's a small tank, so you might want to just go with a little piece of a shrimp or even just a pinch of flake food. You need something to rot and feed the bacteria, but beyond a certain point you're just adding excess nitrates that will have to be dealt with later.

[rockytop47]

Agree with everything everyone said above. I threw in a piece of 21-25 table shrimp from Winn-Dixie (the lady thought I was on something when I asked for 1 shrimp). I did however run my lights like I would on a regular basis, had TONS of turf algae, lol. I wound up having to get 5 Mexican turbos just to clean it all up. I also turned of my protein skimmer until I got traceable readings on nitrites.