Cycling Question

[Kyle918]

I am going to purchase my LR this weekend and begin my curring and cycling process.

In an effort to minimize algae and keeping the sandbed clean, can I cycle without the sand? I figure this will make the initial process a lot simpler not having sand to deal with it. Plus I read about LR leaching phosphates and nitrates into the water which the sandbed absorbs and later releases. I figure I should just avoid that all together.

[bnumair]

its best that you do this in a tub or bin separate from ur tank. run a powerhead and skimmer on it.

[Kyle918]

its best that you do this in a tub or bin separate from ur tank. run a powerhead and skimmer on it.

Well, that isn't exactly what I asked. I plan to cure the rock in a seperate container as you mentioned because of the possible stink due to the die off.

However, I would also rather cycle in the DT because I can monitor the rock for signs of life as well attempt to get the coraline algae going.

My question however is is there any reason that I should cycle WITH sand? For the reason listed above it seems to make more sense to cycle without any sand.

Has any cycled without sand?

[Driver13]

If you plan to have sand with the rock, then yes, you should cycle it all together. Your sand bed holds a bio load just like your rock does, I don't see why they shouldn't be cycled together.

[coralsnaked]

Sure you can do this but not sure why you would want to add sand after the nitrification process. If your rock was fully cured prior to placing in DT then there is no reason not to add sand in at same time as there is nothing left to leech into the sand. Adding dry sand after is OK. Live sand NO. This would cause the tank to recycle. Make sure that dry sand is a high quality sea sand not playground or hardware store sand as this would cause an algae nightmare w/ the silicates in these products. I hope this answered your question.

You can cycle rock without sand. Lots of people do this when starting a bare bottom tank. I would ask you to think about a sand bed at all. Many times reefers have nightmares over these potential Nitrate factories. Make sure you keep it at a minimal depth. Nothing over one inch is beneficial in your display. Use just enough to cover the bottom for looks, unless you have a need for and are experienced enough to maintain a deep sand bed of 5 + inches. But why you would want to do this is unknown when you can achieve better filtration with more rock. Go up to 2lbs of rock per gallon of water and you will have the most beautiful trouble free tank imaginable. Use only 1 lb. per gallon and be prepared to work much harder for the same results

Merry Skerry

[jagow4]

cycle them together your sand is home to more useful bacterias then your rocks has by far. do them together and you wont have any chance of a spike when you do ad the sand.

[Kyle918]

Sure you can do this but not sure why you would want to add sand after the nitrification process. If your rock was fully cured prior to placing in DT then there is no reason not to add sand in at same time as there is nothing left to leech into the sand. Adding dry sand after is OK. Live sand NO. This would cause the tank to recycle. Make sure that dry sand is a high quality sea sand not playground or hardware store sand as this would cause an algae nightmare w/ the silicates in these products. I hope this answered your question.

You can cycle rock without sand. Lots of people do this when starting a bare bottom tank. I would ask you to think about a sand bed at all. Many times reefers have nightmares over these potential Nitrate factories. Make sure you keep it at a minimal depth. Nothing over one inch is beneficial in your display. Use just enough to cover the bottom for looks, unless you have a need for and are experienced enough to maintain a deep sand bed of 5 + inches. But why you would want to do this is unknown when you can achieve better filtration with more rock. Go up to 2lbs of rock per gallon of water and you will have the most beautiful trouble free tank imaginable. Use only 1 lb. per gallon and be prepared to work much harder for the same results

Merry Skerry

I do see why you would want to cycle with the sand as it is part of the biological filter, but I will not be adding live sand. I have never used live sand but I don't believe there is much point as I can't imagine much of it being live by the time it makes it's way into my tank. I will just use dry sand and rinse it well and will ask for a cup or two of sand from my LFS to help seed that sand.

I do not plan on having much of a sand bed. Just enough for looks. About 1 - 1.5". I plan on my LR being my main filtration as you stated.

[thegrun]

Cycle the tank with the sand. There is a chance you will have some dried organics in the sand so getting it all cycled at the beginning is a good thing. Bacteria also colonize sand (to a much lesser extent than the rock) so again it is good to start with the sand in the tank. It also provides a home to many of the organisms present in your live rock, another reason to start with the sand.

[Kyle918]

cycle them together your sand is home to more useful bacterias then your rocks has by far. do them together and you wont have any chance of a spike when you do ad the sand.

I can't say I agree as I have seen plenty of bare bottom tanks that are plenty succesful with just rock.

Cycle the tank with the sand. There is a chance you will have some dried organics in the sand so getting it all cycled at the beginning is a good thing. Bacteria also colonize sand (to a much lesser extent than the rock) so again it is good to start with the sand in the tank. It also provides a home to many of the organisms present in your live rock, another reason to start with the sand.

From the responses it doesn't seem to be very beneficial if at all to do otherwise so I will just cycle with my LR and sand. Plus it will be more pleasing to look at while the cycle is progressing.

Thanks for the tips.