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pumpdogs
01/14/2014, 07:29 PM
Is a small piece of cured live rock and a cup of live sand from my existing tank enough to seed my new tank.

smb2415
01/14/2014, 07:38 PM
what size tank?

Adding a shrimp or a few (if large tank, 90+g) will speed things along otherwise it will prob be enough to seed a small aquarium.

pumpdogs
01/14/2014, 08:11 PM
what size tank?

Adding a shrimp or a few (if large tank, 90+g) will speed things along otherwise it will prob be enough to seed a small aquarium.

180 GAL with 70 lbs of dry reef saver rock.I can't put anymore of my live rock in because they have corals and anemones on them.

smb2415
01/14/2014, 09:09 PM
FWIW I'll offer how I cycled my 550g in about 10days. Perhaps you could use some of this to help you.

I used some (40-60lbs) live rock. I also had a large 1' wad of filter floss I had kept in a live tank that I put into the sump. I added (2) large bottles of bio-spirula. I also used 10 raw shrimp, followed by dosing some ammonia.

Heres the order I did it.
day 1
added live rock and bio-spirula at same time I added 4 large raw shrimp in a filter bag
day 3
shrimp were essentially cooked and falling apart yet ammonia was barley .25 so I added another 6 large raw shrimp.
day 6
ammonia still not above .25 so I dosed (4) capfuls of pure ammonia
ammonia still not above .25 so I dosed (6) additional capfuls
day 7
ammonia still not above .25 so I concluded I had enough of that bacteria type and stopped dosing. REMOVED shrimp. Nitrites were now at 1.0ppm so cycle was in-process.
day 10
ammonia 0, nitrites still at 1.0ppm. Added filter floss and another couple of live rocks.
day 12
nitrites at 1.0ppm.
day 13
nitrites .5ppm or less
day 14
nitrites 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm, nitrates 5-10ppm

If you have the opportunity I would gather some live sand, filter floss, or an used filter sock (still in use). That would help seed the bacteria. Using shrimp also helps.

I don't think I needed the ammonia and I don't recommend you dose it without CAREFully looking into it as you can stall your cycle. As long as you get ammonia to at least .25 you have started the cycle.

Tip: keep your temp to 77f as this is the optimal temp for bacteria growth according to ...advanced aquarist (i think).

Bio-spirula may have helped or may have been a waste of money... I'm not sold either way.

If I did it again I would start with 60lb live rock, large wad of a wad of filter floss as possible, 10 shrimp until I was able to read ammonia then remove them. If I was in a rush I would prob try the bio-spirula again. I would also keep the temp at 77f and high flow.


It really its a waiting game and a test of your patience. In my case I had fish already Qt'd and ready to go but had to wait for the DT cycle to finish. It's frustrating, it's annoying, it's necessary...... Try to find some other part of the build to keep you occupied while you wait.