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jsrnec
04/09/2015, 07:03 AM
I was just wondering what kind of cycle I should expect on my new tank, I have a 300 gallon I am setting up, it has been a while since I built a tank. I am using all dry rock that I did the acid bath on to kill everything on it and clean it up, I am also using dry sand. So question, will there be a huge cycle on this or not since there was nothing live going in?

mmn
04/09/2015, 07:55 AM
I'm doing the same thing on a 125g. You do want to create a cycle since there are no bacteria in there. So I'm going to basically follow Sk8tr's daily regimen for cycling a tank. I expect it to take 4-8 weeks.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2488058&highlight=daily

CafeReef
04/09/2015, 08:12 AM
I followed Sk8r's recommendations as well. One thing I would recommend at a tank of your size, would be to increase the food size though. I ghost fed pellets covering a surface area of a dime. But I have a 21 gallon nano, at a 300 gallon, I would feed closer to the bioload that your tank will be maintaining so that the bacteria in your tank get used to eating that amount.

scooter31707
04/09/2015, 08:32 AM
+1 on what was said above. I recommend also maybe putting about 3 raw shrimp in a mesh bag and drop them in the tank and let it go until the shrimp starts to decay. This will help with your ammonia source which will jump start the cycle or you can use pure ammonia. I personally used the shrimp method because I could never get the dosing right for the ammonia. Once I took the shrimp out, I ghost feed the tank with 1 big flake for every 10 gallons.

gone fishin
04/09/2015, 09:44 AM
With your tank your cycle will be proportional to how much source ammonia is introduced. FWIW I used pure ammonia when I did mine. My rock and sand was also the same as yours. Good luck.

jsrnec
04/10/2015, 06:05 AM
How much ammonia should I use though?

srva80
04/10/2015, 06:09 AM
yea I used Dr. G's ammonia to get my cycle going. I tried the raw shrimp but it was taking forever to get an ammonia spike

Edit: also with dry rock and sand

scooter31707
04/10/2015, 06:22 AM
When I used the shrimp method I also dosed with Bio-Spira.

gone fishin
04/10/2015, 08:48 AM
I personally dose ammonia up to 2-3 ppm then wait for ammonia and nitrite to get to zero. Dose again up to 2ppm, if the ammonia and nitrite get to zero in 24hrs I am done. If not I wait and do it over again until the ammonia and nitrite is gone in 24 hours.