Cycling

[Tanner]

So I was thinking, cycling is the process of bacteria converting and what not, if I have a protein skimmer/ filter and whatnot on, willl that no slow down the cycle by filtering the bacteria?

Should I shut them off?

 

[Rcpilot]

No, the skimmer won't take the bacteria out. Skimmers removed dissolved organics in the water. They convert those dissolved organics back to a semi-solid state so that it can be collected.

Bacteria are microscopic in size.

Some people do turn the skimmer off during a cycle, because you kinda need those dissolved organics in the water to feed the nitrifying bacteria. That's the whole point of a cycle - feed and grow your nitrifying bacteria colony so they can expand and increase in population enough to handle the full bio load of the system.

Either way - skimmer on or skimmer off - you're fine. Best thing you can do during a cycle is don't mess with it. Leave it alone for about 6 weeks.

 

[Tanner]

Alright thanks, man this is gonna be difficult, I hate waiting >_> lol

 

[Rcpilot]

Alright thanks, man this is gonna be difficult, I hate waiting >_> lol

If you don't wait - you'll be cursed with a reef that's constantly a problem for you.

Just do the daily top offs with fresh water to keep your salinity stable and forget about everything else for 6 weeks.

 

[Navarchus]

I hate waiting

Waiting is what this hobby is all about. One of the rewarding aspects of this hobby is watching the slow transformation of a tank. In fact, I think waiting is the best part. I feel like it is always Christmas Eve with my tank--I am always excited, but waiting for something that is not here yet.

 

[Tanner]

Lmao true , :(

 

[Rcpilot]

Get this in your head if you want to be a reefer:

Patience is REWARDED and speed kills.

The beauty of watching a tank slowly grow and mature is one of the most breathtaking things to behold on this earth. It really is.

This is my 30H tank with 144w of T5 lights:
First water and sand
Couple days later - still no light for the tank
Couple months later - first live rock
1yr later


........ you should see it now........ 2.5yrs later :mrgreen:

All I do is change about 5g of water each Sunday with RO/DI water.

 

[Tanner]

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't worry, aquascaping will give me enough to think about well my tank cycles, I got a few pounds of LR in mine right now, and its so hard trying to fit them together in a way that looks good!

It's like a puzzle....

I was never very good at puzzles :D lol

 

[yote]

Rcs got you covered Tanner.And he's right.In this hobby,the only things that happen are fast,are bad things.

 

[Rcpilot]

The only thing that happens fast in a reef tank............... the crash!!

Take it slow. Slow means:
Cycle it for 6-8 weeks
Add ONE fish
Wait a month
Add ONE coral
Wait a month
Keep changing 10% - 15% of your water every week.
Add a couple more corals if you ain't killed anything yet. :mrgreen:

1" of fish per every 10g of water. That's why I have a single 2" clown in my 30g tank. Thats also why I have a single 2" damsel in my 29g frag system. I could keep 2 or 3 fish in each tank if they were SMALL. But I'm not really too turned on by fish. I prefer to stock with corals. The fish is just in there to create some waste product - which after talking to Yote - I believe is necessary in a reef. An all coral tank would be hard to care for IMO.

That means no tangs unless you have a MINIMUM 55g tank and you keep it SPOTLESS. 75g or 90g would be better. And that's ONE tang.... not an entire HERD of tangs.

These tanks are an investment for MANY YEARS of time. They are not something you can throw together while away for a semester of college. These tanks take at least 6 months to even get CLOSE to stable or predictable. That's how long it takes before you can actually start to relax. A year is the "standard" for a tank that is beginning to mature and truly stabilize. My 30H display tank is a little over 2.5yrs old and I still consider it a new tank.

 

[Tanner]

I know :) what I meant by my earlier comment is, I just hate the act of waiting , generally, but I know what I got myself into.

And I never had anyyyy intention of keeping a tang that'd be mean. I wasn't even really looking
at fish for this tank, just a nice coral tank but now that I know they're harder to maintain, so just one fish will do! :)

 

[Kazarko]

Having existing live rock and sand can help introduce bacteria into the tank and make cycling faster.