Need Help Cycle 110 Gallon Setup

[Sweetnezz7]

Hey everyone...great bit of info on here...We just purchased a 110 setup...Wondering if you's could get me started on it...WHere do I start first...mix water, arrange live rock, add sand, fill tank..and add how many prawn for my size tank to start the cycle?...I do this all on same day?...Or is there a time method to this?...Any info you have is worth gold to me...
Thanks so much

[Reefscape]

Hye there....

Well, this is just how i would start to be honest...

fill the tank to half way with water....Get the rock in there and arranged...get the sand in there and get it around the rock..fill the tank to the desired level....Power on all equiptment and get the water up to the right temperature if you prefer.....then start to get your salt in there....You will know how many gallons of water you have used to fill it, roughly....then start measuring your salt in the tank...the measurements per gallon will be on the salt container...remember, you wont have 110 gallons in there. This is due to displacement from rock and sand...

Start on the low side with the salt, and using your hydrometer or refractometer, get your levels correct...you want to be aiming for around 1.023 to 1.025 area....

Then, leave it for a few days for salt to mix and sand particles to clear....keep checking SG for the range stated above...keep adding salt untill its correct..

Then, either a large raw prawn/shrimp or a couple of medium ones wrapped in a fine mesh cloth or pantyhoes..and drop that in the tank....Then, sit back start the waiting game...Start to test for Ammonia after a 5 - 7 days...

Would normally advise you to read the sticky on cycling, but i see that you have already found it...lol...

Hope this helps you a little...Its a very basic way to get yourself started off..by no means complete or specific, but, as a general guide...

Niko

[Sweetnezz7]

hmm..ok...do I have to add all my rock at once, or can I add more a bit at a time to get to 240lbs?

[Reefscape]

no, you dont have to do it all in one go...i would advise you to though..

When you come to add more rock, you should really add a few lbs of fully cured rock...and leave a good few weeks in between..you may get a mini-cycle everytime you add some, depending on how actually cured it is...

Certainly do-able...

Niko

[Sapp]

It will be good to have an efficient skimmer in place when you add in more LRs later on as there might be a mini cycle depending on how cured the new rocks are. So do expect some spike in your NO2, NO3 and PO4. An efficient skimmer will be able to handle the small spike in NO2 and NO3.

[Sweetnezz7]

ohh ok...I will be using a superskimmer 125...is that a reasonable one?
Ok so if I do it a bit at a tome, and say I start with 80-100 lbs...do I have to wait till all liverock is in before livesotck?

[Reefscape]

Never used the skimmer myself, so i shall let others comment on that...

No, you can start to stock the tank, but, very slowly as the live rock is what is providing your filtration...