So all my equipment should finally be arriving by the end of the week and I'm trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to cycle my tank. I'm going to be using live rock and live sand but I don't want to kill off too much of either.
I have enough dry aragonite sand for about a 3-4" sand bed and I'm going to get between 40 and 50lbs of live rock (for a 65g tank)
My dilemma is, is that I want to have bacteria built up in the sand before I add live rock so I don't kill off any good stuff on my rock, but I know that when it comes to aquascaping you should have the live rock resting on the tank bottom, plus I've heard it's good to have the LR on the tank bottom so no dead spots form in the sand under the rock.
So what I've been thinking so far for the ordering of my cycle was this.
1)Start with a 1" layer of aragonite sand, add some bacterial starters and drop in a few shrimp from the supermarket.
Powerheads and Filter on, Lights off, Skimmer off, Temp 80
2)when nitrates drop
move sand around add in live rock (directly on base of tank)
make sure nitrates are stable
Powerheads and Filter on, Lights off, Skimmer off, Temp 80
add more shrimp if necessary
3)add the rest of aragonite sand to 3-4" and add Live Sand Activator Kit (from mail order like IndoPacificSeaFarm or other)
turn on Lights and Skimmer
4)drop temp to 76, when finally stabilized add sand sifters and fish
Does this sound like a good method.
??Or should I just start with all the LR and LS fully set up and cycle from there (how much can I really kill on the LR and LS)???
Can anyone recommend a bacterial starter for step 1. Should my lights and skimmer be off the whole time (that's what I remember reading somewhere, b/c the with the skimmer on you can defeat the purpose of cycling and with lights on you may get an algae bloom).
Are there any chemicals I need to add.
I'm planning to mix my salt water with water filtered by a tap water filter (can't afford RO), do I need to add any specific elements or chemicals in this situation.
Any other tips or suggestions.
I have enough dry aragonite sand for about a 3-4" sand bed and I'm going to get between 40 and 50lbs of live rock (for a 65g tank)
My dilemma is, is that I want to have bacteria built up in the sand before I add live rock so I don't kill off any good stuff on my rock, but I know that when it comes to aquascaping you should have the live rock resting on the tank bottom, plus I've heard it's good to have the LR on the tank bottom so no dead spots form in the sand under the rock.
So what I've been thinking so far for the ordering of my cycle was this.
1)Start with a 1" layer of aragonite sand, add some bacterial starters and drop in a few shrimp from the supermarket.
Powerheads and Filter on, Lights off, Skimmer off, Temp 80
2)when nitrates drop
move sand around add in live rock (directly on base of tank)
make sure nitrates are stable
Powerheads and Filter on, Lights off, Skimmer off, Temp 80
add more shrimp if necessary
3)add the rest of aragonite sand to 3-4" and add Live Sand Activator Kit (from mail order like IndoPacificSeaFarm or other)
turn on Lights and Skimmer
4)drop temp to 76, when finally stabilized add sand sifters and fish
Does this sound like a good method.
??Or should I just start with all the LR and LS fully set up and cycle from there (how much can I really kill on the LR and LS)???
Can anyone recommend a bacterial starter for step 1. Should my lights and skimmer be off the whole time (that's what I remember reading somewhere, b/c the with the skimmer on you can defeat the purpose of cycling and with lights on you may get an algae bloom).
Are there any chemicals I need to add.
I'm planning to mix my salt water with water filtered by a tap water filter (can't afford RO), do I need to add any specific elements or chemicals in this situation.
Any other tips or suggestions.
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