Ok next Debate Live Rock and Sand vs Shrimp to Cycle
I was at my favorite local fishstore today no it's not a petstore
except those of us that concider our fish pets. I was talking to him
about the cycling he agreed chemicalsa is the lazy way but he said the
best way was live rock no the shrimp I have 50 lbs comming next week so
I can wait a week to cycle my tank he said with the live rock it would
take about three weeks or so. I was going to put the rock in my other
tank but he said this would throw of the chemical balance and kill my
fish they have some live sand now and a few pieces of live rock I can
add a couple more slowly if that's the best way to go.
I am not sure that I understand you. You have a tank allready and your cycling another tank? Or you have a tank right now with some fish and some live sand and are trying to cycle that? You should be able to put all of the live rock in your tank if it has fish or not fish. you will hve some die off in the rock so you will have a nitrate peak just keep an eye on it and keep up on water changes. but either way you can just put the rock in either way. Just keep an eye on the parameters It should not harm the fish. If you keep an eye on the parameters you should be fine. good luck :D
Ok to explane a little better 1st I have a 55 gallon established tank
about 6 fish right now all are happy plus a couple starfish I have
maybe 5 pounds of live rock and added 10 pounds of live sand a few
snails to do clean ups and everybody seems happy I bought 50 pounds of
live rock I was going to add to it but the guy at the fish store said I
might cause some serious imbalances so what I was thinking of doing any
way is adding at least 45 pounds for now to the other tank to help
cycle it. the other tank is a 150 gallon I do plan to add more rock to
that *** well at least another 50 but the guy at the fish store says
live rock is better then the old shrimp trick I am wondering if other
agree or not, hope that explains better
live rock works well you can also add a shrimp as well. You should be allright if yo add the live rock to either tank. you just want to keep an eye on your parameters. you will have some die off in the rock so you will have a spike in your nitrates. but just up your water changes a bit and you will be just fine.
it's not really about cycling your tank, it's more about curing your live rock in your established tank.
You really don't want to throw that much LR into your established tank because you will see ammonia spikes from the dead stuff on the live rock. This will give your invertebrates a fit and probably kill some of them.
The better thing to do would be to put the live rock in your new tank, let it cycle (nitrites to 0) and then take some LR from that tank and put it into your established tank.
The absolute best thing to do would be to cycle your new tank using flake food (or shrimp).. and get a good bacteria growth started... do this a few weeks before you put in your live rock. If you have some ammonia-eating bacteria in your new tank, then they will be able to keep the ammonia spike caused by the live rock to a minimum. Why is this a big deal? Because you have lots of tiny living invertebrates in your live rock. If you throw 50 pounds of LR into a tank that hasn't at least had a small buildup of bacteria, then your going to kill alot of the goodies from your live rock. If you do a small cycle before the live rock gets put in, you have a chance of saving some of them.
You 'can' cycle your tank with your live rock.. but it results in the death of some of the things that live in the live rock.
50 lbs of live rock in a 50 gallon tank should not make that much of a splike. How long have you had the 150 running so far without rock???? I would seed the 150 to. Take a cup full of sand from the established tank you have now and put it into the 150 your cycling. this will introduce the nitrobacter and the nitrosomas into the tank and give it a boost. But 50 lbs in a 150 is not that much rock. But this is just my opnion. Good luck :D
I bought a 30 pound bag of live sand today and spread it on the floor
to start the seeding on that I should have the 50 pounds by the end of
next week then by the begining of next week I plan to add at least
another 50 pounds tank has been running a couple of days full time I
have three raw shrimp disolving. I want the get the process going right
on the 150 and do it right this time. the 55 gallon I bought used and
already cycled but have realized since then that he didn't know what he
was doing and will most likley have to recycle the entire tank,
or I might just leave it a fish only tank. when i bought the 55 there
was only some gravel a damsel and clown no rocks I thought i
smart at the time getting the tank cheep, cycled since I have upgrated
the fil;ter system heater pretty much everything.
Ok next Debate Live Rock and Sand vs Shrimp to Cycle
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