How long to cycle 'educated' live rock?

[lanman]

I now have 41 pounds of live rock in my new 45-gallon aquarium. The rock has either been in another aquarium, or in the holding tanks at the LFS for several months. It should be somewhat educated by now, shouldn't it? I will take some baseline measurements tomorrow. I have 70 pounds of sand, 20 of which are the 'Arag-alive' type stuff.

 

Assuming my numbers are all low for several days in a row - can I assume my tank has a clue how to handle the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle? The first time I did this - I had very FRESH live rock (I wanted a particular rock in my 24 that I knew would be gone if I waited). Ammonia went WAY up as things died off. It was 7 weeks before all of the numbers were near where they should be. So, having seen the whole cycle unfold before my eyes - I was confident that I had 'trained' my rocks to handle whatever I threw at them. Can I just assume with this 'experienced' live rock, that if the numbers are good - I can put a few mushrooms in there without killing them instantly? A few fish? Or should I wait 4-5 weeks just to be sure?

 

Thanks,

bob

[trble81]

When my wife and I set up our tank (35 gallon hex), we bought 17 lbs of live rock from our LFS (Scales). All of our sand is live sand which we also got from said store. We then added some LR from a fellow member's tank (which he had for ~1 year) to what we had (23 lbs of that for a grand total of 40). We never saw an ammonia spike or anything that would be indicative of the cycle in action due to die off. We allowed our tank to cycle for almost a month before adding any fish. The only living things that we had in there are some polyps that hitched a ride, some tiny sea stars that we didn't notice until everything was added, and of course any worms that came along too. The only thing that went up were the Nitrates (10 ppm); which, I guess, means that the cycle happened.

 

Now we have a couple of clowns, a blue leg hermit, a pulsing xenia, and a kenya tree and the levels haven't changed one bit (Nitrates at 10 still).

 

I guess the reason is just let things cycle in your tank for a few weeks. We were a little impatient when we didn't see a cycle with the water tests but because we took the advice of the senior members, I think we're doing OK.

 

[stevil]

I set up my tank with rock and sand from two established tanks. I never saw a spike, but I waited 6 weeks just to be 100% sure.

 

Patience is key - I'm a totally impatient person, but this hobby has forced me into being patient, and I don't think I'd have been successful had I not been.

 

One of the things I found extremely cool was just observing my tank with rock & sand in it for all the life that actually came out of the rockwork - worms, featherdusters, coral, coralline, copepods, ampipods - while I was waiting for the spikes that never ocurred.

[Guest vatbrew]

I'm going thru the same thing. My tank has been up for over 2 weeks now, and ALL of my rock has come from Tang-away's system which is over 3 years old. The sand is from a 10 year old system. I never saw ammon/nitrite but my nitrates are really high! Can't get them below 30-40 ppm yet.

[Ingo]

i cycle my tanks for 8 to 10 weeks adding ammonia once a week.

[lanman]

I'm going thru the same thing. My tank has been up for over 2 weeks now, and ALL of my rock has come from Tang-away's system which is over 3 years old. The sand is from a 10 year old system. I never saw ammon/nitrite but my nitrates are really high! Can't get them below 30-40 ppm yet.

 

I've actually heard that using all sand from an older system isn't best. You stir up all of the 'bad stuff' that is trapped in the sand bed. It said to just use a few cupfuls from an older system to kick-start your own sand. And to get those cupfuls from the upper layers. This was in some instructions for 'moving a tank' that I dug out when I was going to buy someone's complete system.

 

My first set of readings on my new tank were 0 ammonia, 0.02 Nitrites, 10 Nitrates. And I'm amazed how fast the water got crystal clear. Nothing like that 'fresh' live rock with all the dead stuff in it that I put in my 24. It took 8 weeks before I could call it 'clear'.

 

bob

Edited February 11, 2007 by lanman

[Alok]

I used both live sand and live rock from someone else's tank. I saw a tiny spike in ammonia. But in 3 weeks, all I see is nitrates around 20. I wondered whether I should throw in a piece of shrimp to see if the tank can handle it...

 

I've actually heard that using all sand from an older system isn't best. You stir up all of the 'bad stuff' that is trapped in the sand bed. It said to just use a few cupfuls from an older system to kick-start your own sand. And to get those cupfuls from the upper layers. This was in some instructions for 'moving a tank' that I dug out when I was going to buy someone's complete system.

 

My first set of readings on my new tank were 0 ammonia, 0.02 Nitrites, 10 Nitrates. And I'm amazed how fast the water got crystal clear. Nothing like that 'fresh' live rock with all the dead stuff in it that I put in my 24. It took 8 weeks before I could call it 'clear'.

 

bob

[NRehman]

Bob,

I am also putting together a larger tank and will need to mix and match from existing tanks. From what I have read and forum questions:

 

1. Adding existing tank rock may or may not give you a mini-cycle. Due to the short transport (assumed), a big die-off and a full blown cycle is not expected. Another factor affecting the cycle is how much aged water you have created to support your whole system. If you add 80% new water, the tank will probably have a cycle. If most of the water is aged (and 20% new), probably not. Stories go both ways though.

 

2. Using existing sand from tanks has been suspected of dumping detritus (read nitrates) into tank. It is the top 1/2-1" of the sand bed is live, the rest is not. So, using a lot of old sand may lead to issues. A recommendation was to wash this sand very well if you need to use it. However, the consensus was to use new sand and seed with a few cups of old.

[lanman]

Bob,

I am also putting together a larger tank and will need to mix and match from existing tanks. From what I have read and forum questions:

 

1. Adding existing tank rock may or may not give you a mini-cycle. Due to the short transport (assumed), a big die-off and a full blown cycle is not expected. Another factor affecting the cycle is how much aged water you have created to support your whole system. If you add 80% new water, the tank will probably have a cycle. If most of the water is aged (and 20% new), probably not. Stories go both ways though.

 

2. Using existing sand from tanks has been suspected of dumping detritus (read nitrates) into tank. It is the top 1/2-1" of the sand bed is live, the rest is not. So, using a lot of old sand may lead to issues. A recommendation was to wash this sand very well if you need to use it. However, the consensus was to use new sand and seed with a few cups of old.

 

Numbers on the new tank tonight (2 weeks in):

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0.05

Nitrate 10

pH 8.2

Alk 2.2

 

I didn't see any kind of a cycle, but I'm concerned about the Alk a little bit.

 

bob

[YBeNormal]

Since you measured your Alk at 2.2, I assume that is meq/L which would equate to 6.16 dKH. That is a little lower than the 7-11 dKH that most of us aim for. What brand of test kits are you using and have you checked it against someone else's test kit to make sure it is accurate? Are you dosing anything at the moment?

[lanman]

Since you measured your Alk at 2.2, I assume that is meq/L which would equate to 6.16 dKH. That is a little lower than the 7-11 dKH that most of us aim for. What brand of test kits are you using and have you checked it against someone else's test kit to make sure it is accurate? Are you dosing anything at the moment?

 

I am using a Red Sea test kit. My other tank consistently reads 3.0+ meq/L.

 

I had previously only given it a single dose of Ionic-B, but I got sufficient quantity to dose it regularly for a while. I also plan to check calcium level.

 

bob