cycle aquarium

This is going to be crazy and I probably will get a lot of people tell me im crazy, but I feel like it would be good to share this process, just in case someone goes thru the same thing, and I will try to update it as much as I can. So I been very picky about my aquascape, Tank has been set up...

hello R2R world! New to the forum, and also my first salt water tank set up! So on Thursday I set up a 20 gallon tank with an aquaclear 50. Set temperature to 78°f. My salinity is at 1.020. I used 10 lbs of dry rock and 20 lbs bag of Fiji pink live sand. I also added 1 raw never frozen shrimp...

Hey Everyone, So it’s Day 9 of using MicroBacter cycling kit, and I’m a little confused about the results. I’ve attached the readings over the 9 days as well as the photos of days results. I don’t want to add any fish or clean up crew if I’m not ready. Any advice and suggestions are greatly...

Reef Tank Started with the following currently at Day 24 of the fishless cycle, Should I do a water change if the Nitrite is measuring 5PPM and above for 8+ days while Ammonia drop to 0ppm. Temp: 80 Salinity: 20ppt Ammonia: Dr Tims Bacteria: Dr Tims one and Only Rocks: Carib sea Life rock...

I have a question that I hope someone can answer. I have been cycling my tank fishless for 5 weeks. I have 75 gallon tank using dry rock 90 pounds and live sand 120 lbs. Using a fluval Fx6 canister filter. Also In the tank is 2 powerheads and a HOB skimmer that both seem to be working well...

So i have always kept Cichlids and decided to setup a 20 gal reef tank beside my bed. I bought a 6 gallon setup from a guy which already had fish. Parameters were stable and there was alot of bio media in the mini sump. So I added that to the 20 gal setup. Saw some ammonia last night and my...

Hello Fellow reefers, Has anyone used the Brightwell Start XLM bacteria to cycle their aquarium while having new Caribsea Life rocks in the aquarium? This aquarium is running with Caribsea dry sand and Caribsea Life rocks. I have been reading the label on the Brightwell Start XLM stating "Dry...

Hello! This is my first post, and I am also brand new to the reef aquarium hobby. Here's my question. I'm trying to cycle my 55 gallon aquarium. Salt and temp are all good. I have 2 clowns in the tank after using Dr. Tims One And Only, and have been cycling for 4 days (tracking for 3). I also...

I purchased live rock and unknowingly it came with a baby bubble tip nem. My tank is about a week old and not established at all. The nem isn’t doing so well and only comes out when the lights are off sometimes. What do i do?

I noticed that my angel has some Ich. I set up a QT yesterday. I filled the QT with tank water, threw in some biomedia and a filter pad, along with a splash of Fritz Turbostart 900 and a small amount of fish food for ammonia. I let that cycle overnight. I just tested water now and its reading 0...

I’ve recently started my own 100L nano reef & I’ve been cycling my tank (fishless) for about three weeks now and today I had my water tested by my local aquarium shop. He was testing all the nitrates and instantly the colour changed to detect it in my water instead of showing up after 5 minutes...

Bought a 65 gallon tank that was running for a year, but the owner got a bigger one and gave me this with everything included, but lights and stand. I build my own stand replaced the piping because it needed a touch up. I filled it with freshwater everything runs smoothly. I’m putting in the...

Hi everyone. Hope everyone’s safe during these bad times. So I had setup a tank during Covid to help my self cope up with the lockdown. But unfortunately I was let go by my company. So I cannot add any live stock currently. My tank is fully cycled for about a month now without lights. Do you...

Hello, My tank has just finished its cycling period and has perfect parameters to start putting fish in but I just noticed this brown diatom forming. What do I do now? New to this hobby and am posting this so I can learn from you guys! Thanks in advance.

Hy friends, I'm from Italy and I'm also new here.... I had a reef tank years ago with protein skimmer , but now I need your help for a new project. This is my question: May I start cycle my new reef tank (about 80 lt) with algae scrubber only? I mean, someone add the ATS later to their systems...

Hey everyone, I am new to the hobby and cycling my first tank. I have a 32.5g Fluval Flex. I started the cycle on 3/21. I used Dr Tims One & Only at the start. Inside the tank I've got the Caribsea Arag-Alive sand and Carib Sea Shapes rock. Currently, my readings are: Ammonia: 1 PPM Nitrite...

Good morning r2r! What’s everyone’s opinions on adding copepods? Before or after fish are added? Should I have the refugium up and running or the dry rock will provide enough hiding spaces? I’m about 6 weeks into my initial cycle of a new 125g long and triton 44 sump. My test kits are still...

So this time around I want to do a fishless cycle with dry rock, I’ve seen a few products to help with this, one kit that caught my attention was the MICROBACTER DRY ROCK BACTERIA STARTER KIT from Brightwell, it comes with: Microbacter QuickCycl which is the ammonia additive to feed the...

Hi everyone! After my tank with the dead rock has been cycled ( I believe this takes a month?). What is the next thing to introduce? Coral? Fish? Bottom feeders?

Is there a difference in the shrimp VS damsel methods when it comes to cycling a tank. Some people put a bit of shrimp in for 3 days to get the ammonia started and some put 1-2 damselfish to get the cycle started. What’s the best method? Is one faster than the other? What have you had a good...

Hi all, New member here. I just upgraded by 20 gallon nano to a 50 gallon cube. I just finished the plumbing for my sump recently and instead of slipxslip bulkheads I used 1" bulkhead abs slip×thread for the ability to replace in the future if needed. I used 1" schedule 80 male pipe adapters...

Equipment: 13.5 gal Fluval Evo and all default accessories 10 lbs CaribSea Liferock (came dry) 5 lbs misc dry rock 20lbs CaribSea Arag Alive Fine Reef Sand Here's what happened: 1. I put the tank together on a bookshelf, mixing my water, pouring it over the sand, adding the rocks 2. Hours...

Hello everyone, I recently started cycling a 29 gallon tank with live sand and one and only nitrifying bacteria, along with ammonia chloride drops. I am on day 5 ( I understand this is very very early) and the bacteria are doing a great job bringing down 2ppm of ammonia, the first day it...

Hello everyone, I have been out of the hobby for a few years and just getting ready to get back in as we have bought a house and won't be moving each year. I have a 9-10 gallon rimless jbj tank that I would like to start cycling and get a couple basic pieces in it. Within the year I plan on...

Fishless Cycling a New Aquarium A Recipe for Success from DrTim's Aquatics!