cycling

I recently bought a running system from someone trying to get out the hobby. It was running at their home when I picked it up. The livestock included 2 damsels, a small torch, 2 small duncan colonies, and a toadstool leather. It took about 5 hours to get it broken down, transported to my house...

Trying to understand and figure out when the right time for me to begin running my skimmer and UV is on my new tank build. 310 gallon display tank, been up and running since September 2nd of this year. Just added my first group of 5 captive-bred fish to the tank over the last couple days. I have...

I happened to be in LA this week with the family. Stopped by AmongTheReef.com warehouse to pickup some AMAZING Australian Live rock!! @Eric Cohen was great on helping me out over the phone and accommodating me. I met Kyler & Nayt who helped me pick through all the rock...these 2 guys were...

Hello all. I’ve setup a new marine aquarium with dead live rock and kept it for cycling for the last 20 days. I’ve been dosing it with Microbacter 7, microbacter xlm and lastly I dosed it with Dr Tim’s. Whenever I test the ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0.1 and nitrate is 25. I use Australian black...

I apologize for all the cycling questions and threads, I will just update this one from here on out and lay out the entire information below. As of today though (September 3) I've had 0 Ammonia for a few days and stuck at around 5.0 Nitrites for like a week and unsure what to do as it seems I...

Just started a 13.5 Fluval EVO 2 days ago. added live sand and water and Biospira. I’ve been testing the salinity like a maniac and it’s stayed at a stable level. All parameters are good so far. I added a little fish food to “ghost feed” too. Water is at 78 degrees and the pump and wave maker...

I have close to a couple hundred pounds of dry rock, half being Marco rock from BRS, another half being old fiji and pukani rock that’s been dry for years. I’m going to be aquascaping my 310g build in a couple weeks and want to give a quick rinse to the dry rock before going in the tank to...

Hi, I'm setting up a new 16x16x16inch tank soon. This is my second tank. I've few questions in regards to cycling since its been a year or more that I did my last cycle and I just wanted to be sure I still remember how to do it properly. Last time I have Microbacter7 to dose with some ghost...

Hello fellow reefers! I just past the 2 week mark of cycling my tank using dr tims one and only and dr tims ammonia. I used live sand and some rock from my existing tank as well. My current parameters are Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0.5, Ammonia 0. I got the same results from API and Red Sea test kits...

Hi! I'm new here and I'm also new to the hobby! I just received a used 30 gallon tank as of last week. During the past week I have been cycling my tank as one should do when starting a new saltwater tank. Thing is, my Nitrates are through the roof! I just got my Nitrates Hanna checker a couple...

Hey guys so I was testing out putting bio blocks in my tank’s back compartment where the skimmer use to be since someone in a different thread recommended I didn’t truly need a skimmer for a 13.5 gallon, I want to add I previously have added live rock to the display, I have the little bag of...

So I was talking to another reefer the other day and we got into the topic of cycling methods. When I got into saltwater, my LFS introduced me to a very effective and quick method that is seemingly uncommon. He would add a cap full of pure bottled ammonia from Walmart per 20G and add in a piece...

I am planning to be cycling a new tank, since mine right now was done wrong and is unsavable. I want to cycle with live rock (not dry rock) and have some questions. Would I be able to cycle it with a live rock with coralline algae? And if so would it be better to order online (since my lfs...

So, I set up a 20L tank about 4 days ago, with 20 lbs of live sand, 15 lbs of live rock, and 15 lbs of old, dead rock. I dosed Turbo Start 9000, Aquaforest Bio S, and Seachem Stability since day 1. There's been ammonia detectable, but with an API test kit. I assumed, given the presence of...

Hey guys, have a few questions on curing and storing Australian Live rock. I know of a guy that’s suppose to be getting a large shipment of Australian live rock in at the end of this month, beginning of next month, downfall is, he’s much more expensive than Unique Corals. I was really wanting to...

8 weeks into Cycling. Lost almost all my corals that I moved from my old tank, despite all chemical value being stable as usual.

Hello everyone, Can I start my cycling without lightning and circulation pump? Only the return one? And when I'm done Cycling, or close to finishing it I add these two equipments? Thank You João

Hello everyone! I am currently setting up a 40 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump. I have all my equipment ready to go. I just bought 60 lbs Caribsea Bahama sand and tomorrow I am going to go out and select rock for my aquascape. I know that my tank is gonna have to cycle and I was planning on...

I started cycling a dry rock barebottom 100G tank over 2 months ago and it still hasn't finished. This is the third tank I've cycled, and it's always taking me at least a month. When I started the cycle two months ago, I added Brightwell's Microbacter Start XLM and QuikCycl (Ammonia Source). At...

I bought a well established Fowlr setup a few years ago and had no problems with it.. that is until my son got curious and wondered if they liked pop. I was able to save 5 out of 6 fish but they are currently crammed in a 15 gallon with 3 other fish and I need to get them into a bigger tank...

I’m on day 7 of using the Red Sea Reef Mature Starter kit on a 13.5 gallon tank. However, I’d love some input from the pros out there on the mistakes I’ve made already. Images + video attached below of my tank...Hope y'all like my first aquascape! Mistakes: -Dr Tim’s one and only - I poured...

Hi guys! So I’m a fairly new reefer who just bought a 150 gallon tank. It’s been 2/3 weeks since the start of the main tank’s cycling process and I decided to get a quarantine tank. In a few weeks I will be able to introduce my first fish as the ammonia and nitrites are beginning to decrease...

Hello everyone. Off the bat I am new to the hobby but have been doing research on different sites to learn before getting into the hobby. Now it's been 2 weeks now since we set up our waterbox 65.4 tank. We tried the fishless cycle using Dr Tims. In our tank we used caribsea live sand special...

Hi folks, New to R2R and learning a lot from you guys. Thanks a lot. Started my cycle 4 days ago and spotted these orange spots on the sand tonight. Can you guys confirm those are diatoms? If I understand well its a good sign so I would be happy about it, just need an expert eye. The orange...

I'm cycling a 120g by ghost feeding. I've been adding 1-2 cubes of some crappy frozen fish food by fish hate. The ammonia quickly rose to .50ppm after the first day but stalled and is now at .25ppm. Should I be looking for a larger spike to come or was that it? Keep in mind this is a system...