Bio Cube Cycle

[TTUP97]

Hello everyone,
So on Sunday March 22 2020 I turned on the pump to my brand new bio cube 32. I have live sand and live rock in there. My lfs told me to also ghost feed every other day. I still have not seen any spike in ammonia. How long does it take usually for the cycle to start?

 

[Copingwithpods]

If you started with good astablished live rock you might not see ammonia, check and see if your nitrates are creeping up as this will tell you if the process is moving along.

 

[Mjrenz]

Welcome to the forum! If you started your tank with live rock and not dry rock you may not even see an ammonia spike

 

[TTUP97]

If you started with good astablished live rock you might not see ammonia, check and see if your nitrates are creeping up as this will tell you if the process is moving along.

Would you continue ghost feeding?

 

[TTUP97]

Would you continue ghost feeding?

I’ll also post all my levels later tonight

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Hello everyone,
So on Sunday March 22 2020 I turned on the pump to my brand new bio cube 32. I have live sand and live rock in there. My lfs told me to also ghost feed every other day. I still have not seen any spike in ammonia. How long does it take usually for the cycle to start?

Did you add any sort of instance cycle?

 

[Copingwithpods]

Would you continue ghost feeding?

Yeah I'd keep doing it for the sole reason of bacterial colony confirmation. Keep feeding and watch for nitrates. If ammonia stays at 0 and nitrates creep up you are ready.

 

[TTUP97]

Did you add any sort of instance cycle?

I added coralline algae in a bottle but that’s it.

 

[TTUP97]

I added coralline algae in a bottle but that’s it.

Everything was at zero

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

I added coralline algae in a bottle but that’s it.

Its always good to add some nitrifying bacteria to the tank when first setting it up. Microbacter, instant ocean, etc..

 

[brandon429]

lets see pictures, true live rock is ready, can't uncycle even if feed is withheld, and shows up able to reef/ready
meaning you can reef if the rock is live, no need to feed and wait


with pics we can see telltale signs if your rock was ready, pics will beat test kits actually due to drift and reporting errors and cross reads etc.

live rock will have pigments, animals attached, and come from a vat at the fish store marked live or with animals included like pods and worms. The presence of those details confirms the cycle, nitrate may or may not report in someone's tank at any stage including initial cycle. its also possible to have totally white rock that was cycled in the dark/no inclusions, but we don't see that in cycling threads. if it was live it will have growths and/or attachments that make it stand out in pics.

 

[TTUP97]

lets see pictures, true live rock is ready, can't uncycle even if feed is withheld, and shows up able to reef/ready
meaning you can reef if the rock is live, no need to feed and wait


with pics we can see telltale signs if your rock was ready, pics will beat test kits actually due to drift and reporting errors and cross reads etc.

live rock will have pigments, animals attached, and come from a vat at the fish store marked live or with animals included like pods and worms. The presence of those details confirms the cycle, nitrate may or may not report in someone's tank at any stage including initial cycle. its also possible to have totally white rock that was cycled in the dark/no inclusions, but we don't see that in cycling threads. if it was live it will have growths and/or attachments that make it stand out in pics.

 

[TTUP97]

View attachment 1491176

It’s 7 pounds of cured rock I’m going to be adding more soon.

 

[brandon429]

That is 100% a skip cycle setup, it’s how they make all the tanks show up to reef conventions / 500 all at once, and none miss a beat. If cycles ranged, varied, or failed to complete this could not go down:



=a bunch of instant reefs who are instantly ready, yet equally as cycled as a 30 day cycle...surface area is active either by waiting for a cycle, or by dosing bottle bac, or in your case by showing up with fully cured rocks. What you did is so reliable we can stack ten thousand dollars of corals in it right now lol as twenty of those did, got $

 

[TTUP97]

That is 100% a skip cycle setup, it’s how they make all the tanks show up to reef conventions / 500 all at once, and none miss a beat. If cycles ranged, varied, or failed to complete this could not go down:



=a bunch of instant reefs who are instantly ready, yet equally as cycled as a 30 day cycle...surface area is active either by waiting for a cycle, or by dosing bottle bac, or in your case by showing up with fully cured rocks. What you did is so reliable we can stack ten thousand dollars of corals in it right now lol as twenty of those did, got $

Thanks for all the info helps a lot!