Bottled bac the instant reef, no patience required

[exnisstech]

Is it just me or has bottled bac instilled a confidence in new reefers that everything is instantaneous and patience is no longer needed? I keep seeing all the new tank / cycling post and really has me just shaking my head. I used it for the first time on a new tank a few weeks ago and while it did "cycle" as far as ammonia removal and nitrates rising I have 2 mollies in the tank and one coral and do not plan on adding more for several months.
I guess this is the age of instant gratification? Don't get me wrong I want it all and I want it now but it just isn't going to happen for most people in reefing as in life unless you can afford to buy it all. My most mature tank has been running for 3 maybe 4 years and is just now looking really nice and healthy. Just6an old guy making an observation

 

[KrisReef]

I think you may be right, but to tell the truth I've never used bottle bac but these kids certainly do seem to be messed up on something?

 

[jabberwock]

I got suckered into dry rock and bottle bac 5 years ago. Never again. I do not ever want to be an algae farmer again!

Ocean live rock is my new favorite tank ingredient.

 

[Ben.QLD2]

Agreed. I used dry rock ok my current reef so I could get in on the new trend of having an NSA aquascape. I have never had more trouble with algae. All my other tanks have used real love rock. The tank has been up for about 16 months now and has only cleaned up in the last couple of months really.

If I set up another tank in the future, it will use a combination of dry rock and live rock.

 

[KrisReef]

Agreed. I used dry rock ok my current reef so I could get in on the new trend of having an NSA aquascape. I have never had more trouble with algae. All my other tanks have used real love rock. The tank has been up for about 16 months now and has only cleaned up in the last couple of months really.

If I set up another tank in the future, it will use a combination of dry rock and live rock.

I set up a fish tank for my wife, using cultured man made rock and it has been slow going to get the glass to stay clean. The fish are happy, but I'm getting tired of the constant window wiping. I think the Tank Stop is supposed to get some Aurstralian live rock that is supposed to go up on their site this weekend but thus far that hasn't happend? I want to get a few pieces to dump in the sump to try and get that system's micro-biodiversity on track. Live rock isn't magic, it just has the blessings of the creator dripping off it!

wheres the live rock at?

@Eric Cohen - Thanks for bringing this stuff in.

 

[FlyinAg]

The bottle stuff is great for an instant start but not a substitute for time, maturity and biodiversity. I regret the dry rock on my current tank, though I did enjoy making a cool design. You get what you get with ocean love rock which means you will be more prone to the old pile of rocks scape.

Someone needs to come up with a good way to aquascape and NSA with ocean love rock, maybe using nano sized pieces.

My next tank will be instant start with a mix of LR and dry. I'll use the dry as the frame work and fill in with as much TBS rock as I can afford and fit plus use all TBS live sand.

 

[90's reefer]

Agreed. I used dry rock ok my current reef so I could get in on the new trend of having an NSA aquascape. I have never had more trouble with algae. All my other tanks have used real love rock. The tank has been up for about 16 months now and has only cleaned up in the last couple of months really.

If I set up another tank in the future, it will use a combination of dry rock and live rock.

I used 50% dry and 50 live on my last 120 build. Only got the uglies on the dry rock. I was happy with the results as most of the live was from my other system.

If you use live rock from an established system you will have no cycle and you can put corals in as soon as you want. No need for bottled stuff.

This is my 20g reboot and the second time I have set it up.
First time was with leds this time halides.
Tanks been up 2 weeks tomorrow.
Its doable if you have a handle on how to maintain it.
I have a thread started on it if anyones interested. Their is aslo a thread on the same tank under 16hds.

 

[ScottJ]

Live rock isn't magic, it just has the blessings of the creator dripping off it!

What a beautiful image! You have a way with words.

 

[exnisstech]

If you use live rock from an established system you will have no cycle and you can put corals in as soon as you want. No need for bottled stuff.

The tank below is my first cycle with bottled bac. I wanted to try an NSA scape and it kind of still is tho today I added quite a bit of rock to the bottom parts for fish to have safe places. It used fritz and it did "cycle" almost instantly but being stubborn I added ammonia 3 days In a row to bring it to 1.5ppm and after day 2 the system couldn't keep up. Not surprising, I'm just kind of experimenting unscientifically. I grabbed a bunch of muck from a tupper ware container from my mature tank sump, rock rubble, sand, detritus, and cool critters and nasties and added it along with some nice small rocks covered in sponge and some rubble to the sump. I have hopes it will do well but time will tell. But I'm not expecting miracals just trying to stay occupied.
The tank





Where the cools stuff happens

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

I guess this is the age of instant gratification? Don't get me wrong I want it all and I want it now but it just isn't going to happen for most people in reefing as in life unless you can afford to buy it all. My most mature tank has been running for 3 maybe 4 years and is just now looking really nice and healthy. Just6an old guy making an observation

This reminds me of the time I went to the LFS in Shelbyville. I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time.

 

[19Mateo83]

I miss the days of being able to go to a LFS and find tanks upon tanks of the live Fiji and Tonga rock. That stuff had such diversity of life on it. Polyps, coralline algae, feather dusters, anemones, starfish, copepods and all other kinds of crazy wild goodness. The stuff that is sold today in LFS makes me sad. It just ain’t the same, it’s either brown Marco rock or polymer coated purple rock that is just wet. (I had a LFS employee swear that a piece of dry coralife rock would seed coralline algae)@KrisReef I miss those drippings.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

This reminds me of the time I went to the LFS in Shelbyville. I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time.

left or right side?

 

[exnisstech]

left or right side?

You know but we can't talk about it

 

[19Mateo83]

This reminds me of the time I went to the LFS in Shelbyville. I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time.

I need a new heel for my shoe too

 

[90's reefer]

If I ever set up a larger system, I have 3 systems and 4 tanks now, I would opt for TBS for my live rock.
I would run as much as I could but no less than 50/50

Here is the end of my 120 when I took it down. I started with 50% Caribsea dry and 50% live rock from the previous tank I took down plus a few pieces from the lfs.

Had no cycle and had corals in within a month. I did fight the uglies for a few months with a sea hare as only the dry rock had the uglies.

 

[V A R I A N T]

A part that gets overlooked is the functionality of the bottled bacteria. That 3-4 week waiting period when setting up a brand new, dead ecosystem is a patience killer. The function of the bottlebac helps launch the nitrogen cycle. Getting everyone to understand that's the limit of what it does is the hurdle.

I think it has it's place, when used for the correct purpose. I know, smack my face and return to reality.

 

[Ben.QLD2]

NSA aquascape using dry rock. Tank is about half stocked with coral. Always room for more.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Is it just me or has bottled bac instilled a confidence in new reefers that everything is instantaneous and patience is no longer needed? I keep seeing all the new tank / cycling post and really has me just shaking my head. I used it for the first time on a new tank a few weeks ago and while it did "cycle" as far as ammonia removal and nitrates rising I have 2 mollies in the tank and one coral and do not plan on adding more for several months.
I guess this is the age of instant gratification? Don't get me wrong I want it all and I want it now but it just isn't going to happen for most people in reefing as in life unless you can afford to buy it all. My most mature tank has been running for 3 maybe 4 years and is just now looking really nice and healthy. Just6an old guy making an observation

I setup my current 90 gal system with Dry Rock sand and a number of bottled bac products.

It's never seen any algae, never had ugly phase and the only hitchhikers came in on coral.

I am old school though, and there were no coral for almost 4 months, but I was running a 40W Pentair UV from the start which I am guessing kept algae from getting a foot in.

Plus Luck.

 

[exnisstech]

I setup my current 90 gal system with Dry Rock sand and a number of bottled bac products.

It's never seen any algae, never had ugly phase and the only hitchhikers came in on coral.

I am old school though, and there were no coral for almost 4 months, but I was running a 40W Pentair UV from the start which I am guessing kept algae from getting a foot in.

Plus Luck.

This is interesting. I have a new bulb coming so I can add a uv to the tank shown above. I have the light laying around so I figure I may as well run it. I really haven't noticed a difference running uv in my other established systems tho. I varied flow rates etc and still have to deal with algae manually. I have gha and cyano in both with uv running 24/7. No disease present but after going fallow and treating all fish for velvet some time ago I can't give credit to the uv for that. I actually feel like I wasted money on the uv lights because the two tanks I added uv to (almost a year ago) showed zero difference after the lights were added.

 

[Nman]

Is it just me or has bottled bac instilled a confidence in new reefers that everything is instantaneous and patience is no longer needed? I keep seeing all the new tank / cycling post and really has me just shaking my head. I used it for the first time on a new tank a few weeks ago and while it did "cycle" as far as ammonia removal and nitrates rising I have 2 mollies in the tank and one coral and do not plan on adding more for several months.
I guess this is the age of instant gratification? Don't get me wrong I want it all and I want it now but it just isn't going to happen for most people in reefing as in life unless you can afford to buy it all. My most mature tank has been running for 3 maybe 4 years and is just now looking really nice and healthy. Just6an old guy making an observation

Yes a lot of posts saying problems with cycling there tanks with bottled products