My take on BRS experiment with biome cycling and my results so far

[Tenelen]

So when I was considering on setting up a new tank I was watching the biome cycle series and reading up on the related biome studies. Here is the list of items I started the fishless cycle with. I am posting this to show my progress and how my experiment worked out, and not here to debate the methods, what I used, or personal opinions on what I am doing wrong. Also I am focusing on stability over looking for specific numbers in my results.

Tank: IM 50gal AIO
Light: XR30 Pro
Skimmer: NuvoSkim 24-Volt DC™ AIO Protein Skimmer
Flow: Gyre XF350 Cloud Edition

Bacterial sources and hosing media:
Live rock from LFS
Live Sand
Dr. Tims
AF Life source
Dose of Fritz Turbo start
Nano-Tech Bio-Spheres
Aquaforrest Life Bio Fil Medium

I added about 5oz of AF lifeforce into the sand bed and mixed it thoroughly. Placed my live rock in, and saltwater and started the cycle process. I dosed the tank with roughly 3-4ppm of ammonia chloride and watched the levels over the next few days. On day 3 I noticed my ammonia levels were dropping but nitrite had not started building so I brought the levels back up to 3-4 ppm. By day 6 of testing ammonia was being consumed and nitrite was starting to risen, by day 9 nitrite was gone and all that was left was nitrate. Preformed a water change and added 2 clowns. I continued to monitor nitrite and ammonia just to make sure I wouldn't get a second spike or mini cycle but none were detected over the next week. Around day 12 I added cheto in my HOB refuge and dosed pods, slowly between day 14 and 30 I added a fish (1-2 fish every 3-4 days till I was stocked) here and there to finish the fish stock. No abnormal spikes or mini cycles were measured during days 14-30. Diatoms started blooming around day 30 but only lasted about 3 days then started to disappear, and turf algae started showing up in minimal amounts but has not been an issue. Around day 45 I added a test coral a duncan which is one of my favorite LPS corals, and let it chill in the tank for a week to see how it was doing and its been happy and healthy.

At this point I am not seeing any of the normal long term ugly stage of the tank that I would expect with the tanks I had prior (I have had 3 fresh and 4 saltwater tanks over the last 30 years). My chemistry has been stable and I am not seeing any crazy swings or jumps in any particular direction. I have also not seen any cyanobacteria growth. I am tracking everything in a spreadsheet I am updating daily, and yes I am testing daily as I am treating this like a true experiment. I am now 50ish days into the build and things are going great and I would say this part of the experiment was a success, I will be adding SPS in the future, but I want to see some coralline algae growth and the continued stability before I get to adding.

As far as the BRS study they did I would conclude that there is validity to the idea of getting a strong bio diversity going initially drastically helps the tank become more stable to at least this point I am at. I have added some more zoanthids and a few other LPS coral since I am going for a mixed reef with this tank and everything is thriving and happy as well as I am with the results so far. I will update this thread once I start getting Coraline growth or any major changes that were unpredicted.

 

[Tenelen]

I am posting this to show my progress and how my experiment worked out, and not here to debate the methods, what I used, or personal opinions on what I am doing wrong.

Sorry if this come across as harsh or not wanting any discussion but I made a post prior to building and I got tons of replies where I was being told all the things that I should be doing or random opinions. Which they can be helpful but if they are totally derailing my thread and discussion points making me feel like there is no reason to reply.

 

[Tenelen]

So, I have been periodically dosing different bacterial strains, not too much just small doses once a month. I have also been running pods. I continue to dose AF Life source but use a magnet to remove the volcanic magnetic sand from it. In the HOB I am running macro algae for nutrient control, and I am starting to see coralline pop up here and there.

So far the tank has been super stable. My Nitrates stick around 10-11ppm and Phosphates are stable around .09 ppm for weeks at this point.

I have added some SPS slowly over the last month has been thriving and I have not had any issues. Additionally, I haven't seen much of nuisance algae growth either. There is some turf algae but not much of it and Diatoms were barely seen. All and all I am quite happy with the results so far and the tank is healthy and thriving.

I am considering on adding 2 of the AI Blade Grow leds with the XR30 Pro I am running.

 

[GiannisK]

Looks great!