Should i use fritz turbostart and live rock together?

[Fish Fan]

I have a hanna marine master. And yes I understand the nitrogen cycle. The question I had is say my tank cycles in a few days and then I order a fish and it won't be in for 2 weeks. Will that 2 weeks of no ammonia added due to no fish kill all the beneficial bacteria because they have nothing to eat.

And just to comment on this question, no, you will not kill off your bacteria. Order your fish when you are totally confident that your initial nitrogen cycle has completed (which it should fairly quickly with your live rock rubble).

Those bacteria are not people, or even dogs or cats. They absolutely do not need to "eat" everyday, and will persists for many weeks to months without ammonia, just ready in waiting for some ammonia to process.

So again, I would get your tank up and running, get your live rock rubble, and you can add your bottled bacteria if you wish - it's entirely unnecessary with your rock rubble, but isn't going to hurt if you already have it and want to use it (I would not go buying it at this point). Once you know your tank is fully cycled, go ahead and order your fish. Do not worry that your bacteria will die out in that short period of time.

I've never ordered from Dr. Reef, but I do QT all my fish and livestock myself, and I have read really good things about Dr. Reef. But their fish are EXPENSIVE. Don't risk rushing to order your fish before your tank is fully cycled, your bacteria will be fine.

As always, I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[KC2020]

Yeah sorry about. Corrected post above and here. I was copying from a previous post and replying to multiple threads and didn't check my post.

Ammonium Chloride is the best choice. You can buy it here. and read RHF's thread about why you might want to continue to use it even after adding fish.

A firefish is a fairly delicate fish if wild caught, can be a picky eater. It's good to add it first but if you're buying from a LFS be sure it's eating.

 

[Fish Fan]

Yeah sorry about. Corrected post above and here. I was copying from a previous post and replying to multiple threads.

Ammonium Chloride is the best choice. You can buy it here. and read RHF's thread about why you might want to continue to use it even after adding fish.

^That makes a whole lot more sense lol! Thanks for correcting!

 

[KC2020]

^That makes a whole lot more sense lol! Thanks for correcting!

I realized I made the mistake and by the time I came back to correct it a couple of you guys had caught it, thankfully.

 

[danreef55]

I am going to start with an elegant firefish

be sure to have a lid on the tank with a firefish. Beautiful choice btw

 

[ReefPup]

And just to comment on this question, no, you will not kill off your bacteria. Order your fish when you are totally confident that your initial nitrogen cycle has completed (which it should fairly quickly with your live rock rubble).

Those bacteria are not people, or even dogs or cats. They absolutely do not need to "eat" everyday, and will persists for many weeks to months without ammonia, just ready in waiting for some ammonia to process.

So again, I would get your tank up and running, get your live rock rubble, and you can add your bottled bacteria if you wish - it's entirely unnecessary with your rock rubble, but isn't going to hurt if you already have it and want to use it (I would not go buying it at this point). Once you know your tank is fully cycled, go ahead and order your fish. Do not worry that your bacteria will die out in that short period of time.

I've never ordered from Dr. Reef, but I do QT all my fish and livestock myself, and I have read really good things about Dr. Reef. But their fish are EXPENSIVE. Don't risk rushing to order your fish before your tank is fully cycled, your bacteria will be fine.

As always, I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck!

Ok thank you!

 

[Fish Fan]

Ok thank you!

Happy to help! Best of luck!

 

[PotatoPig]

I’d save the money and just use the live rock. Maybe leave a few days so it can process any ammonia from any die-off.

The live rock you have already should be fine for processing ammonia as long as you add fish at a vaguely reasonable pace.

Experiment time: I have a disused 10gallon quarantine tank. It’s not had livestock in it for about 5-6 months and the last time it saw any ammonia was 2-3 months ago when I tested to see if it was still cycled. It was. In the last 2-3 months it hasn’t even had power on - no water movement, no heat, no light - not even room light as it’s in a basement utility room. The only cycled media in it is a piece of filter sock in the HOB. I just dosed it to 4ppm (because I messed up the math trying to dose to 2ppm…).

Going to test tomorrow and the day after to see how it processes this large ammonia load.

Picture of tank so you can see how empty it is. Note the seachem badge already showing ammonia added a few mins ago:

 

[ReefPup]

I’d save the money and just use the live rock. Maybe leave a few days so it can process any ammonia from any die-off.

The live rock you have already should be fine for processing ammonia as long as you add fish at a vaguely reasonable pace.

Experiment time: I have a disused 10gallon quarantine tank. It’s not had livestock in it for about 5-6 months and the last time it saw any ammonia was 2-3 months ago when I tested to see if it was still cycled. It was. In the last 2-3 months it hasn’t even had power on - no water movement, no heat, no light - not even room light as it’s in a basement utility room. The only cycled media in it is a piece of filter sock in the HOB. I just dosed it to 4ppm (because I messed up the math trying to dose to 2ppm…).

Going to test tomorrow and the day after to see how it processes this large ammonia load.

Picture of tank so you can see how empty it is. Note the seachem badge already showing ammonia added a few mins ago:

Awesome! For sure keep me updated on the results!

 

[KC2020]

@ReefPup sorry for steering you wrong for a couple minutes there. It is true that you may not need to dose ammonia, or do anything. Keep reading and asking questions.

Best of luck !

 

[ReefPup]

@ReefPup sorry for steering you wrong for a couple minutes there. It is true that you may not need to dose ammonia, or do anything. Keep reading and asking questions.

Best of luck !

It's all good! Seems like we arrived at an answer and it seems like we will even get experimental evidence on the subject. Thanks your your help!

 

[PotatoPig]

Awesome! For sure keep me updated on the results!

Alright, work got crazy so I missed a couple of tests but back on track today so results so far:

Saturday I tested after adding ammonia. I diluted the sample 50% with RODI as the ~4ppm added was beyond the test range. As you see the test shows at least 2ppm, so the tank is at least 4ppm.

Tested this evening, so 3 days, starting from at at least 4ppm, now we’re down to approx 0.4ppm. So about 90% of ammonia has been cleared by very limited biofiltration.

Bacteria seem OK after months of neglect and only having been “fed” once in the previous 5-6 months for a similar experiment.

 

[ReefPup]

Alright, work got crazy so I missed a couple of tests but back on track today so results so far:

Saturday I tested after adding ammonia. I diluted the sample 50% with RODI as the ~4ppm added was beyond the test range. As you see the test shows at least 2ppm, so the tank is at least 4ppm.

Tested this evening, so 3 days, starting from at at least 4ppm, now we’re down to approx 0.4ppm. So about 90% of ammonia has been cleared by very limited biofiltration.

Bacteria seem OK after months of neglect and only having been “fed” once in the previous 5-6 months for a similar experiment.

Thanks for the update! Good to know my bacteria will be ok for a while