New to Saltwater aquariums...Advice always welcome

Hi, I'm Crystal and I am new to saltwater aquariums. I have quickly become "addicted" to this wonderful hobby in such a short time and want to start out the best way possible. I have a 55 gallon tank with around 30lb. of live rock and 20 lb. of dry rock. My tank has been set up for about a week now and I have done a couple of tests with everything reading zero. I understand its early and the cycle probably hasn't even had any time to begin with the ammonia spike. A couple of questions, first, will the bacteria on the live rock be able to provide enough ammonia to get the cycle started? Could it be possible that the live rock I purchased at my LFS already be cured and been ok in transport(about 20 minutes b/n their tank and into mine)? Like I said, I am new to this and some of these questions may sound like common knowledge, but I am trying to catch on! Thanks everyone and I look forward to chatting on the forum

 

You can ghost feed the tank with some fish food, feed it just like you would if you have fish in it, then test for a couple days afterward to see if there is an ammonia spike. The live rock might indeed be cured and will need some form of decaying organic matter to facilitate the growth of the beneficial bacteria.

 

Sorry, just realized I posted the question to the wrong thread!

 

I have done the ghost feeding for the past few days without any spikes, but I will continue and see what goes on from there

 

I moved the thread to New to the hobby.

Well you could next try the raw shrimp addition and see if you get a spike if not than you probably have enough beneficial bacteria. I would give it another week before you think about adding a couple members of the clean up crew, like hermits.

 

Thank you!

 

The rocks biological capacity at this point will depend on how cured the rock was at your LFS and what holding tanks they were held in. Being help in a system with a regular bioload.A holding sump linked to an LFS main livestock system(s) and a separate live rock holding bin will create different levels of bacteria and livestock on the rock.

 

Ill give you a few of the sources that helped me a lot through starting into the hobby. Number one is definetly one of my favorite saltwater expert dudes to watch: Mr. Saltwater tank. You can look him up on youtube or go to his website Mr. Saltwater Tank. He has written some awesome books. I have only read his first one though.

As far as cycling goes I am am a fan of:
DrTim's Aquatics | One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria | Natural Aquarium Cleaner

It beats the constant months of waiting around and is by far the most reliable "bacteria in a bottle" that I ever used. As i was never a fan of bacteria in a bottle in the first place but this stuff is changing my mind. Good Luck. Hope any of this helps

 

welcome to 3reef and the hobby! Sounds like you're following directions and being patient - very important

 

Skimmers, pumps, cash...oh my
Welcome to the insanity and good luck!