shrimp cycling in a bucket with lid, yea or nay?

Can I get a 30-50 gallon bucket, start the cycle in it and tranfer it later to the tank, via pump? I have a small 40g tank now and think I want to go to a 70. I want to start a cycle in a bucket, on the side, to get that going now while I make the stand and save for the skimmer and such. How long can I keep my mix in the bucket undisturbed before I have to circulate/move the water around? can I just get a cheap air pump and stone and drop it in?

tangster, you mentioned in a thread you cycle the old fashined way and never check a (forgot which one) peram. What is the old fashioned way? I havnt checked on this site specificly for it nor have happened to run across it if you mentioned it. If you could give me a quick readers digest tutorial, would appreciate it, thanks.

 

Are you buying more live rock when you upgrade? If so, just cure it in the tub and transfer the water and rock at the same time.

Personally, I would just mix up 30 gallons of new saltwater, heat to the proper temperature and mix for 24 hours. 90% of the bacteria that we need lives on surfaces like glass, heaters, plumbing, live rock, live sand and I'm assuming you'll move all of the equipment and live rock. It's also a good idea to seed the new sand with a cupful of the old sand to seed the new sand. (If the sandbed isn't too old, sometimes you can reuse the sand)

Read these too. 3reef.com - Forums for coral reef aquariums, salt water fish, corals, inverts, protein skimmers, aquarium lighting and more! - 3reef Articles - Reef Aquarium Articles and How To's - How to's for moving a tank or transferring to a bigger one!!

 

Embarrisingly, being a newbie, have not got that far. All I know so far is need to cycle water with a dead shrimp. After that I can add stuff slowly. I was going to cycle some water only with a shrimp, then add the water to my tank which would have a fresh bed of aragonite sand and some DIY aragonite rocks. Other than the cycled water, nothing will be live, at this time in the plan. I still have to reasearch what I want to make it "live". I am scare to death to get someones rock or sand full of things I dont want. I need to do some more research on "live" sand/rock critters.

Thanks for the links inwall, will read.

 

Ahhhh,

I was assuming you were moving a running 40 gallon tank into a 70 gallon tank and wanted to cycle the water.

In this case, using shrimp is a doable idea.

DIY rock needs to be cured too.....just in a different way and for different reasons. The lime in the concrete will drive pH through the roof. If you want to make the DIY rock live, put it in the tub with saltwater and use the dead shrimp method because until the pH drops, you couldn't cycle the rock with any live animals.

Live Rock and Sand is basically rock and sand that is coated with a biofilm containing nitrifying bacteria and de-nitrifying bacteria. As the shrimp rots, these populations will automatically grow. (make sure you put the shrimp in a pair of pantyhose and practice holding your breath if you don't want to throw up into your tank).

 

I'd throw the DIY rocks into the bucket with your water and some cured or uncured LR from a LFS to start seeding your DIY rock with bacteria. The water itself doesn't need to cycle, it's the rocks, sand, tank etc.. surfaces that the bacteria grow on need to get their bacteria growing on it. Water testing is a way to measure of how the bacteria is working and cycling the water, basically breaking down ammonia to nitrites to nitrates.
The higher the bioload in the tank (adding more fish, etc), more bacteria needs to grow to break down the extra bioload. Bacteria won't increase over night, that's why you add fish slowly when you set up a new tank.

 

been reading garfs site and he uses type-III cement, used for pools and such. I found a place around here I think that may have it. Garf then states he dumps his rocks in within 3 days. Of course I will do some tests in a seperate bucket to make sure, but, going by Garf, I am good to go with the DIY rock.

hey Bogie, well, i am afraid to buy anything from a pet store or mail order, too scared I may get some crap I dont want. Looking at starting the cycle first and then, later, how I can make it live with 100% clean bacterias or whatever critters i need to make rock and sand live. Well......if it can be done that way.

 

I may be confused but I thought that you were only putting water and a shrimp in the bucket---if you don't put in anything else- like rocks etc-- you will not be cycling anything. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Just one piece of live rock with the shrimp will probably seed all the other DIY base rock more quickly than using the shrimp alone.

 

You are wasting your time by just cycling water. You should add all of the diy rock in your bucket to cure/cycle the rock . As mentioned before to draw out any lime in the concrete and level off the ph. As well putting several nice specimens of true live rock for proper seeding of bacteria. The sand shouldn't be added until later in your actual tank. You will just disrupt the sandbed when transfering anyways. Jmo. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

Sorry, i have a tendency to confuse people and even "I" dont know why I do it.

Yes, i would like to start a cycle with a dead shrimp. I know you have to go through a ammonia, nitrite, nitrate process. Was told you could do this without light or a skimmer. Not concerned with making it 100% through the cycle in a bucket, but, if I could start it now, I would be 3 weeks ahead of the game when I get my tank (hopefully the 70 gallon one or I will use the 40 for now) setup on the stand (that i have to build); all of which will take another week or two to get finalized.

Not sure if I want live anything, afraid to get a rock or sand from someplace. Was thinking on finding what live things make rock and sand live and buying them in thier purest form, if possible, to make my own live sand/rock.

I am not trying to rush anything, but, if I can get a few steps going in the process......