The Cycle FW and SW

well I have been looking at different fish, but have not decided which way to go. I do however want my additional question answered. How is it possible to have an instant cycle? Is there a way to speed the process up?

 

If you use all live sand and fully cured live rock (very expensive way to go), it is possible for your tank to be ready for livestock almost immediately. However, there is no guarantee, and I would highly recommend that you still seed the tank with an ammonia source and wait at least a couple of weeks while monitoring levels.

Nothing good happens fast in this hobby; on rare occasion you'll hear of someone getting lucky, but if they continue their routine, their luck usually runs out.

 

Another method to immediately give a new tank a very good head start on getting bacteria levels to where they need to be is to keep an air driven sponge filter in the sump of your display tank. Then if you ever need to quickly setup a QT or HT, you move that over to the temporary tank. Again, still not an instant cycle, but it is a big help. Those sponges have a lot of surface area!

 

And as far as fish go for a 55, look into clowns, chromis, cardinals, reef-safe wrasses (flashers, smaller fairys, possum, maybe a smaller Halichoeres), firefish, blennies, gobies, smaller dwarf angels, basslets/grammas, smaller hawkfish, etc. Plenty of options, just stay away from larger fish such as tangs, larger angels, rabbitfish, butterflyfish, etc.

 

I am not in a big hurry on the cycle, and as for fish I know I am getting some clowns and an anemone. I think we are looking at getting a dwarf angle, goby, dottyback, and maybe even a few chromis. Not sure of the full list of fish as of yet. I am looking around and shopping.

The idea I was toying with on cycling, was I wanted my QT tank to be fully cycled so that I could have a fish in QT while my DT cycled for 1 or 2 months.

 

Understood, but a cycle is a cycle, regardless of the tank's size or intended use.

FTR, most try to keep their QT sterile... IOW, UN-cycled.

Pros: It can be set up and ready in a short period.
If a fish requires treatment, most meds kill the nitrifying bacteria, anyway; one doesn't need to change routine in such an instance.
It can be cleaned and put away when not in use.

Cons: You are strictly limited to the number of fish in QT at one time (highly recommended, anyway.)
You must constantly monitor ammonia levels and be prepared to perform large water changes. Since meds kill the bacteria, this should be routine rather than emergency.

HTH

 

I am really new to the wonderful world of aquariums, but I understand that I need a QT in order to keep my DT in better health. I want to keep my fish in my QT tank before I introduce it to my DT. If I keep it in any tank for an extended period of time I will be putting my fish through stress while the tank ends up going through cycle. I don't think that it is a good idea to do that to an already stressed fish. Keeping a QT going at all times is not that big of a deal IMO, and can help in emergency situations.

This does however bring up a question. How long does a tank stay cycled with no fish in it? Do you need to periodically ghost feed the tank?

 

Yes.

 

+1 on patience, don't learn the hard way! Learn from other people's experience and/or mistakes. I'm not new to the hobby, but I am new when compared to some of the veterans here. I've learned to ask questions first, just because someone has a basic understanding of something doesn't necessarily mean they truly understand what they're doing. I've also learned not to cut corners in this hobby, it always comes back to haunt you in one way or another down the road.


$0.02 - Let the tanks get sufficient time to cycle! I would start both QT and DT at same time if you can and still keep the fish in QT for 30 days. Continue to ghost feed the DT the entire time and then you can be certain it had a good cycle.

I have tried to rush this when I first started and from my experience it was the root cause for all the problems I dealt with. For an inexperienced reefer (at the time me) dealing with ICH/Algae/etc. creates lots of headaches and is expensive. I understand you want to get fish to look at ASAP but allow your tank time to establish. Otherwise, you may be watching the fish die vs. enjoying an active and happy fish!


Can't wait to see your tanks though, whatever you decide to do!

 

lol, I have been looking at all my threads and updating them. Not trying to flood the forums with my stuff but anyways. I thank you for your valuable information about starting my QT and DT at the same time in order to insure ample cycle time on my DT. I will be doing this on wednesday of next week. Hopefully my wife will not be to mad at me when we go into the fish store to get my test kits and refractometer.