# how to you guys cycle salt water tanks,,?



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

ok iam seting up a lobster tank but i would like to cycle it first i got months till i get a lobster so how do i cycle?


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

cueball said:


> ok iam seting up a lobster tank but i would like to cycle it first i got months till i get a lobster so how do i cycle?


just throw 1 raw pealed shrimp in there, it will take about a week or two to break down and eventually just disappear that will kick off the cycle then just test until nitrites are done then do a water change to bring the nitrates down if they are high


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

yeah what he said. thats what i did.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i pee in my tank


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Puff said:


> i pee in my tank


Are you putting us on? Get out of here man.? I dont know if I should laugh or ponder what your stating!


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

you could toss a shot of vodka in the tank with the shrimp to boost the bacterial bloom.


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## acb (Nov 9, 2004)

whats wrong with putting lr in and fish


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

acb said:


> whats wrong with putting lr in and fish


putting in LR is ok because most of the lr you get will cure when you add it to a new tank as sponges and stuff die off.

using fish for cycling is juvinile, it puts uneccessary stress on teh fish and most of the time you have to use a fish that is known to be hardy like damsles of some kind, these fish are also big time A-holes and will be overly agressive towards more desierable reef fishs and very difficult to catch..

it is to an extent better to cycle the tank with outthe lr if your getting cured live rock or if your geting really grungy live rock this way your not contaminating your display with what ever might be leaching out of the rock. cure it in a seperate vat and do big water changes regularly until the rock is clean then give it one tast good rinse before putting it inthe display to take as many steps as possible to keep the display fiarly clean...


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## jacks (Aug 6, 2007)

Puff said:


> i pee in my tank


that is the funniest thing i have seen all day ,

i pee in my fish tank


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

I realize that ND advises cycling a tank without LR, but I that is how I would cycle it. Put in a substrate, water & salt (get the salitiy to the correct level), then add LR to the tank. The die off from the LR will start the cycle, and be the filter media for the SW tank. Thus, it starts the cycle, and filters the tank from then on out.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Coldfire said:


> I realize that ND advises cycling a tank without LR, but I that is how I would cycle it. Put in a substrate, water & salt (get the salitiy to the correct level), then add LR to the tank. The die off from the LR will start the cycle, and be the filter media for the SW tank. Thus, it starts the cycle, and filters the tank from then on out.


maybe i rambled on too much about the aspects of cycling the tank and curing the rock seperately, its perfectly ok and normal to cycle the tank / cure the rock. i think the majority of people that cycle the tank and isolate teh rock to cure itare those that run barebottom systems.. and those that are so analretentive they dont want to have any decayong matter from the rock to collect in there prestine sand beds.

either way is totally acceptable and curing the rock seperate is probably more of a pain in the neck.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Juvy here









I got cured rock and live sand...tossed in the sand...added water...tossed in the liverock...let it run for a few days. Checked the levels and I had a tiny bit of nitrates and no amonia or nitrites...so I tossed in a damsel...let it run and checked the water...all was well.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

if that damsel lives good luck getting it out. they will get mean and get annoying.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Agreed ^^^

Damsel are notorious for being the best "cycling" fish around, but what most people don't know is that as they grow, and the more time they spend in a tank, the more they tend to become aggressive and territorial. They tend to pick on new fish introduced to the tank, and are damn near impossible to remove.


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

i would go with the shrimp method everytime. once you have a tank full of live rock and fish that you dont want in there, you have a big issue on your hands.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Sorry to disappoint but it took me all of 2 minutes to remove the damsel....and I just traded him back to the lfs.

I knew what I was getting into...I used damsels last time...so for cycling my rock was arranged so I could get him out pretty easy









Not sure this would work with a lobster tank though....I would guess this tank would need to be kept very cold...and I think damsels are a tropical fish.


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