Cycle time for fish only. No live rock or sand.
 

Just wondering. Do I need to actually cycle a tank just holding my clowns? There is no live rock or sand in the tank.

Or just let it settle. Use bateria starter?

Thanks

what is the size of your tank?

I have LOTS of success with DR Toms one and only. I have set up many tanks (personal and for others) and use it all the time. Cycles in less than 3 days.

I am pretty sure you will not get a cycle with out sand or live rock.

Yea . But I assume bacteria is still absent? Then in comes starter bacteria ?

I'd either use a HOB filter and some kind of bacteria starter to get you over the ammonia hump, or do WCs very frequently based on ammo testing

So then where is the bacteria coming from then?

Well not sure what your really thinking about here Patrick but this in my experience. I recently I had to set up a small tank to medicate one of my seahorse's, cleaned the tank, made new SW, put a HOB filter with just filter floss in it. Moved the seahorse into it as soon as it was at the lower temp required, there hasn't been a speck of ammonia or nitrates.

Bacteria will start to feed on the ammo and multiply, but not fast enough in my mind

Things like the DRs mentioned earlier, or Seachem Stability, add bacteria to start processing the ammonia faster than if you let it happen naturally

If you're able to wait before you add the clowns to the tank, you could cycle the tank empty with something like fish food or an uncooked shrimp
This will kick-start the ammo. And again, if you have time, you can fully cycle a tank this way, then add the clowns when the nitrites are gone and the nitrates are low

Im definitely using something like stability.

That's what I prefer to use, and an Ammo Alert badge, and I also keep Am Guard in the cabinet

No need for bacteria, they will colonize ok on their own. Just use a SeaChem Ammonia Alert badge and AmQuel. This is a quarantine tank?

No. Holding my clown pairs. Just not sure how long a tank without Rock and sand takes to cycle.

I know no mention was made of doing this but in case someone reads this and doesn't know: If you use Amquel just be absolutely sure not to try and treat anything with copper in there. I found out the hard way, everything dies :(

It's not a QT. No treatment will be done in these tanks.

ive had lots of luck with IO bio spira

If there is no rock or sand you will have to dose an ammonia detoxifier daily in order to process the ammonia that the fish produce. A setup of that fashion is essentially a quarantine setup as it will not support enough nitrifying bacteria to support the fish waste which means is will never "cycle". This makes your question a moot point. If you add a layer of sand to the tank then you can slowly back off the ammonia detoxifier with the system supporting itself around the 2 week mark, so in that case you could say the cycle would take about 2 weeks. I've setup many fish in this fashion, using an ammonia detoxifier with a SeaChem Ammonia Alert badge is quite reliable and easy as long as you forget the dosing instructions, and stay on top of the ammonia. How long do you plan to hold the Clown pairs in this fashion?

This is for my breeding system. I dropped a couple pounds of cured rock in each chamber as well as 5g water from the rock tank.

Ahhhh...ok. So, you plan to leave that rock in the system or you're just using it to cycle? If you're leaving the rock in there and the rock is fully cured then you can add the fish right away. If you're removing the rock then you need something like bioballs in the sump to host the nitrifying bacteria in which case you need about 2 weeks for the rock to seed the bioballs.

Either way, if you're going to have a breeding system you need to get used to using an ammonia detoxifier, and you should have it on hand at all times.

Maybe I'll just leave a couple chunks of rock in each tank.

After adding salt and ensuring you test for proper salinity, add a couple of dead shrimp in the tank.
You will note that in a few days your ammonia test will show results and the levels will go higher. Do not be alarmed this is completely normal
In a few weeks you will note that your nitrite test results start to show . Again this is normal
Around 30days the tank will have cycled and nitrite and ammonia will read zero
Resist the urge to immediately add fish. Wait a few weeks and add one fish at a time

The key to success in this hobby is PATIENCE not Seachem Stability or other similar products

I'm using cured rock and cycled water. I see 30 days as over kill in this situation.

Do you have any sort of mechanical filter on this tank? That's what I thought you were talking about, but Myka's right, if all you've got is a glass box with fish in it, it will never cycle, and even with regular dosing of ammonia binders, and frequent water changes the water quality would fall rapidly and would impair your fish's health long term. If your'e only using a couple small pieces of rock and powerheads for water movement, I would be worried that over time your water quality is still going to suffer.

It's for my breeding project. No sump. Each compartment will have an Aqua Clear 30. It will keep the tanks isolated from each other.

So mechanical filtration, Yes.

Is it ok to leave rocks in a breeding system?

when you have no liverock and no sand, where do the bacterias settle?

My guess is there will be very little bacterias present to do the filtration. Also one good thing about porous liverock is that it will do a good amount of anaerobic filtration thus getting rid of a lot of nitrates as well.

How can one do a fish only aquarium without this as filtration? you will need to do lots of water change probably and monitor ammonia and nitrites and add something like Prime or AmQual to remove it.

Like I answered in your PM, you need some sort of biological media, be it live rock, live sand, bioballs, sponges...something. Otherwise there is not enough area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize to be able to keep up with the ammonia output from the fish and food waste.

Live rock in a Clownfish breeding system? Some people do, many people don't. Generally cost is a limiting factor. I wouldn't use sand though because that just gets in the way of bottom siphoning detritus and food waste. You will be feeding them much more than you would reef fish, and 20-40 ppm nitrate will become the new "clean". ;)