How long should i wait to add fish or coral or inverts??

[Namscam]

i just set up a new salt water fish tank and was wondering how long should i wait b4 add stuff in it. i heard that you could just add biozyme in to cycle your tank within like a few days???will this work or should i was a few weeks b4 i start adding stuff in

[Jack]

A few weeks should be good. Those bio enzymes are used to "kick start" the nitrogen cycle but I find they are just gimmics, IMO.

[Namscam]

ahh darn it i guess it just got too excited and stufff...wonder if my fishes and inverts will dies????

[Namscam]

does the dry/wet system help reduce the peaks or the nitrate ??

[Doug]

Wet/dry filters create nitrate. They remove nitrite and ammonia, but only once the bacteria is established.

I would never add livestock to a new reef tank, for at least a month and then slowly after that.

If livestock is already added to a new tank, the biological capability of the wet/dry or liverock or sandbed, is still to low to support them. A slow build up of ammonia and then nitrite will harm the occupants. If this is the case, they need large regular water changes, until the cycle is complete or removal for now.

[Jason McK]

You should really be monitoring your Ammonia and nitrite levels. You will see a spike in ammonia then a spike in nitrites then both will drop to zero. At that time you Nitrates will be fairly high and a water change of about 10% will being that down. The time line is different for everyone. But if you added fish and inverts right away the cycle will stress them out to the point were some loses may occur.
The point of the cycle is to establish a biological filter within your LR. It increases the organisms that eat ammonia and nitrite. So this is a very important step

J

[Bob I]

I tried that Biozyme stuff in a small setup once, and I can report that it will not work. If you use sand and rock from an established system you could add things right away, but if it is a brand new system you would be better off waiting a long time. I have found that all my problems occurred within the first few months of setting up a tank. Time is your friend when setting up a new tank.

[Namscam]

thanks for the info....but one more thing???so i have live rocks and live sand from an established system in my new tank, can i add stuff in it???

[Bob I]

Well it all depends on how much rock and sand you have. If you have only a few pounds of rock and sand, you still need to wait for awhile. If you have a tank with a lot of LR, and sand you will be able to add a few things at a time. It takes time to mature a system.

[Namscam]

thanks bob