wrong

[asherah]

The live rock is from my 44r that was set up for a year. The reef bones I got said that you can't put them in a established tank and that it had to be cured.
So I figured it would be enough.


There are 4 fish in my 44 and a few snails. So should I not add those all together then ? One at a time maybe ?

amanda

ps. would it be ok to add hermits and snails after the cycle ? I dont have much of a clean up crew in the 44 =p

[TheReefGeek]

I always recommend 10% live rock if you use dry rock, to kick off the cycle. I know it is hard to be patient, but that is all you can do.

If it were my tank, I would toss a raw shrimp in and let the tank cycle more, I would rater "overdue" a cycle than not build up enough bacteria.

How porous is your base rock and reef bones? If it is really dense it might not support much bacteria.

[asherah]

seems pretty porus.. lots of holes in it. Some of the rocks look like they used to be corals, with ridges and etc in them.
I could post a picture.. maybe that would help ?

amanda

[TheReefGeek]

If it is porous and has holes and whatnot, it will be just fine, all you have to do is wait. Just make sure you add livestock slowly to your tank (1 fish at a time preferably) to build up the necessary bacteria levels for your bioload, and not cause a re-cycle.

If you cycle another tank in the future, make sure there is sufficient die off for a good cycle. (ie, a piece of raw shrimp)

[Psyire]

I would count off the cycling period from the day you added the LR.

It almost sounds like there was no bacteria available to the tank (to multiply) before that time.

It's definately a good thing you are taking your time. Keep going slow and your chance of long term success will be much higher.

[Reefhawk1]

I have always cycled my tanks by adding live sand from another established tank. I slowly add it and it usually only takes maximum of two weeks for the cycle to be complete. I also add live rock into the mix to get things rolling.